News – Wednesday 31^st May 2006

New UN Permanent Representative of Ethiopia presents letters of Accreditation

The new permanent Representative of Ethiopia to the United Nations, Ato Dawit Yohannes, yesterday presented his letters of accreditation to the UN Secretary General, Mr Kofi Annan.

Prior to his appointment, Dawit served two terms as the Speaker of Ethiopia’s House of People’s Representatives, and has held a number of other positions, including Chairperson of the Afro-Arab Parliamentary Union; Chairperson of the African Parliamentary Union Executive Committee; board member of the Justice and Legal System Research Institute; Secretary of the Constitutional Commission of the Transitional Government of Ethiopia; and Vice-President of the Election Commission.

Dawit attended Addis Ababa University, Georgetown University and Southern University in Washington, DC, before obtaining a Master of Laws degree from the University of Amsterdam in 2000.  He is fluent in Amharic and English.

He was born in Addis Ababa on 10^th October 1956 and is married with three children.

ENDS