NEW YORK – United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has appointed a Liberian national and international law specialist, Mr. Cornelius Nagbe, to the UN Panel of Experts on Yemen, an investigative body of independent experts assisting the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 2140 (2014) to implement its mandate, including on sanctions monitoring.
In a letter dated 17 May 2022 from the Secretary-General addressed to the President of the Security Council, Mr. Guterres referred to resolution 2624 (2022), adopted on 28 February 2022, by which the Council decided to extend the mandate of the Panel of Experts on Yemen until 28 March 2023, and requested him to take the necessary administrative measures to that effect.
The Secretary-General informed the President of the Security Council that, after consulting with the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 2140 (2014), he had accordingly appointed the following experts to the Panel of Experts on Yemen: Mr. Debi Prasad Dash, finance (India), Mr. Cornelius Nagbe, international humanitarian law (Liberia) and Mr. Wolf-Christian Paes, arms (Germany). He also designated Mr. Dash to serve as the coordinator of the Panel.
Mr. Nagbe’s appointment to the Panel of Experts on Yemen follows a competitive process started in January 2022 by the UN Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs (DPPA) and culminating in review and clearance of his and the other experts’ candidacies by the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 2140 (2014). As the international humanitarian law expert, Mr. Nagbe will contribute to the monitoring of sanctions measures and investigation of alleged sanctions violations or non-compliance as mandated by Security Council resolutions related to Yemen. He will also contribute to the reports of the Panel to the 2140 Sanctions Committee and the Council.
Prior to his appointment to the Panel of Experts on Yemen, Mr. Nagbe worked as a Consultant on Children and Armed Conflict in the South Asia Regional Office of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). He also recently provided expertise to the American Bar Association Center for Human Rights as an Expert on Compliance with International Humanitarian Law in the Middle East and North Africa. Mr. Nagbe earlier served at UN Headquarters in New York as Human Rights Programme Management Officer in the Counter-Terrorism Centre of the UN Office of Counter Terrorism (UNOCT). Before that, Mr. Nagbe delivered field assignments in Somalia, Kenya, Iraq, and South Sudan with the African Union Mission for Somalia (AMISOM), the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI), and the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS).
In his home country Liberia, Mr. Nagbe has served as a strategic communications and outreach manager on democracy and governance projects funded by the World Bank and USAID, including as Communications Coordinator and technical secretariat member of the high-profile Governance and Economic Management Assistance Program (GEMAP); as administrative manager of the office of the House Majority Leader, Legislature of Liberia; as an electoral assistance and information specialist at the UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) and the National Elections Commission (NEC); as information lead for Save the Children; and, as a manager, writer, and consultant in the media and civil society.
Mr. Nagbe holds a Master’s in International Human Rights Law from Oxford University and Master’s in International Relations and Bachelor’s in Mass Communication from University of Liberia.
–Link to UN SG’s letter appointing the Panel: https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/3974469?ln=en
