Lana Nusseibeh ends tenure as Permanent Representative of UAE to UN

Ambassador Lana Nusseibeh finished her role as Permanent Representative of the UAE to the UN with a final meeting with United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres and will be succeeded by Ambassador Mohamed Abushahab, who has been appointed by President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

Ambassador Nusseibeh, who will continue to serve as UAE Assistant Minister for Political Affairs and Envoy of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, thanked the Secretary-General for his steadfast partnership and for supporting the UAE’s efforts to champion priority issues, including on Gaza and Afghanistan, as well as promoting tolerance, peace, and co-existence, advancing the role of women and girls worldwide, and driving climate action.

The Ambassador also held a farewell meeting with Ambassador Dennis Francis, President of the 78th Session of the UN General Assembly.

Lana Nusseibeh has served as Permanent Representative since September 2013. During the UAE’s 2022-2023 term on the UN Security Council, she drove the adoption of several landmark Council resolutions co-penned by the UAE, including resolution 2686, which acknowledged for the first time that hate speech, racism, gender discrimination, and disinformation contributes to the outbreak, escalation, and recurrence of conflict; resolution 2681, which condemned the Taliban’s decision to ban Afghan women from working for the UN in Afghanistan; and resolution 2720, which laid the groundwork for the establishment of a UN mechanism to scale-up and streamline the flow of desperately needed humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip.

“It has been the honour of a lifetime to serve the UAE for over a decade at the United Nations. The international order based on the rule of law and respect for each other keeps all of us safe and able to thrive,” said Nusseibeh.

“Against a backdrop of critical global challenges and ever sharper polarisation, preserving this system, and adapting it to ensure its equity, is more important than at any time in recent history. The UAE Permanent Mission will continue to pursue this objective in our work at the UN under the able leadership of Ambassador Mohamed Abushahab and a committed team of dedicated multilateralists who I have been proud to work alongside these past years.”