Amara Essy (20 December 1944 – 8 April 2025) was an Ivorian diplomat and politician. Close to

Félix Houphouët-Boigny Félix Houphouët-Boigny (; 18 October 1905 – 7 December 1993), affectionately called Papa Houphouët or Le Vieux ("The Old One"), was an Ivorian politician and physician who served as the first List of heads of state of Ivory Coast, pr ...

, he was Minister of Foreign Affairs of Côte d'Ivoire between 1990 and 2000, and in this capacity he served as President of the 49th Session of the

United Nations General Assembly The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; , AGNU or AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as its main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ. Currently in its Seventy-ninth session of th ...

between September 1994 and September 1995. Secretary-General of the

Organization of African Unity The Organisation of African Unity (OAU; , OUA) was an African intergovernmental organization established on 25 May 1963 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, with 33 signatory governments. Some of the key aims of the OAU were to encourage political and ec ...

(OAU) in 2001, he became Interim Chairman of the

African Union Commission The African Union Commission (AUC) acts as the executive/administrative branch or secretariat of the African Union. It is headed by a chairperson and consists of a number of Commissioners dealing with different areas of policy. The African ...

when it was created in July 2002.

Early life and education

Essy was born in

Bouaké Bouaké (or Bwake, N'Ko script, N’ko: ߓߐ߰ߞߍ߫ ''Bɔ̀ɔkɛ́'') is the second-largest list of cities in Ivory Coast, city in Ivory Coast, with a population of 740,000 (2021 census). It is the seat of three levels of subdivisions of Ivory ...

, Ivory Coast on 20 December 1944.CV at Essy's website
. He received a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

in public law and a higher education diploma in public law as well. He also held a diploma from the

Carnegie Endowment for International Peace The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (CEIP) is a nonpartisan international affairs think tank headquartered in Washington, D.C., with operations in Europe, South Asia, East Asia, and the Middle East, as well as the United States. Foun ...

in Switzerland.

Career

Essy began his professional career in 1970 as head of economic relations in the office of technical and economic cooperation. A year later, he was named first counselor of the Ivorian embassy in Brazil. He also served as counselor of the permanent mission of Côte d'Ivoire to the United Nations in New York from 1973 to 1975. He later served as permanent representative of Côte d'Ivoire to the European office of the UN in Geneva and to

UNIDO The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) (French: Organisation des Nations unies pour le développement industriel; French/Spanish acronym: ONUDI) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that assists countries in ...

in Vienna, Austria from October 1975 to September 1978. He also served as president of the

Group of 77 The Group of 77 (G77) at the United Nations (UN) is a coalition of developing country, developing countries, designed to promote its members' collective economic interests and create an enhanced joint negotiating capacity in the United Nations. T ...

in Geneva from 1977 to 1978 and was later named ambassador extraordinary and

plenipotentiary A ''plenipotentiary'' (from the Latin ''plenus'' "full" and ''potens'' "powerful") is a diplomat who has full powers—authorization to sign a treaty or convention on behalf of a sovereign. When used as a noun more generally, the word can als ...

to Switzerland. He was the Permanent Representative of Côte d'Ivoire to the United Nations from 1981 to 1990, and in January 1990 he was President of the

United Nations Security Council The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, an ...

. Simultaneously, he served as Ivorian ambassador to Argentina (1981–1983) and Cuba (1988–1990), respectively. In 1990 he became Minister of Foreign Affairs, and while in that position he served as

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

of the 49th Session of the

from 1994 to 1995. In February 1996, he was elected the mayor of

Kouassi-Datékro Kouassi-Datékro is a town in eastern Ivory Coast. It is a sub-prefectures of Ivory Coast, sub-prefecture and Communes of Ivory Coast, commune of Koun-Fao Department in Gontougo Region, Zanzan District. In 2014, the population of the sub-prefectu ...

, serving until 2000. In 1998 he gained the rank of Minister of State held it until 2000, while remaining Foreign Minister. Along with other ministers, he was detained following the military coup of 24 December 1999, but he was released on 28 December. He was replaced in the transitional government named on 4 January 2000. On 9 July 2001 he was elected secretary-general of the

Organisation of African Unity The Organisation of African Unity (OAU; , OUA) was an African intergovernmental organization established on 25 May 1963 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, with 33 signatory governments. Some of the key aims of the OAU were to encourage political and ec ...

(OAU) in

Lusaka Lusaka ( ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Zambia. It is one of the fastest-developing cities in southern Africa. Lusaka is in the southern part of the central plateau at an elevation of about . , the city's population was abo ...

, Zambia, with the task of leading the OAU's transformation into the

African Union The African Union (AU) is a continental union of 55 member states located on the continent of Africa. The AU was announced in the Sirte Declaration in Sirte, Libya, on 9 September 1999, calling for the establishment of the African Union. The b ...

over the course of one year. He took office as secretary-general in

Addis Ababa Addis Ababa (; ,) is the capital city of Ethiopia, as well as the regional state of Oromia. With an estimated population of 2,739,551 inhabitants as of the 2007 census, it is the largest city in the country and the List of cities in Africa b ...

, Ethiopia on 17September 2001. Essy served in that position until 9July 2002, when the OAU became the African Union and he was appointed interim Chairman of the Commission of the African Union. On 7 July 2003, Laurent Gbagbo decided to withdraw Essy Camara's candidacy for the post of President of the African Union (AU) Commission. Essy was initially a candidate for the post of chairman of the commission at the AU's July 2003 summit in

Maputo Maputo () is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Mozambique. Located near the southern end of the country, it is within of the borders with Eswatini and South Africa. The city has a population of 1,088,449 (as of 2017) distributed ov ...

, Mozambique, but he withdrew prior to the vote, leaving

Alpha Oumar Konaré Alpha Oumar Konaré (born 2 February 1946) is a Malian politician, professor, historian and archaeologist, who served as President of Mali for two five-year terms from 1992 to 2002 and was Chairperson of the African Union Commission from 2003 ...

, the former president of Mali, as the only candidate. Essy remained interim chairman of the commission until he was succeeded by Konaré on 16 September 2003. In 2009, Essy was appointed the African Union's envoy to Madagascar, to assess that country’s political crisis, and in 2012 he chaired the UN High Level Panel for the Algerian parliamentary elections. On 7 December 2014, he declared himself a candidate for the 2015 Ivorian presidential election, in dissent from the official position of the PDCI and other party candidates. He finally gave up his candidacy, shortly before the election on 7 October 2015. Essy was a member of the

Global Leadership Foundation The Global Leadership Foundation (GLF) is a non-profit, non-governmental organization consisting of a network of former heads of state/government and other distinguished leaders (GLF Members), who seek to assist developing countries in improving gov ...

(chaired by

F. W. de Klerk Frederik Willem de Klerk ( , ; 18 March 1936 – 11 November 2021) was a South African politician who served as the seventh and final state president of South Africa from 1989 to 1994 and as Deputy President of South Africa, deputy president a ...

) that works to support democratic leadership, prevent and resolve conflict through mediation, and promote good governance in the form of democratic institutions, open markets,

human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

, and the

rule of law The essence of the rule of law is that all people and institutions within a Body politic, political body are subject to the same laws. This concept is sometimes stated simply as "no one is above the law" or "all are equal before the law". Acco ...

. He also held the title of Honorary Professor of the New England Centre for International Studies at the

University of Bridgeport The University of Bridgeport (UB or UBPT) is a private university in Bridgeport, Connecticut, United States. The university is accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education. In 2021, the university was purchased by Goodwin Unive ...

in Connecticut.

Death

Essy died at his home in Abidjan, on 8 April 2025, at the age of 80. News Central concluded that Essy will be "remembered as a veteran statesman who helped shape Ivory Coast’s diplomatic engagement with the world and left a lasting legacy in African diplomacy."

Awards

Essy had been awarded numerous decorations as part of his diplomatic service, including the

National Order of the Ivory Coast The National Order of the Ivory Coast (sometimes simply mentioned as National Order) is the highest state order of knighthood of the Ivory Coast. History The Order was founded on 10 April 1961 to celebrate the independence of the Ivory Coast whi ...

, the Grand Cross of the Lion of Senegal, the Grand Cross of Rio Branco of Brazil and the National Order of San Carlos of Colombia.

Notes

References

External links

BBC Profile
10 July 2001 {{DEFAULTSORT:Essy, Amara 1944 births 2025 deaths Chairpersons of the African Union Commission Presidents of the United Nations General Assembly Ivorian diplomats Permanent representatives of Ivory Coast to the United Nations Office at Geneva People from Bouaké Ministers of foreign affairs of Ivory Coast Ambassadors of Ivory Coast to Argentina Ambassadors of Ivory Coast to Cuba Ambassadors of Ivory Coast to Switzerland