Abdoulaye Mar Dieye of Senegal has been appointed as the Special Coordinator for development in the Sahel at the level of Under Secretary-General. Mr. Dieye is a macroeconomist and development expert with strong leadership experience in managing complex development portfolios over the last 35 years. 

Through Security Council Resolution 2391 (2017) and the ECOSOC resolution 2020/2 (2020), Member States called for strengthening collective and integrated engagement across the Sahel region to arrest the deteriorating situation, recognizing the inter-linked nature of the security, humanitarian and development crises. The resolutions reaffirmed the centrality of the United Nations integrated strategy for the Sahel (UNISS) and its Support Plan (UNSP) in providing a comprehensive framework to strengthen governance, security and development in the region. In response, the Secretary-General is appointing the Special Coordinator who will lead collective efforts, including financing, to implement the UNISS and its Support Plan for a scaled-up UN  development response for the Sahel, drawing on all the UN’s assets in the region, engaging and supporting efforts of the G5 Sahel, the Sahel-Alliance, the Ministerial Coordination Platform, the ECOWAS, the African Union, the European Union, the World Bank, and the African Development Bank.

Mr. Dieye has served as United Nations Assistant Secretary General (ASG) and Special Adviser to the UNDP Administrator from 2019 to 2020. He was previously UNDP Assistant Administrator and Director for the UNDP Bureau for Policy and Programmes Support from 2018 to 2019, and as ASG and UNDP Assistant Administrator and Director of the Regional Bureau for Africa from 2013 to 2018. He also served as Chief of Staff of the UNDP Administrator, and Director of UNDP’s Executive Office from 2009 to 2013, and as Deputy Assistant Administrator and Deputy Regional Director of the UNDP Regional Bureau for Arab States from 2006 to 2009. Prior to that, Mr. Dieye served as Deputy Special Representative of the UN Secretary General for the United Nations Operations in Cote d’Ivoire (UNOCI), as UN Resident Coordinator, UN Designated Official for Security; Humanitarian Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.

Prior to joining the UN, Mr. Dieye held several senior positions within the Government of Senegal, 
as Chief of the General Planning Division and Technical Inspector in the Ministry of Planning and 
Cooperation. He led the design of national development plans and international negotiations for  development financing. 

M. Dieye is Ingénieur Statisticien Economiste graduated from the Ecole Nationale de la Statistique et de l’Administration Economique (ENSAE-CESD) of the Institut National de la Statistique et des Etudes Economiques (INSEE), Paris. He studied Advanced and Specialized Mathematics, at Lycée National du Parc, Lyon, France; and also holds a Masters in Development Studies – specialized in Economic Policy and Planning-EPP - from the Institute of Social Studies (ISS), Den Haag, The Netherlands.