James C. Swan

Mr. Swan was born on 10 December in 1963 in Washington, D.C, in the United States of America.

He holds a Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service from Georgetown University, a Master of Arts from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, and a Master of Arts in National Security Studies from the US National War College, where he was a 2005 distinguished graduate.[2]

Prior to assuming his current role with the world body in Somalia, Mr. Swan had a nearly three-decade career with the Foreign Service of the United States of America. Most of this diplomatic work focused on helping African countries as they faced complex political and security transitions.  

In his bilateral diplomatic career, Mr. Swan held numerous positions related to Somalia and the Horn of Africa. These include US Special Representative for Somalia (2011-2013), Ambassador to Djibouti (2008-2011), Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East and Central Africa (2006-2008), Africa Director in the Bureau of Intelligence and Research (2005-2006), and Political Officer in the Office of the Special Envoy for Somalia (1994-1996).  

He also served as the US Ambassador to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (2013-2016),[3][2] in addition to prior staff assignments in the Republic of Congo, Cameroon, Nicaragua, and Haiti.[4]

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres meets with his Special Representative for Somalia, James Swan

Appointed by UN Secretary-General António Guterres on 30 May 2019, Mr. Swan is the senior official of the UN team in Somalia.[5][6] He has broad oversight of all UN operations in Somalia, including two UN missions and 23 agencies, funds, and programmes that together have nearly 2,000 national and international staff, total budgeted activities of close to $2 billion and work in a range of areas across the political, development and humanitarian spheres.[7]

Mr. Swan serves concurrently as the Head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM). This UN special political mission operates under a UN Security Council mandate to support Somali institutions, strengthen Somali coordination with international partners in the security sector, help Somalis advance in reconciliation and democratic governance, and promote the rule of law and human rights.

• 
  The UN Special Representative for Somalia, James Swan, poses for a group photo with women leaders while on a visit to Hargeisa, in Somaliland. (27 July 2019)
• 
  The UN envoy to Somalia, James Swan, holds a virtual press conference in Mogadishu on the occasion of UN Day. In it, he highlighted the long-running partnership between the world body and the country, and reaffirmed the organization's support for Somalis. (24 October 2020)
• 
  The UN envoy to Somalia, James Swan, visits the National Public Health Reference Laboratory in Mogadishu. Mr. Swan commended Somalia's advances in diagnostic testing for COVID-19, and highlighted the importance of the national laboratory in the COVID-19 response. (29 June 2020)
• 
  "There is much to do in the year ahead. Only by working together, as Somalis, as partners, and in a spirit of unity and compromise, will progress be made," the UN envoy to Somalia, James Swan, told the Security Council at its meeting on Somalia at the world body's headquarters in New York. (24 February 2020)
• 
  UNESCO's Director-General Audrey Azoulay and the UN envoy to Somalia, James Swan, listen to Somalia's Minister of Education Abdullahi Godah Barre during a visit to the Somalia National Museum in Mogadishu. (11 February 2020)
• 
  Regional peace and security and other developments were among the topics covered in an e-meeting today with the UN envoy to Somalia, James Swan, and head of UNSOS, Lisa Filipetto, and Kenya's Cabinet Secretary for Foreign Affairs Raychelle Omamo. (2 November 2020)
• 
  The UN envoy to Somalia, James Swan, tours a project site for Diversity Action Network, a non-governmental organisation that supports people with disabilities in Hargeisa, Somaliland. (8 January 2020)
• 
  The UN envoy to Somalia, James Swan, speaks to the media at the end of the two-day Somalia Partnership Forum held in Mogadishu. (2 October 2019)
• 
  The UN envoy to Somalia, James Swan, meets with the African Union High-level Implementation Panel - led by South Africa's Thabo Mbeki - for discussions on political, security and economic developments. (21 July 2019)
• 
  The UN Security Council at UN Headquarters in New York held a regular meeting on the situation in Somalia, the members of the Security Council were briefed by the Special Representative of the Secretary‑General for Somalia, James Swan. (20 November 2019)
• 
  The UN envoy to Somalia, James Swan, pins a medal on a Ugandan soldier serving under the United Nations Guard Unit, during a medal award ceremony to mark the completion of her tour of duty in Somalia. (16 July 2019)
• 
  The UN Special Representative for Somalia, James Swan, arrives at Kismayo Airport on a visit to Jubaland, in southern Somalia. (15 July 2019)

• https://www.c-span.org/person/?jamesswan
• https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkOz-aOunRwQyj800bNAuig/videos
• http://webtv.un.org/search?term=%22james+swan%22&cat=Meetings%2FEvents&sort=date
• Appearances on C-SPAN