A leading international diplomat will visit King’s College London this month to talk about the United Nations and global security issues.

Ambassador Harold Adlai Agyema, Ghana’s permanent representative to the UN, is due to deliver a talk at King’s on 22 March where he will reflect on security in west Africa and the Sahel.

Ambassador Agyema will also discuss Ghana’s 2022-23 term on the UN Security Council, one of the most senior decision-making bodies responsible for maintaining international peace, and will take questions from audience members too.

The event is taking place from 15.00 – 16.30 in Bush House South East wing, room 1.05, and will be followed by a reception. Tickets for the event are limited and are available by prior registration only.

SPEAKER

Ambassador Harold Adlai Agyeman formally assumed his present appointment on 21 May 2021 when he presented his Letter accrediting him as Ghana’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations. His diplomatic career spans close to three decades and includes missions to: (a) the Permanent Mission of Ghana to the United Nations in New York, 2000 – 2004; (b) the High Commission of Ghana to India, 2008-2011; and the Embassy of Ghana to Benin, 2014-2018. In both New Delhi and Cotonou, where he served additionally as Deputy Chief of Mission, he had extended stints as Acting High Commissioner and Chargé d’Affaires respectively.

From 2022 to 2023, Ambassador Agyeman was Ghana’s representative to the Security Council and served as Chair of the 2127 Committee (CAR), the 1591 Committee (the Sudan) and the Security Council Working Group on Peacekeeping. He also serves as the Chair of the Advisory Committee on the United Nations Programme for the Study, Teaching and Wider Dissemination of International Law. He has in the past facilitated a number of negotiations in the Sixth and Fifth Committees of the United Nations General Assembly in addition to serving as the Vice Chair of the 46^th session of the Committee on Programme Coordination.

Prior to his latest assignment, Ambassador Agyeman was the Director of Administration of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration between 2019 – 2021. He also served previously as the Director of the African and Regional Integration Bureau of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration in addition to other roles as the Personal Assistant to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, and in the International Organisations and Conferences Bureau, the Policy Planning and Research Bureau and the Finance and Accounts Bureau of the Ministry. He has had engagements on critical continental and regional concerns.

Ambassador Agyeman holds an advanced degree in international affairs, obtained from the Legon Centre for International Affairs of the University of Ghana, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science with Philosophy from the University of Ghana. He has participated in several short-term training courses in areas such as diplomacy, peace and security, monitoring and evaluation, arbitration, regional trade facilitation, negotiation of financial transactions, and capital market development and regulation.

Ambassador Agyeman is the author of several articles, as well as the book, “Diplomatic Protocol: A Guide for Ghana Diplomats and Senior Government Officials”. He has three sons and enjoys to read, walk and practice golf in his leisure periods.