Ambassador Souef Mohamed El-Amine, was appointed as the Special Representative of the Chairperson of the African Union Commission (SRCC) for Somalia and Head of the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) on 1st September 2022.
Until his appointment as the SRCC, Amb. Souef served as the Regional Head of Office in the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission (MINUSMA) in Gao, Mali, since August 2020. He previously served in the same position from 2015 to 2017. He has a wealth of experience in peacekeeping and foreign affairs.
In peacekeeping, he has been successively Head of the UNAMID Liaison Office in Khartoum, South and North Darfur from April 2012 to October 2015. He then joined MINUSMA on 3rd October 2015 as Head of Office in Gao, Sector East.
Formerly, Amb. Souef served in various capacities in his government, including Comoros’ Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation from 1999 to 2006. Designated Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Comoros to the United Nations, New York, (February –Jul 2006); Member of Parliament at the National Assembly in 2002; State Minister in charge of the Cooperation with the Arab World (July 1998- September 1998); and as Comoros’ Ambassador to Egypt, as well as Permanent Representative to the Arab League States (1994-1998). He equally served as Adviser to the President of the Comoros (1992-1994) and as Head of Africa/Asia Bilateral Cooperation Division – Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Comoros (January 1991 –April 1993. He was reappointed as Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation in July 2017 up to July 2020.
Amb. Souef holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Comparative & Modern Literature from Sidi Mohamed Ibn Abdillah University; Fes Morocco (1988-1990), and a Master of Arts degree – University of Medina, Saudi Arabia. Amb. Souef further attended Diplomatic trainings at the Diplomatic Center of Egypt (1991), and at the Foreign Training Center of Islamabad, Pakistan (1991-1992). He is a former Lecturer at the Hiroshima Peacebuilding Center. Amb. Souef is equally a writer and has authored five books on Politics and Geopolitics which include: Les Comores en movement; Les Grands Défis de la Politique Etrangère des Comores; Le Transport Aérien entre la Sécurité et la Souveraineté aux Comores ; Discours et Images des Comores ; Réflexions sur la Géopolitique de l’Océan indien.
Amb. Souef speaks French, English, Arabic and Swahili fluently.