Hany Abdel-Aziz (Arabic: هاني عبد العزيز ), (born in

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

in 1946) was the Special Representative for

Western Sahara Western Sahara ( '; ; ) is a disputed territory on the northwest coast and in the Maghreb region of North and West Africa. About 20% of the territory is controlled by the self-proclaimed Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), while the r ...

of the

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 ...

and the Head of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (

MINURSO The United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara ( ar, بعثة الأمم المتحدة لتنظيم استفتاء في الصحراء الغربية; french: Mission des Nations Unies pour l'Organisation d'un Référendum au ...

) between 2009 and 2012.

Career

Hany graduated from the

Egyptian Military Academy The Egyptian Military Academy ( ar, الكلية الحربية) is the oldest and most prominent military academy in Egypt. Traditionally, graduates of the Military Academy are commissioned as officers in the Egyptian Army. However, they may se ...

in 1964, and received an advanced degree in

Economics Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...

from the

Cairo University Cairo University ( ar, جامعة القاهرة, Jāmi‘a al-Qāhira), also known as the Egyptian University from 1908 to 1940, and King Fuad I University and Fu'ād al-Awwal University from 1940 to 1952, is Egypt's premier public university ...

in 1975. He started off as an Arabic interpreter in

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

in 1981, and went on to serve in peacekeeping missions at

Democratic Republic of 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 ...

Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...

Central African Republic The Central African Republic (CAR; ; , RCA; , or , ) is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Chad to the north, Sudan to the northeast, South Sudan to the southeast, the DR Congo to the south, the Republic of th ...

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...

and

Burundi Burundi (, ), officially the Republic of Burundi ( rn, Repuburika y’Uburundi ; Swahili language, Swahili: ''Jamuhuri ya Burundi''; French language, French: ''République du Burundi'' ), is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley at the ...

, primarily in administrative roles. He was in charge of recruiting private forces to help set up and assist the newly formed

United Nations Mission in the Central African Republic and Chad The United Nations Mission in the Central African Republic and Chad (MINURCAT) was a United Nations peacekeeping mission established by the United Nations Security Council on September 25, 2007 to provide a multidimensional presence of up to 350 po ...

in 2007. He then served as the director of Mission Support at the

United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo 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 ...

. He was appointed as the Special Representative for MINURSO on 12 October 2009 by United Nations Secretary General

Ban Ki Moon Ban Ki-moon (; ; born 13 June 1944) is a South Korean politician and diplomat who served as the eighth secretary-general of the United Nations between 2007 and 2016. Prior to his appointment as secretary-general, Ban was his country's Minister ...

. He succeeded United Kingdom Diplomatic Services officer Julian Harston, who was made the Director of the UN Office in Belgrade. He along with Christopher W.S. Ross, Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy for Western Sahara were instrumental in re-uniting about 13000 people who were displaced to different refugee camps as a result of the conflict. He completed his assignment on 30 April 2012 and was replaced by

Wolfgang Weisbrod-Weber Wolfgang Weisbrod-Weber (born in Germany in 1955) was the United Nations Secretary-General's Special Representative and Head of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) on 15 June 2012. Weisbrod-Weber has extensive ...

. There were allegations that the criticisms of Morocco's role in the

2011 Western Saharan protests The 2011 Western Saharan protests began on 25 February 2011 as a reaction to the failure of police to prevent anti- Sahrawi looting in the city of Dakhla, Western Sahara, and blossomed into protests across the territory. They were related to the ...

, in a report that he sent to the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations, were added on later.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abdel-Aziz, Hany 1946 births Egyptian officials of the United Nations Living people Diplomats from Cairo Cairo University alumni Egyptian Military Academy alumni