Salim Ahmed Salim (, , born 23 January 1942) is a Tanzanian politician and diplomat who has worked in the international diplomatic arena since the early 1960s. He served as prime minister for one year, from 1984 to 1985.

Early life

Salim was born in what was then considered the Sultanate of Zanzibar to Sheikh Ahmed Salim Riyami, an ethnic Arab of Omani descent while his mother was a local-born mixed-descent Tanzanian, born to an ethnic Arab father and a mixed Afro-Arab mother.

Education

He was educated at Lumumba College in Zanzibar and later pursued his undergraduate studies at the St. Stephen's College of the University of Delhi and obtained his master's degree in International Affairs from the School of International and Public Affairs at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

in New York. He became a student activist in the 1950s and was founder and first Vice President of the All-Zanzibar Student Union.

Positions held in Tanzania

* Chief editor of a Zanzibar daily paper, Secretary General of the All-Zanzibar Journalists Organisation 1963–1964 * Minister for Foreign Affairs 1980–1984 * Prime Minister of Tanzania 1984–1985 * Deputy Prime Minister of Tanzania 1986–1989 * Minister for Defence and National Service 1986–1989 * President of the Julius K. Nyerere Foundation 2001 – current * Member of the Central Committee of the ruling political party in Tanzania (Chama Cha Mapinduzi). * Member of the Tanzania Commission for Constitution Review 2012–2014

Diplomatic positions held

* Deputy chief representative of the Zanzibar Office based in Havana, Cuba 1961–1962 * Tanzania Ambassador to the Arab Republic of

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 ...

1964–1965 * Tanzanian High Commissioner (i.e. Ambassador) to

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

1965–1968 * Tanzania Ambassador to the People’s Republic of China 1969–1970 * Permanent Representative of Tanzania to the United Nations 1970–1980 * Tanzania Ambassador to

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

1970–1980 (served while at the UN) * Tanzanian High Commissioner to

Guyana Guyana, officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern coast of South America, part of the historic British West Indies. entry "Guyana" Georgetown, Guyana, Georgetown is the capital of Guyana and is also the co ...

, Barbados,

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago, officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean, comprising the main islands of Trinidad and Tobago, along with several List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, smaller i ...

1970–1980 (served while at the UN) * Secretary-general of the OAU 1989–2001 *

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 ...

special envoy on the Darfur Conflict 2004–2008

Positions at the United Nations

* June/July 1972: Chairman of the United Nations Special Mission to Niue * August 1972: Drafting Committee of the Political Committee of the Ministerial Conference of non-Aligned States, Georgetown, Guyana * 1972 to 1980: Chairman of the United Nations Special Committee on Decolonization (Committee of 24). * April 1973: Chairman of the Political Committee of International Conference of Experts in Support of the Victims of Colonialism and Apartheid in Southern Africa, Oslo * 1975: Chairman of the Security Council's Committee on Sanctions against Southern Rhodesia * 1976: 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 ...

* 1979: President 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 ...

for the Thirty-fourth, Sixth emergency special, Seventh emergency special, and Eleventh special sessions. * 1981: President of the International Conference on Sanctions against South Africa. * 1984: President of the Paris International Conference Against Apartheid.

Campaign for UN Secretary General

In 1981, Salim Ahmed Salim ran for

Secretary-General of the United Nations 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 ...

against the two-term incumbent, Kurt Waldheim of Austria. Salim was then serving as

President of the United Nations General Assembly The president of the United Nations General Assembly is a position voted by representatives in the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on a yearly basis. The president is the chair and presiding officer of the General Assembly. Election ...

, and he had the support 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 ...

and the

Non-Aligned Movement The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) is a forum of 121 countries that Non-belligerent, are not formally aligned with or against any major power bloc. It was founded with the view to advancing interests of developing countries in the context of Cold W ...

. He could also count on China to veto Waldheim in the Security Council. However, Salim was opposed by the Reagan administration in the United States, which regarded him as an anti-American radical who was hostile to

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

and supported Palestinian statehood. The Soviet Union also opposed Salim for his activism and his pro-China stance. Salim won the first round of voting with 11 votes to Waldheim's 10. As expected, Salim was vetoed by the United States, and Waldheim was vetoed by China. Salim's support dropped after the first round, as some countries believed that the United States was implacably opposed to Salim, while China had previously dropped its veto of Waldheim in 1971 and 1976. However, neither country would relent, as the selection deadlocked for 6 weeks over a total of 16 rounds of voting. The deadlock finally ended when Waldheim and Salim both withdrew from the race, opening up the selection to other candidates. In 1996, Salim was again mentioned for the office. Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali was running unopposed for a second term and had the support of 14 of the 15 members of the Security Council. The United States was opposed to Boutros-Ghali and offered to support any other African candidate, including Salim Ahmed Salim. However, France made it clear that it would veto Salim, so he was not nominated.

Other diplomatic positions

At the continental level, following the invitation of the President of the African Development Bank, he has since March, 2002 been acting as African Water Ambassador whose responsibilities include advocacy, sensitization, and mobilization of support on African water issues. He also serves as: * Chairman, Advisory Board, Institute of Security Studies (ISS) based in Pretoria, South Africa * Chairman of the International Board of Trustees, Africa Humanitarian Action (AHI) based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia * Member and Chairman of the Advisory Board of Trustees of the Institute of Peace, Leadership and Governance, Africa University, Mutare, Zimbabwe * Member of the Panel of the Wise, a consultative body of the

At international level, Salim serves on the following boards, panels and commissions: * Co-chair, Eminent Persons Group (EPG) on Small Arms and Light Weapons (Secretariat, based in Washington DC) * Member of the Board at the

Mo Ibrahim Foundation The Mo Ibrahim Foundation is an African non-grant foundation founded in 2006 by businessman Mo Ibrahim. Headquartered in London and Dakar, Senegal, it works to strengthen governance and leadership in Africa through its key initiatives: * Ibra ...

, an organisation which supports good governance and great leadership in Africa. Salim is also Chair of the Foundation’s

Ibrahim Prize The Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership, also known as the Ibrahim Prize, is an annual prize awarded to a former Assembly_of_the_African_Union#Members_of_the_Assembly, African Executive (government), Executive head of state, Head ...

Committee, having taken over from the inaugural chair,

Kofi Annan Kofi Atta Annan (8 April 193818 August 2018) was a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh secretary-general of the United Nations from 1997 to 2006. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize. He was the founder a ...

in 2011. * Member of the Global Leadership Foundation, an organization which 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 and the rule of law. It does so by making available, discreetly and in confidence, the experience of former leaders to today’s national leaders. It is a not-for-profit organization composed of former heads of government, senior governmental and international organization officials who work closely with Heads of Government on governance-related issues of concern to them. * Member of the Board of the South Centre (Secretariat based in Geneva) * Member, Policy Advisory Commission, World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) * Member of the Foundation Council, Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue based in Geneva * Eminent Member of the Sergio Vieira de Mello Foundation

Honours and awards

Honours

Awards

*2014: Son of Africa Award by the

Honorary degrees

Recipient of the 2006 Martin Luther King "Drum Major for Justice" award.

References

External links

*
The South Center – Geneva

Press release on Darfur

- dated 16 November 1995 , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Salim, Salim Ahmed 1942 births Living people Chama Cha Mapinduzi MPs Prime ministers of Tanzania Ministers of foreign affairs of Tanzania Delhi University alumni School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University alumni Presidents of the United Nations General Assembly Permanent representatives of Tanzania to the United Nations High commissioners of Tanzania to Barbados High commissioners of Tanzania to Guyana High commissioners of Tanzania to Trinidad and Tobago High commissioners of Tanzania to Jamaica High commissioners of Tanzania to India Ambassadors of Tanzania to Egypt Ambassadors of Tanzania to Cuba Ambassadors of Tanzania to China Tanzanian Muslims Commanders of the National Order of Mali Recipients of the Order of the Companions of O. R. Tambo Tanzanian people of Omani descent Recipients of orders, decorations, and medals of Senegal Recipients of orders, decorations, and medals of Sudan