Special Envoy of the Secretary-General


Special Envoy of the Secretary-General is a title used by certain United Nations officials who are appointed by the Secretary-General of the United Nations to deal with specific issues.
Examples include the SESGs on HIV/AIDS in Africa, on LRA-affected areas, on indigenous people, to a specific country, et cetera. George H. W. Bush, the 41st president of the United States, was chosen by the UN to serve as the Special Envoy for South Asia in December 2005. Others include Bill Clinton, who was named the Special Envoy for Haiti in 2009, and Gordon Brown, who was named the Special Envoy for Global Education in July 2012. For much of 2012, Kofi Annan, the seventh Secretary-General of the United Nations, was Joint Special Envoy of the United Nations and the Arab League for Syria. There are many other people of different backgrounds who serve the Secretary-General.

Current Special Envoys

Special Envoys of the Secretary-General active as of 2025 include:

Personal Envoys

Personal Envoys of the Secretary-General active as of 2025 include:
  • María Angela Holguín Cuéllar, Personal Envoy of the Secretary-General on Cyprus, appointed 2 March 2025.
  • Staffan de Mistura, Personal Envoy of the Secretary-General for Western Sahara, appointed 6 October 2021.
  • , Personal Envoy of the Secretary-General for Mozambique, appointed 8 July 2019.

Former Special Envoys

The UN has appointed a number of Special Envoys, including:
Name TitleDate of Appointment
Mark CarneyUnited Nations special envoy for climate action and financeMarch 2020
Mahmoud MohieldinSpecial Envoy on Financing the 2030 Agenda4 February 2020
Maria-Francesca SpatolisanoActing Special Envoy of the Secretary-General on TechnologyMarch 2019
Christine Schraner BurgenerSpecial Envoy of the Secretary-General on Myanmar28 April 2018
Michael BloombergSpecial Envoy for Climate Action, Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Cities and Climate Change 5 March 2018, 31 January 2014
Martin GriffithsSpecial Envoy of the Secretary-General for Yemen16 February 2018
Maria Soledad Cisternas ReyesSpecial Envoy on Disability and Accessibility20 June 2017
Macharia Kamau and Mary RobinsonSpecial Envoys of the Secretary-General for El Niño and Climate20 May 2016
Ismail Ould Cheikh AhmedSpecial Envoy of the Secretary-General for Yemen25 April 2015
Said DjinnitSpecial Envoy of the Secretary-General to the Great Lakes Region17 July 2014
Staffan de MisturaSpecial Envoy of the Secretary-General for Syria10 July 2014.
Hiroute Guebre SellassieSpecial Envoy of the Secretary-General for the Sahel30 April 2014
Han Seung-sooSpecial Envoy of the Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction and Water19 December 2013
Kofi AnnanJoint Special Envoy for the United Nations and the Arab League for Syria23 February 2012
Haile MenkeriosSpecial Envoy of the Secretary-General for Sudan and South Sudan29 July 2011
Bill ClintonSpecial Envoy for HaitiMay 2009
George H. W. BushSpecial Envoy for South Asia30 December 2005
Terje Rød-LarsenSpecial Envoy of the Secretary-General for the Implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 15593 January 2005
Virendra DayalSpecial Envoy of the Secretary-General for facilitating the Negotiations to end apartheid in South Africa1992
George C. MarshallSpecial Envoy for negotiating the Chinese Communist Party and the Nationalists into a unified government1945