Amara Essy

Amara Essy

Amara Essy
Interim Chairman of the Commission of the African Union
In office
9 July 2002  16 September 2003
7th Secretary-general of the Organization of African Unity
In office
17 September 2001  9 July 2002
Preceded by Salim Ahmed Salim
Succeeded by Alpha Oumar Konaré
President of the United Nations General Assembly
In office
1994–1995
Preceded by Samuel Insanally
Succeeded by Diogo de Freitas do Amaral
Personal details
Born (1944-12-20) 20 December 1944
Bouake, Ivory Coast
Nationality Ivorian

Amara Essy (born 20 December 1944[1]) is a diplomat from Ivory Coast.

Early life

Essy was born in Bouake, Ivory Coast.

Diplomatic career

He was the Permanent Representative of Côte d'Ivoire to the United Nations from 1981 to 1990,[1] and in January 1990 he was President of the United Nations Security Council.[1][2] In 1990 he became Minister of Foreign Affairs, and while in that position he served as President of the 49th Session of the United Nations General Assembly from 1994 to 1995. In 1998 he gained the rank of Minister of State, while remaining Foreign Minister.[1] Along with other ministers, he was detained following the military coup of 24 December 1999, but he was released on 28 December.[3] He was replaced in the transitional government named on 4 January 2000.[4]

On 9 July 2001 he was elected secretary-general of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) in Lusaka, Zambia, with the task of leading the OAU's transformation into the African Union over the course of one year.[5] He took office as secretary-general in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on 17 September 2001.[6] Essy served in that position until 9 July 2002, when the OAU became the African Union and he was appointed as interim Chairman of the Commission of the African Union.[7]

Essy was initially a candidate for the post of Chairman of the Commission at the AU's July 2003 summit in Maputo, but he withdrew prior to the vote, leaving Alpha Oumar Konaré, the former President of Mali, as the only candidate.[8][9] Essy remained interim Chairman of the Commission until he was succeeded by Konaré on 16 September 2003.[10]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 CV at Essy's website.
  2. "Presidents of the Security Council: 1990–1999", UN.org.
  3. "Cote d'Ivoire: Junta releases half-dozen ex-ministers", AFP, 28 December 1999.
  4. "Le gouvernement de transition de Côte d'Ivoire formé le 4 janvier 2000", Afrique Express (French).
  5. "COTE D'IVOIRE: Amara Essy’s election celebrated", IRIN, 13 July 2001.
  6. "AFRICA: New OAU head takes over", IRIN, 17 September 2001.
  7. "Essy appointed interim AU commission chairman.", Xinhua (highbeam.com), 9 July 2002.
  8. "Profile: Konare, chairman of African Union Commission", Xinhua (nl.newsbank.com), 10 July 2003.
  9. "Sommet de l’Union Africaine: Le Malien Alpha Oumar Konaré élu président de la Commission", Afrique Express, N° 274, 16 July 2003 (French).
  10. "AFRICA: Former Malian president takes over as AU chair", IRIN, 17 September 2003.
Preceded by
Samuel Insanally
President of the United Nations General Assembly
1994–1995
Succeeded by
Diogo Freitas do Amaral
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