Obasanjo Appointed Into United Nations Advisory Board

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has been appointed into the United Nations (UN) High-Level Advisory Board on Mediation.

Obasanjo was appointed into the Board alongside 17 other current and former global leaders.

In a press release by the UN Secretary General Antonio Gutierrez, the the 18-man board was described as a part of the "surge in diplomacy for peace."

The duties of board would be to facilitate the work of the UN with regional organizations, non-governmental groups and others involved in mediation around the world.

In the release, Obasanja as one of the most distinguished elder statesmen of Africa.

Gutierrez wrote: “He served as President of the Republic of Nigeria from 1999 to 2007, and before that as the Head of the Federal Military Government of Nigeria and Commander-in-Chief of the Nigerian Armed Forces from 1976 to 1979. Over his long career, Mr. Obasanjo has been involved in numerous international mediation efforts, including in Angola, Burundi, Mozambique, Namibia and South Africa.

“In 2008 he was appointed the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy on the Great Lakes region.”

Also appointed into the board are President Michelle Bachelet (Chile) who is serving her second non-consecutive term as president; Radhika Coomaraswamy (Sri Lanka); a 2011 Nobel Peace Laureate, Leymah Gbowee (Liberia); Jean-Marie Guéhenno (France), former President of Finland, Tarja Halonen (Finland); David Harland (New Zealand), Noeleen Heyzer (Singapore), and Nasser Judeh (Jordan).

Others are Ramtane Lamamra (Algeria), Graça Machel (Mozambique), Asha-Rose Migiro (Tanzania), Raden Mohammad and Marty Muliana Natalegawa (Indonesia), Roza Otunbayeva (Kyrgyzstan), Michèle Pierre-Louis (Haiti), José Manuel Ramos-Horta (Timor-Leste), Gert Rosenthal (Guatemala) and Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby (United Kingdom).