Bintou Keita (born 1958) is a

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

diplomat from Guinea. She is an expert in conflict resolution. Since January 2021, she has been the

Special Representative of the Secretary-General A Special Representative of the Secretary-General is a highly respected expert who has been appointed by the Secretary-General of the United Nations to represent them in meetings with heads of state on critical human rights issues. The representativ ...

in the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

Early life and education

Keita was born in

Guinea Guinea ( ),, fuf, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫, italic=no, Gine, wo, Gine, nqo, ߖߌ߬ߣߍ߫, bm, Gine officially the Republic of Guinea (french: République de Guinée), is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the we ...

in 1958. Her education included a degree in Social Economy from the University of Paris. She went to the

Paris Dauphine University Paris Dauphine University - PSL (french: Université Paris-Dauphine, also known as Paris Dauphine - PSL or Dauphine - PSL) is a public research university based in Paris, France. It is one of the 13 universities formed by the division of the ancie ...

to obtain her masters degree in business administration and management.

Career

She began working for the United Nations in 1989. In 2018 she left her job as Deputy Joint Special Envoy for the ( African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID). Her old role was taken by

Anita Kiki Gbeho Anita Kiki Gbeho (born 1964) is a Ghanaian United Nations official who has been the Deputy Special Envoy for the United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM) since 2020. Early life and education Gbeho was born in Accra, Ghana. Her fathe ...

. In 2019, Keita became the Assistant Secretary-General for Africa. She gave an interview where she spoke about the advantages of increasing the number of women in the military. Her father was in the military and he had encouraged her to join. Now she observing the military engaged in Africa and she noted that there were situations where women or a mixed team could perform tasks that would nearly defeat a force made up only of men. At present women only make up 5% of uniformed personnel. left, Keita (on the right) in Kalemie, 2021. In January 2021, she was appointed to lead the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

MONUSCO The United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo or MONUSCO, an acronym based on its French name , is a United Nations peacekeeping force in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) which was estab ...

and to be the

UN Secretary General The secretary-general of the United Nations (UNSG or SG) is the chief administrative officer of the United Nations and head of the United Nations Secretariat, one of the United Nations System#Six principal organs, six principal organs of the Un ...

's Special Representative in the

. She succeeded the Algerian UN official

Leila Zerrougui Leila Zerrougui (born 1956) is an Algerian legal expert on human rights and administration of justice. She has served as the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in the Democratic ...

. In April she issued a statement to the press. While accepting that people had the right to criticise MONUSCO she felt that some of the points were unfair. She wrote that "relationship between the United Nations and the Democratic Republic of the Congo is of an intensity and complexity that I have rarely seen elsewhere."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Keita, Bintou 1958 births Living people Guinean diplomats Guinean people Guinean women diplomats Paris Dauphine University alumni Special Representatives of the Secretary-General of the United Nations United Nations officials University of Paris alumni