Thursday, February 06, 2020

Secretary-General Appoints Jack Christofides of South Africa Deputy Head of Mission, United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon

31 JANUARY 2020 - United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres announced today the appointment of Jack Christofides of South Africa as the Deputy Head of Mission for the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).

He succeeds Imran Riza of Pakistan, who became United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Syria in September 2019, and to whom the Secretary-General is grateful for his dedicated service.

Mr. Christofides brings a wealth of experience in diplomacy, international affairs, human rights and peacekeeping.  Most recently he served as Director of the Northern Africa Division of the Departments of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs and Peace Operations.

Between 2012 and 2018, Mr. Christofides was Director of the Africa II Division of the Office of Operations in the Department of Peacekeeping Operations.  From 2016 to 2017, he was Director of the Division of Policy, Evaluation and Training for the Departments of Peacekeeping Operations and of Field Support.  He served as Team Leader for Sudan in 2010 and for the Great Lakes team in 2011.

Mr. Christofides has extensive field experience, having served as Chief of Staff in the Office of the Special Coordinator for Lebanon, Director of the Joint Mediation Support Team on Darfur and Political Director in the United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS).

Earlier in his United Nations career, Mr. Christofides served as Principal Officer of the Europe and Americas Division in the Department of Peacekeeping Operations, and Senior Adviser on African Issues to the head of the Department of Political Affairs.  From 1994 until 1999, he was stationed in Geneva covering human rights issues, first as a diplomat and then as Chief of Staff to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Before joining the United Nations, Mr. Christofides was in the South African diplomatic service.

He holds a master's degree in political science from the University of Pretoria.