Mr. Leonardo Santos Simão took office as the new Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Office for West Africa and the Sahel (UNOWAS). He is also Chairman of the Cameroon-Nigeria Mixed Commission. Appointed on 2 May 2023 by the UN Secretary-General António Guterres, Mr. Simão succeeds Mr. Annadif Mahamat Saleh.

The new head of UNOWAS has extensive experience in public administration and international affairs. Before taking up his new post, Mr. Leonardo Santos Simão was, from 2021 to 2022, Special Envoy of the Government of Mozambique for his country's candidacy for a non-permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council for the period 2023-2024. Between 2009 and 2014, he chaired the Technical Peace Mediation Team for Madagascar of the Southern African Development Community (SADC). He was Minister of Health from 1988 to 1994, then Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation from 1994 to 2005.