Amara Essy

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Amara Essy (20 December 1944 – 8 April 2025) was an Ivorian diplomat and politician. Close to Félix Houphouët-Boigny, he was Minister of Foreign Affairs of Côte d'Ivoire between 1990 and 2000, and in this capacity he served as President of the 49th Session of the United Nations General Assembly between September 1994 and September 1995. Secretary-General of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) in 2001, he became Interim Chairman of the African Union Commission when it was created in July 2002.

Early life and educationEdit

Essy was born in Bouaké, Ivory Coast on 20 December 1944.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="CV">CV at Essy's website Template:Webarchive.</ref> He received a bachelor's degree in public law and a higher education diploma in public law as well. He also held a diploma from the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Switzerland.<ref name="GLF-2005">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

CareerEdit

Essy began his professional career in 1970 as head of economic relations in the office of technical and economic cooperation. A year later, he was named first counselor of the Ivorian embassy in Brazil. He also served as counselor of the permanent mission of Côte d'Ivoire to the United Nations in New York from 1973 to 1975. He later served as permanent representative of Côte d'Ivoire to the European office of the UN in Geneva and to UNIDO in Vienna, Austria from October 1975 to September 1978. He also served as president of the Group of 77 in Geneva from 1977 to 1978 and was later named ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to Switzerland.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

He was the Permanent Representative of Côte d'Ivoire to the United Nations from 1981 to 1990,<ref name="CV" /> and in January 1990 he was President of the United Nations Security Council.<ref name="CV" /><ref>"Presidents of the Security Council: 1990–1999", UN.org.</ref> Simultaneously, he served as Ivorian ambassador to Argentina (1981–1983) and Cuba (1988–1990), respectively. In 1990 he became Minister of Foreign Affairs, and while in that position he served as President of the 49th Session of the United Nations General Assembly from 1994 to 1995. In February 1996, he was elected the mayor of Kouassi-Datékro, serving until 2000. In 1998 he gained the rank of Minister of State held it until 2000, while remaining Foreign Minister.<ref name="CV" /> Along with other ministers, he was detained following the military coup of 24 December 1999, but he was released on 28 December.<ref>"Cote d'Ivoire: Junta releases half-dozen ex-ministers", AFP, 28 December 1999.</ref> He was replaced in the transitional government named on 4 January 2000.<ref>"Le gouvernement de transition de Côte d'Ivoire formé le 4 janvier 2000" Template:Webarchive, Afrique Express Template:In lang.</ref>

On 9 July 2001 he was elected secretary-general of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) in Lusaka, Zambia, with the task of leading the OAU's transformation into the African Union over the course of one year.<ref>"COTE D'IVOIRE: Amara Essy’s election celebrated", IRIN, 13 July 2001.</ref> He took office as secretary-general in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on 17Template:NbspSeptember 2001.<ref>"AFRICA: New OAU head takes over", IRIN, 17 September 2001.</ref> Essy served in that position until 9Template:NbspJuly 2002, when the OAU became the African Union and he was appointed interim Chairman of the Commission of the African Union.<ref>"Essy appointed interim AU commission chairman."Template:Dead link Template:Cbignore, Xinhua (highbeam.com), 9 July 2002.</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

On 7 July 2003, Laurent Gbagbo decided to withdraw Essy Camara's candidacy for the post of President of the African Union (AU) Commission.<ref>"Comment Essy s’est retiré"Template:Dead link Template:Cbignore, Jeune Afrique, 16 July 2003.</ref> Essy was initially a candidate for the post of chairman of the commission at the AU's July 2003 summit in Maputo, Mozambique, but he withdrew prior to the vote, leaving Alpha Oumar Konaré, the former president of Mali, as the only candidate.<ref>"Profile: Konare, chairman of African Union Commission", Xinhua (nl.newsbank.com), 10 July 2003.</ref><ref>"Sommet de l’Union Africaine: Le Malien Alpha Oumar Konaré élu président de la Commission" Template:Webarchive, Afrique Express, N° 274, 16 July 2003 Template:In lang.</ref> Essy remained interim chairman of the commission until he was succeeded by Konaré on 16 September 2003.<ref>"AFRICA: Former Malian president takes over as AU chair", IRIN, 17 September 2003.</ref>

In 2009, Essy was appointed the African Union's envoy to Madagascar, to assess that country’s political crisis, and in 2012 he chaired the UN High Level Panel for the Algerian parliamentary elections.<ref name="GLF-2005" />

On 7 December 2014, he declared himself a candidate for the 2015 Ivorian presidential election, in dissent from the official position of the PDCI and other party candidates. He finally gave up his candidacy, shortly before the election on 7 October 2015.<ref>"Présidentielle ivoirienne : Amara Essy suspend sa participation à la campagne", Jeune Afrique, 7 October 2025.</ref>

Essy was a member of the Global Leadership Foundation (chaired by F. W. de Klerk) that works to support democratic leadership, prevent and resolve conflict through mediation, and promote good governance in the form of democratic institutions, open markets, human rights, and the rule of law. He also held the title of Honorary Professor of the New England Centre for International Studies at the University of Bridgeport in Connecticut.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

DeathEdit

Essy died at his home in Abidjan, on 8 April 2025, at the age of 80.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>Template:Efn News Central concluded that Essy will be "remembered as a veteran statesman who helped shape Ivory Coast’s diplomatic engagement with the world and left a lasting legacy in African diplomacy."<ref name="d066">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

AwardsEdit

Essy had been awarded numerous decorations as part of his diplomatic service, including the National Order of the Ivory Coast, the Grand Cross of the Lion of Senegal, the Grand Cross of Rio Branco of Brazil and the National Order of San Carlos of Colombia.<ref name="GLF-2005" />

File:Cote d'Ivoire Ordre national Commandeur ribbon.svg	National Order of the Ivory Coast

NotesEdit

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ReferencesEdit

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External linksEdit

BBC Profile, 10 July 2001

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