Hédi Annabi (4 September 1943 – 12 January 2010) was a

Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

n diplomat and Special Representative of the

United Nations Secretary-General The secretary-general of the United Nations (UNSG or UNSECGEN) 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 ...

, Head of the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (

MINUSTAH The United Nations Stabilisation Mission in Haiti (), also known as MINUSTAH, an acronym of its French name, was a UN peacekeeping mission in Haiti from 2004 to 2017. It was composed of 2,366 military personnel and 2,533 police, supported by int ...

). He was previously an Assistant-Secretary-General at the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

Department of Peacekeeping Operations The Department of Peace Operations (DPO) (French: ''Département des opérations de maintien de la paix'') is a department of the United Nations charged with the planning, preparation, management, and direction of United Nations peacekeeping, ...

, from 1997 to 2007. Annabi died in the

2010 Haiti earthquake The 2010 Haiti earthquake was a catastrophic Moment magnitude scale, magnitude 7.0 Mw earthquake that struck Haiti at 16:53 local time (21:53 UTC) on Tuesday, 12 January 2010. The epicenter was near the town of Léogâne, Ouest (departm ...

in which the MINUSTAH headquarters in

Port-au-Prince Port-au-Prince ( ; ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Haiti, most populous city of Haiti. The city's population was estimated at 1,200,000 in 2022 with the metropolitan area estimated at a population of 2,618,894. The me ...

collapsed.

Early life and education

Annabi was born on 4 September 1943. He received a degree in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

from the ''

Institut d'Études Politiques de Paris Sciences Po () or Sciences Po Paris, also known as the Paris Institute of Political Studies (), is a public research university located in Paris, France, that holds the status of ''grande école'' and the legal status of . The university's unde ...

'', a degree in English language and literature from the University of Tunis, and a master's degree (''diplôme'') in international relations from the

Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies The Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (, abbreviated IHEID), commonly referred to as Geneva Graduate Institute, is a graduate-level research university in Geneva, Switzerland dedicated to international relations, dev ...

(''Institut universitaire de hautes études internationales et du developpement'') in

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

Career

Prior to joining the

, Annabi was a member of Tunisia's Foreign Service, where he served as diplomatic adviser to the

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

before being appointed chairman and general manager of the National News Agency ('' Agence Tunis Afrique Presse'') in 1979. His tenure at the agency lasted until 1981. Annabi joined the United Nations in February 1981. He served as the principal officer in the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs in

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...

. He was subsequently appointed director of the Office. Between 1982 and 1991, he was closely associated with the efforts of the Secretary-General and his Special Representative to contribute to a comprehensive political settlement of the

Cambodia Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...

n problem. Following the conclusion of the Paris Agreements in October 1991, he was involved in the preparations for the establishment of the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (

UNTAC The United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC) was a United Nations peacekeeping operation in Cambodia in 1992–93 formed following the 1991 Paris Peace Accords. This was the first occasion in which the UN List of territories ...

). Annabi joined the

(DPKO) in 1992 and served as Director of the

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

Division from 1993 to 1996. In addition, he was designated as Officer-in-Charge of the Office of Operations of DPKO in June 1996. He was appointed Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations on 28 January 1997. In September 2007 he was appointed head of the

United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti The United Nations Stabilisation Mission in Haiti (), also known as MINUSTAH, an acronym of its French name, was a UN peacekeeping mission in Haiti from 2004 to 2017. It was composed of 2,366 military personnel and 2,533 police, supported by int ...

(MINUSTAH).

Death

Immediately following the

earthquake An earthquakealso called a quake, tremor, or tembloris the shaking of the Earth's surface resulting from a sudden release of energy in the lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from those so weak they ...

of 12 January 2010, Annabi was reported to be missing after the UN headquarters in Haiti, the Christopher Hotel in

, collapsed. Although later prematurely confirmed dead by President

René Préval René Garcia Préval (; 17 January 1943 – 3 March 2017) was a Haitian Politics of Haiti, politician and agronomist who twice was President of Haiti, from early 1996 to early 2001, and again from mid-2006 to mid-2011. He was also List of Prime ...

, he was still reported as missing until 16 January 2010.Delva, J. G. (2010)
U.N. mission chief in Haiti killed in quake
''Reuters''. Retrieved 17 January 2010. On 16 January 2010, Annabi was confirmed by the UN Mission in Haiti to have died, after his body was recovered from the rubble of buildings in

.Clinton visits quake-hit Haitians
''BBC News''. 16 January 2010. Retrieved 16 January 2010. In confirming 22 UN peacekeepers dead from the collapse,

UN Secretary-General The secretary-general of the United Nations (UNSG or UNSECGEN) 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 ...

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 the South Korean minister ...

said, in a statement issued by his spokesperson, that he was “deeply saddened” to confirm the deaths of his Special Representative to Haiti, Hédi Annabi, as well as his Deputy Luiz Carlos da Costa and Acting Police Commissioner Doug Coates of the

Royal Canadian Mounted Police The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; , GRC) is the Law enforcement in Canada, national police service of Canada. The RCMP is an agency of the Government of Canada; it also provides police services under contract to 11 Provinces and terri ...

. “In every sense of the word, they gave their lives for peace,” he said. The Secretary-General characterized Annabi as a “true citizen of the world” for whom the UN was his life.Press Conference by Emergency Relief Coordinator on Situation in Haiti

. 14 January 2010. Retrieved 14 January 2010.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Annabi, Hedi 1944 births 2010 deaths Tunis University alumni Sciences Po alumni Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies alumni Tunisian diplomats Tunisian officials of the United Nations Victims of the 2010 Haiti earthquake 21st-century Tunisian people 21st-century diplomats