United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has announced the appointment of Hanna Serwaa Tetteh of Ghana as his Special Representative for Libya and Head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL).
She succeeds Abdoulaye Bathily of Senegal, who served as Special Envoy and Head of UNSMIL until May 2024. The Secretary-General said it is grateful for his leadership, as well as to Deputy Special Representative, Stephanie Koury, who led the Mission in the interim period as Officer-in-Charge.
UNSMIL said Tetteh brings to this position decades of experience at the national, regional and international levels, including most recently as the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for the Horn of Africa from 2022 until 2024. Prior to this, she was the Special Representative of the Secretary-General to the African Union and Head of the United Nations Office to the African Union (UNOAU) from 2018 to 2020, having earlier served as Director-General of the United Nations Office at Nairobi.
Before joining the United Nations, Tetteh was a senior member of the cabinet of the Government of Ghana as Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2013 to 2017, and member of the National Security Council and the Armed Forces Council. She also served as Minister for Trade and Industry from 2009 to 2013. During her tenure as Foreign Minister from 2014 to 2015, she was the Chairperson of the Council of Ministers as well as Chairperson of the Mediation and Security Council of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). During her term as Minister for Trade and Industry, she was also a member of the Government’s economic management team, a member of the board of the Millennium Development Authority, a member of the National Development Planning Commission and the Chairperson of the Ghana Free Zones Board, according to UNSMIL.
Tetteh served as Member of Parliament in the National Democratic Congress (NDC) for the Awutu Senya Constituency from 2000 to 2005. She later returned to Parliament as the NDC Member of Parliament for the Awutu Senya West Constituency from 2013 to 2017. She was subsequently appointed as Co-Facilitator in the High-Level Forum for the Revitalisation of the Agreement for the resolution of the conflict in South Sudan.
Tetteh holds a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree from the University of Ghana, Legon and after her post-graduate legal studies at the Ghana School of Law was called to the Bar in 1992. She is fluent in English, Hungarian and Fante.