Bekele-Thomas is currently the United Nations (UN) Secretary General’s Representative in South Africa in her capacity as Resident Coordinator and will replace longtime AUDA-Nepad CEO, Dr Ibrahim Mayaki.
Bekele-Thomas has a career steeped in development long before taking up her position in South Africa in May 2019.
She has previously served as a Senior Director in the office of the UN Secretary General and in various roles leading the UN Development Programme in Kenya and Benin.
Ethiopia President Sahle-Work Zewde congratulated her fellow Ethiopian national in a tweet saying she brings to the position a wealth of experience acquired at the UN, adding “women deliver”.
Our own Ethiopian Nardos Bekele Thomas @nardosbthomas has just been confirmed as the first woman CEO of @NEPAD_Agency by the #AU Assembly of HoS&G. Congratulations!! She brings to this position a wealth of experience acquired at the UN. Best wishes junior sis! Women deliver!!
— Sahle-Work Zewde (@SahleWorkZewde) February 6, 2022
It remains unclear when she will leave her current position but is likely to remain in South Africa where the Nepad Secretariat is based.
AU Heads of State and Government meeting to conclude today:
The 35th African Union (AU) summit going on in Addis Ababa has gathered heads of state and governments across the continent to discuss critical issues affecting Africa, and is calling for greater representation at the United Nations.
The opening event saw speeches delivered by at least three heads of state as well as AU Chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
More than seven decades after the birth of the United Nations, Africa remains poorly represented in the powerful UN Security Council.
“It is the right time to reform and revitalize the United Nations system to reflect current global realities and ensure that it is a more representative and accountable body, only fair representation and transparency in those institutions can usher in a just era in multilateralism. Consistent with our Ezulwini Consensus of 2005, we should collectively insist that Africa’s reasonable request for not less than two permanent seats, and five non-permanent seats in the UN Security Council be adopted,” said Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed at the meeting.
This year the theme of the assembly of the African Union is “Building Resilience in Nutrition on the African Continent: Accelerate the human capital, social and economic development.” The continent has been urged to place more emphasis on the growth of the agricultural sector.
The 35th AU summit has also seen the President Macky Sall of Senegal take over as the AU’s new chairperson for this year. He replaces the President of the Democratic Republic of Congo Felix Tshisekedi. In their speeches, both leaders reiterated the need for African unity.
“We need to step up our efforts and strengthen the spirit of solidarity to overcome once and for all the coronavirus and also ensure the economic recovery of countries and to ensure a better future of our planet,” said Tshisekedi.
Sall paid tribute to the founding fathers of the organization.
“Six decades on, their enlightened vision continues to inspire our efforts to live together and enlighten our march of solidarity towards the ideal of African integration,” he said.
The AU summit is a two-day event. It is expected to pass strong resolutions especially on the peace and security situation of the continent. – additional reporting by Reuters
