Martin Kimani, immediate former Permanent Representative and Head of Kenya’s Mission to the United Nations, has landed a new plum job in the US.
Kimani has been appointed as the Executive Director of the Center on International Cooperation (CIC), effective June 3, 2024.
CIC, a nonprofit research centre within Arts and Science at NYU, is a prominent advocate for international cooperation to prevent crises and promote peace, justice, and inclusion and a leading global think tank on multilateralism.
According to the nonprofit research centre, Kimani’s experience in various high-profile roles makes him stand out to be the right candidate to take up the role.
“Martin Kimani brings many years of experience in international diplomacy, crisis prevention, and the links between peace, justice, equality, and inclusion at the highest level. His ability to build bridges and identify strategic opportunities to strengthen multilateral action will be a great benefit to CIC, the United Nations, and the International Financial Institutions in the current period of high geopolitical tension,” Sarah Cliffe, outgoing Executive Director of CIC stated.
Kimani accepted the role indicating that he was ready to deliver real-world impact.
“I’m deeply honoured to join CIC and its brilliant staff to build ambitious partnerships that deliver real-world impact. I’m especially excited by New York University’s world-class researchers. Sarah Cliffe has been an inspirational leader & I look forward to building on her legacy,” he stated in his acceptance note.
Kimani stepped down from his role after President William Ruto nominated former Turkana County Assembly Speaker Erastus Lokaale to serve as Head of Kenya’s Mission to the United Nations.
He was the Permanent Representative and Head of Kenya’s Mission to the United Nations from December 2020. In this role, he represented Kenya in the Security Council, serving as its President in October 2021, and chaired the Executive Board of the UN Development Programme (UNDP), UN Population Fund (UNFPA), and UN Office for Project Services (UNOPS).
At various UN events, he went viral voicing out Kenya’s position on various global issues attracting worldwide attention.
Before becoming Kenya’s Head of Mission, Kimani served Kenya as Special Envoy for Countering Violent Extremism as the Director of the National Counter Terrorism Centre.
He made important contributions to securing peace and security in South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo and supported a successful initiative to accelerate East African Community integration. He has also served as the Permanent Representative to the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and UN Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat). As Director of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development’s (IGAD) Conflict Early Warning and Response Mechanism, he led cross-border conflict prevention and resolution efforts in the Horn of Africa.
Ambassador Kimani is a fellow of the African Leadership Initiative and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network. He holds a PhD in War Studies from King’s College London, and his distinguished service to Kenya has been recognized twice by the President, with the awards of the Chief of the Order of the Burning Spear and the Elder of the Order of the Burning Spear.
