H.E. Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed

H.E. Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed is a Mauritanian diplomat who was elected Secretary-General of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on 27 August 2026, and brings over 35 years of experience in humanitarian, development, and peace operations to the role. Before his election, he most recently served as Strategic Advisor to the UN and International Diplomatic Academies (2023–2026), having previously held the positions of Minister/Chief of Cabinet to the President of Mauritania (2022–2023) and Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Cooperation and Mauritanians Abroad (2018–2022). 

Within the United Nations system, he served as UN Special Envoy to Yemen at the Under-Secretary-General level (2015–2018), Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the UN Mission for the Elimination of Ebola in West Africa (2015), Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General for the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) and Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Tripoli (2014), and UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in Sana'a, Yemen (2012–2014) and Damascus, Syria (2008–2012). 

Earlier in his career, he held a series of senior positions at UNICEF, including Director of Change Management and Deputy Director of Human Resources at Headquarters in New York (2006–2008), Deputy Regional Director for the Eastern and Southern Africa Regional Office in Nairobi (2005–2006), Resident Representative in Tbilisi, Georgia (2002–2005), Regional Human Resources Officer for the Middle East and North Africa in Amman (2000–2002), Head of Human Resources for the MENA Region in New York (1998–2000), and Operations Officer across Mauritania, Togo, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (1986–1997), beginning his career as a Project Officer with Mauritania's Food Security Commission (1985–1986). 

He holds an Advanced Certificate in Economics and Social Policy Analysis from Maastricht University, an MSc in Human Resource Development from the University of Manchester, and a BA in Economics and Management from the University of Montpellier, and has been honoured with the Order of Honour (Officer class) from Mauritania and the Order of Honour from France; he is also a Founding Member of the Association for HR Management and Development in International Organisations and a member of the UNSSC Trainers' Network for UN Reform and Joint Evaluation. He is fluent in Arabic, French, English, and Spanish.