Dr. Mohamed Ibn Chambas served as Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Office for West Africa and the Sahel (UNOWAS) from 2014 to 2021.

During that period, he was also Chairman of the Cameroon-Nigeria Mixed Commission (CNMC) which was established to facilitate implementation of the judgment of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on the Cameroon-Nigeria boundary dispute.

He has extensive experience from a long and distinguished career in governmental and international service. Before joining UNOWAS, he was the African Union-United Nations Joint Special Representative for Darfur and Head of the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur.

From 2010 to 2013, he was Secretary-General of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States.  Prior to that, he served as President of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), from 2006 to 2009, and Executive Secretary, from 2002 to 2005.

From the time he joined the Government of Ghana in 1987, he served as Deputy Foreign Minister and Deputy Minister in Charge of Tertiary Education at different periods. He was also a First Deputy Speaker and Member of Parliament of Ghana.

From the beginning of the outbreak of the Liberian civil war, he was involved in ECOWAS mediation efforts till the Accra Comprehensive Peace Agreement (ACPA) of 2003. He was similarly involved in ECOWAS mediation efforts in several transitions from military to civilian rule in a number of West African countries.

Mohamed Ibn Chambas holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science from the University of Ghana, a master’s degree and a Doctor of Philosophy Degree from Cornell University and a Jurist Doctorate Degree from Case Western Reserve University School of Law, both institutions in the United States. He was admitted to the Bar of the State of Ohio and the Republic of Ghana.

Dr. Chambas currently serves as the African Union (AU) High Representative for Silencing the Guns, since his appointment in March 2023 and the Chairman of the AU High Level Panel on Sudan (HLP-Sudan) which took effect in January 2024.

He also serves as Chairman of the ECOWAS Trade Liberalization Scheme Task Force, Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Center (KAIPTC Accra), Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Institute for Strategic Studies (ISS Africa), member of the Board of Governors of the Center for Humanitarian Dialogue (HD Geneva), member of the Board of Governors of the Swedish International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI Stockholm), and a member of the West Africa Elders Forum (WAEF/Goodluck Ebele Jonathan Foundation Abuja).