Ghana’s Major General Anita Asmah gets UN appointment

The United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres, has announced the appointment of Major General Anita Asmah of Ghana as Head of Mission and Force Commander of the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF).

She will assume her new role in January 2025.

The UNDOF is a UN peacekeeping mission set up to help maintain the ceasefire between Israel and Syria.
 

History

A statement issued from the Office of the Spokesperson for Mr Guterres said Major General Asmah would succeed Lieutenant General Nirmal Kumar Thapa of Nepal who completes his assignment in mid-December, 2024.

She is the third female from the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) to have assumed a top UN role in recent times. She is, however, the second military officer to rise to a UN job.

The first Ghanaian female military officer to assume a top UN role was the late Brigadier General Constance Emefa Edjeani-Afenu, who was appointed a Deputy Force Commander of the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) with its base in Morocco.

After serving her term, Brigadier General Edjeani-Afenu was succeeded by Naval Commodore Faustina Boakyewaa Anokye of the Ghana Navy.

Profile

Major General Asmah brings to the position 31 years of leadership and command experience in the GAF and United Nations peacekeeping.

Most recently, she served as Director General in the Department of Defence Civilian Establishment of the Ghana Armed Forces. 

Prior to that, Major General Asmah was the Deputy Force Commander of UNDOF from 2021 to 2023.  

She also served as a Staff Officer in the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) in 2015-2016 and 2012-2013, and as a Military Observer in the United Nations Organisation Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC) from 2003 to 2004.

Major General Asmah has also held other senior-level positions within the GAF, including the Director of Education, Deputy Military Secretary and Course Director at the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre.
 

Qualification

Major General Asmah holds Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Law degrees from the University of Ghana. She is fluent in English and French.