Benin Ambassador-Jean Francis Zinsou, Conferred As Distinguished Man of Africa at 4th G.O.D. Awards

We Care for Humanity (WCH), an international non-profit organization recently held its flagship event- the 4th Global Officials of Dignity Awards last August 19, 2016 at the Delegates Dining Room at the United Nations, where world leaders, royals and global humanitarians were honored and recognized for their unequivocal contribution to humanity and have made significant impact on Human Rights, Global Peace, Green Environment, Education, Health and Wellness, Eradication of Poverty and Empowerment.

Among these greatest humanitarians of the world was His Excellency Ambassador-Jean Francis Zinsou, Permanent Representative of the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Benin to the United Nations as Distinguished Man of Africa.  “I and the rest of the committee of the 4th G.O.D. Awards are very happy to confer the Distinguished Man of Africa to H.E. Ambassador Zinsou for his contribution to not only to his people in Benin but to other African communities. I personally have so much respect and admiration to the Ambassador  for his achievements in line of diplomacy and his service to his country.”, proudly said by Princess Maria Amor, founder and president of WCH and chairman of the G.O.D. Awards.

Ambassador Zinsou was honored alongside His Excellency Dr. Stephen Kalonzo Musyoka– immediate former Vice President of Kenya; Her Excellency Rosalia Arteaga Serrano– Former President and Vice President of Ecuador; His Excellency Khil Raj Regmi, Former Prime Minister and Chief Justice of Nepal; Binod Chaudhary– the first and only Billionaire of Nepal; and his two other important countrymen: His Highness Prince Dah Djissa Houetchenou, Prime Minister of the Highest King of Benin and Her Highness Princess Pulcherie Simpson the Amazon Princess of Abomey.

About His Excellency Ambassador Jean Francis Zinsou:

Ambassador Jean-Francis R. ZINSOU was born in Benin, in 1955. He is a career Diplomat. He occupied many official positions in his home country and abroad. Before his accreditation to the United Nations in New York, in May 2003, as Minister Counselor at the Permanent Mission of Benin to the UN, he held the position of Assistant to four Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Benin, ,was posted in the Embassy of Benin in Germany as First Counselor, and served later as Deputy Director for Europe Department of the Ministry of ForeignAffairs also in charge of Francophonie. He was the Coordinator of the participation of his Country in the Expo 2000 Hannover, and Rapporteur of the Summit  of the Francophone  Countries in Moncton (September  1999).

In 2002, he  was  coopted member of the Geo-strategic Forum of Benin hosted by the Ministry of National Defense. He served as Recensor of Diploma theses at the National Institute of Administration (Diplomacy) from 1997 to 2002.   He presented his credentials as Ambassador Permanent Representative of Benin to the United Nations, in January 2010.

At the UN, Ambassador ZINSOU served in various leadership positions. He was Political Coordinator of the UN Security Council(2004-2005) and led many UN subsidiary bodies in the field of Peace and Security, Non Proliferation and Disarmament, including the Disarmament Commission of which he was Vice -Chair from 2006 to 2009 and Chair for 2010, and the Peacebuilding Commission  as Vice-Chair in 2010.

2006 and 2007, he served as Member of the first Advisory Board of the United Nations Democracy Fund.

From 2006 through 2012, Ambassador ZINSOU served Member of bureau of the Global Coordination Bureau of the Least Developed Countries and was elected Rapporteur of the Fourth United Nations Conference on Least Developed Countries, held in Istanbul, in May 2011.

Ambassador ZINSOU was appointed as Facilitator of the consultations of the General Assembly on the modalities of an International Conference on Youth and co-chaired the preparatory process of the United Nations High Level Meeting on Youth which took place in New York, 25-26 July 2011.

In 2012, Ambassador was elected Vice-President of the 66th Session of the General Assembly, and served during the same year as theRepresentative in New York, of the President of the African Union Assembly of Heads of States and Government. He chaired the 2013 Session of the Special Committee of the Charter of the United Nations and on the strengthening of the Role of the Organization.

From September 2012 to October 2015, Ambassador ZINSOU was Chair of the Global Bureau of Least Developed Countries. He coordinated the Gulf of Guinea Countries’  efforts against Piracy (2011-2014) and counts as founding member of the Informal Group of Friends of the Future of the UnitedNations composed of 25 to 30 co-opted Ambassadors supporting the UN Secretary General in shaping the reforms of the Organization.

As Chair of the Global Coordination Bureau of the Least Developed Countries he was the  spokesman of the voiceless during the whole process of the negotiations on the Sustainable Development Goals, the Addis Abeba Action Agenda on Financing for Development  and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. He attended the CoP 21 of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in Paris and played in the backyard ground a critical role in facilitating the agreement reached on the Paris Accord.

This year which counts as the first year of implementation of the 2030 Agenda, he served as Co-Facilitator negotiations on the intergovernmental agreed Outcome of the ECOSOC inaugural Forum on Financing for Development and of the High Level Comprehensive Midterm Review of the Istanbul Programme of Action held in New York and Antalya in April and May 2016. He is one of the Vice Presidents of the 70 th Session of the General Assembly and has led to succsful completion the campaign for the  election of Benin as Member of the ECOSOC  for a term from 2017 to 2019.

Ambassador ZINSOU  prepared many  reports and papers on various issues of relevance for the International relations of his Country. Ambassador ZINSOU holds a Master of Arts (International Relations) of the State University in Kiev (1983), and post graduate diplomas of the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna (International Economic Relations) (1985 -1987) of the University of Vienna (Austria) and former research Fellow of its Institute of International Law and International Relations (1987) where he prepared a lecture on Permanent Neutrality Status.

Ambassador ZINSOU was awarded in 2005, the rank of Knight of the National Order of Benin and is listed in the Hall of Fame of the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna, where he was inducted in 2012. He also received in the same year the Medal of Honor of the Institute of International Relations of the State University of Kiev.

Ambassador ZINSOU is married and father of four children. He speaks French, English, German, Russian and Spanish.

About G.O.D. AWARDS

The G.O.D. Awards is a global humanitarian awards institution honoring the greatest humanitarians of the world from the highest echelon of Diplomacy, Royalty, Business & Economy, Medicine, Philanthropy, Culture & Arts and Entertainment whose unequivocal contribution to humanity have made significant impact on Human Rights, Global Peace, Green Environment, Education, Health and Wellness, Eradication of Poverty and Empowerment.

The G.O.D. Awards is annual event held at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, integrated with WCH Humanitarian Summit and other Global events.

The G.O.D. Awards also serves as a fundraising platform for humanitarian projects of its founding organization, We Care for Humanity (WCH).

Mission:
The G.O.D. Awards aims to bridge the gap of power and influence to the sustainable peace and welfare of the human race by “honoring the greatest humanitarians of the world”.

Vision:
Our vision is to create sustainable support to humanity using the G.O.D. resources and influence.