The Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for Côte d'Ivoire and head of the United Nations Operation in Côte d'Ivoire (UNOCI), Mrs Aïchatou Mindaoudou, on Wednesday, 2 July 2014, met the new Commander of the UN Force, Major-General Hafiz Masroor Ahmed.

Speaking at the end of the meeting, General Ahmed who arrived on 1st July 2014 to replace Major-General Muhammad Iqbal Asi, said that he was proud to be part of a team that is helping the Ivorian Government to find a lasting solution to the crisis in the country.



He said he intended to carry out a tour to meet the different contingents in the field in an effort to become familiar with the reality of their work and find out what their concerns are.

Mjor-General Hafiz Masroor Ahmed was nominated Force Commander of UNOCI on 19 May 2014 by the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.



Before his nomination, General Ahmed served as Commander-in-Chief of an infantry division and Chief of Staff of the Pakistan Army. From 1990 to 1991, he served as a member of the Pakistani Working Group on Saudi Arabia and from 2004 to 2005, General Ahmed was a United Nations Military Observer in Sierra Leone.

The new UNOCI Force Commander has two Masters degrees, one of war studies and the other in defence strategies obtained respectively from the University of Islamabad and the University of Balochistan in Pakistan. He also has a diploma from the Command and General Staff College in Fort Leavenworth, in the United States of America.





Major-General Hafiz Masroor Ahmed brings 30 years of military experience to the UN Mission.