Muhammad Shaaban (born 13 June 1942) was a career Egyptian diplomat who served as 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 ...

Under-Secretary-General An under-secretary-general of the United Nations (USG) is a senior official within the United Nations System, normally appointed by the General Assembly on the recommendation of the secretary-general for a renewable term of four years. Under-s ...

for General Assembly and Conference Management, until July 2012. He was appointed to the position by

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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 ...

in February 2007. Shaaban has acquired extensive knowledge about the United Nations. From 1984 to 1988, he served as

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

's representative to the Second Committee of the

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, the

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(UNDP), and several intergovernmental bodies and committees. Between 1985 and 1986, he acted as the Coordinator 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 ...

" developing countries and China. A seasoned diplomat, Shaaban served his government in various diplomatic capacities. From 1993 to 1997, he was Ambassador to Belgium and Luxembourg and Head of Egypt's Permanent Mission to the

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. In the following year, he served as Assistant Foreign Minister for African Affairs. Between 1998 and 2000, he was Ambassador to Denmark and Lithuania. From 2000 to 2001, he was Assistant Minister for Information, Research and Assessment and National Coordinator for Information, Research and Assessment. In the following three years, he served as Assistant Foreign Minister for European Affairs. Shaaban has been National Coordinator for Reform Initiatives in the Middle East since 2004. In this capacity, he maintained relations with his foreign partners and coordinated with various departments in the Egyptian government as well as political parties and civil society. He also advised the Foreign Minister on various issues. He obtained his Ph.D. in political science and his Master of Arts in international relations from Brussels University and since 2002 has been a visiting lecturer at the

Diplomatic Academy of London Westminster International University in Tashkent (WIUT; ) is an international university in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. It was founded in 16 January 2002 by the , the Ministry of Higher and Secondary Specialized Education of Uzbekistan, and the Univer ...

at the

University of Westminster The University of Westminster is a public university, public university based in London, United Kingdom. Founded in 1838 as the Royal Polytechnic Institution, it was the first Polytechnic (United Kingdom), polytechnic to open in London. The Po ...

. He speaks fluent English and French and has fair knowledge of Portuguese and Spanish.

References

External links

* http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2007/sga1042.doc.htm United Nations Press Release {{DEFAULTSORT:Shaaban, Muhammad Egyptian diplomats 1942 births Living people Under-secretaries-general of the United Nations Ambassadors of Egypt to Belgium Ambassadors of Egypt to Denmark Ambassadors of Egypt to Luxembourg Ambassadors of Egypt to Lithuania Ambassadors of Egypt to the European Union Egyptian officials of the United Nations Université libre de Bruxelles alumni Westminster International University in Tashkent alumni