The Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN), António Guterres, has announced the appointment of Ambassador Martha Ama Akyaa Pobee of Ghana as Assistant Secretary-General for Africa.
She succeeds Bintou Keita of Guinea, who took up a new assignment as the Secretary-General’s Special Representative and Head of the United Nations Organisation Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) in February.
“The Secretary-General is deeply grateful for her service and contributions as the first Assistant Secretary-General for Africa in DPPA-DPO,” the United Nations said in a press release dated Friday, May 21, 2021.
Ambassador Pobee has been serving as the Acting Chief Director of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration of the Republic of Ghana since March 2021.
She was the Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Republic of Ghana to the United Nations from July 2015 to November 2021 and the first female to hold that position.
As a career Diplomat since 1989, she has held various positions in Ghana’s Foreign Ministry and served also in different capacities in Ghana Missions in Moscow, Geneva, Tel Aviv, Washington and Pretoria.
During her time at the UN, she performed special assignments, including Chair of the Advisory Committee for the United Nations Programme of Assistance in the Teaching, Study, Dissemination and Wider Appreciation of International Law from July 2015 to November 2021; Chair of the United Nations Population Awards Committee from 2016 to 2018; Appointed by Presidents of the 70th & 71st Sessions of the General Assembly as Co- Adviser on enhancing the participation of Indigenous Peoples and Institutions in the relevant meetings of the United Nations Bodies from February 2016 to September 2017; Served as the Chair of the African Group of Ambassadors in New York in December 2017; Vice-President of the 71st Session of the United Nations General Assembly from September 2017 to September 2018; Chair of the New York Group of Friends of the African Women Leaders Network from February 2018 to November 2021; Appointed by President of the 73rd Session of General the High-level meeting Assembly as Co- facilitator on Financing for Development from November 2018 -September 2019; Appointed by the President of the Economic and Social Council as Co-Chair of the 2020 Science, Technology and Innovation Forum; Appointed by President of the 74th Session of the General Assembly as Co-Chair of the Ad-hoc Working Group on the Revitalisation of the work of the General Assembly; and Co-Chair of the Group of Friends on Gender Parity at the United Nations from November 2018 to November 2021.
She holds Master of Arts Degree in Development Studies with specialisation in Women and Development from the Institute of Social Studies, in The Hague and a Degree in English and Philosophy from the University of Ghana. She also holds Diplomas in Public Administration and Multilateral Diplomacy from the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA) in Ghana and the Geneva Institute of International Studies in Geneva, respectively.
Ms. Pobee was born on 4th September, 1961 in Kumasi in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. She loves reading, music and arts.
