Simon Munzu (born 1949,

Nguti (Kupe-Manenguba) Nguti is a town and commune in Cameroon. The town covers an area of 1.851 km2. Nguti once had an airstrip, used for the transport of medicine and equipment, but is no longer in use.Nguti is nestled in Kupe Muanenguba Division, Southwest Regi ...

Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...

) was the United Nations Secretary-General's Deputy Special Representative for

Côte d'Ivoire Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire and officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital city of Yamoussoukro is located in the centre of the country, while its largest city and ...

from October 2014 to August 2016. Prior to this appointment of 7 October 2014 by

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 ...

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 ...

, Munzu served 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 ...

in various capacities.

Biographical Information

Munzu has extensive experience in political affairs, human rights, law, academia and management. Munzu joined the United Nations in 1995 as a volunteer after working for more than thirteen years in academia. He has held several high-level positions with the United Nations including Acting Head of the United Nations Human Rights Field Operation in Rwanda, Senior Policy Adviser with the United Nations Development Programme, Representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Côte d'Ivoire and Director of Political Affairs in the United Nations Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Education

He attended St Joseph College Sasse, where he obtained his GCE Ordinary Level. At age 19, he attended Cameroon College of Arts, Science and Technology (CCAST) in Bambili (October 1968 to June 1970). Due to his brilliant performance in the General Certificate of Education Examination (GCE) Ordinary and GCE Advance Levels, he was awarded a government scholarship to study in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. Munzu holds a doctorate degree in law from the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

Master of Laws (LL.M.) degree from the University of London; and law degree from

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

He has been a member of the Bar in England since 1973. One of the Founders of the 1996 Constitution of Cameroon: As National Secretary for Economic and Social Affairs in the National Secretariat of the CPDM Central Committee, he took part in the deliberations of Tripartite Conference convened by President Biya in

Yaoundé Yaoundé (; , ) is the Capital city, capital city of Cameroon. It has a population of more than 2.8 million which makes it the second-largest city in the country after the port city Douala. It lies in the Centre Region (Cameroon), Centre Region o ...

from 30 October to 18 November 1991. He was selected by the Tripartite Conference made up of an 11-member Technical Committee Drafting of the Constitution of Cameroon, made up of seven Francophones and four Anglophones and chaired by Professor Joseph Owona. As a CPDM member of the technical Committee in charge in drafting the constitution of Cameroon, Dr Munzu strongly advocated the return of the country to a federal system of government because he sincerely believed that such a system would be the best framework for recognizing, upholding and protecting the Anglophone identity and giving Anglophones their full rights as citizens of this country. In April 1993, he convened the first All Anglophone Conference (AAC) in

Buea Buea is the capital of the Southwest Region (Cameroon), Southwest Region of Cameroon. The city is located in Fako (department), Fako Division, on the eastern slopes of Mount Cameroon, and has a population of about 800.000 inhabitants as of 2 ...

. The purpose of convening was for Anglophones to arrive at a common set of proposals for asserting and safeguarding Anglophone interests, to be submitted and defended at the impending national constitutional talks announced for March 1993, by the President. The AAC was massively attended, hugely representative and immensely successful and the federalism was adopted as the form of the state to be proposed by Anglophones at the announced national constitutional forum.

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Ambazonia Ambazonia, alternatively the Federal Republic of Ambazonia or the State of Ambazonia, is a political entity proclaimed by Anglophone separatists seeking independence from Cameroon. The separatists claim that Ambazonia should consist of the N ...

Cameroonian officials of the United Nations 1949 births Living people Alumni of the University of London Alumni of the University of Cambridge {{UN-bio-stub