Education
Mr. Essy holds a degree in public law and a diploma of high-level studies, also in public law. He also holds a diploma from the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Switzerland.
Mr. Essy holds a degree in public law and a diploma of high-level studies, also in public law. He also holds a diploma from the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Switzerland.
He was the Permanent Representative of Côte d'Ivoire to the United Nations from 1981 to 1990, and in January 1990 he was President of the United Nations Security Council. In 1990 he became Minister of Foreign Affairs, and while in that position he served as President of the 49th Session of the United Nations General Assembly from 1994 to 1995. In 1998 he gained the rank of Minister of State, while remaining Foreign Minister. Along with other ministers, he was detained following the military coup of 24 December 1999, but he was released on 28 December. He was replaced in the transitional government named on 4 January 2000. On 9 July 2001 he was elected secretary-general of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) in Lusaka, Zambia, with the task of leading the OAU's transformation into the African Union over the course of one year. He took office as secretary-general in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on 17 September 2001. Essy served in that position until 9 July 2002, when the OAU became the African Union and he was appointed as interim Chairman of the Commission of the African Union. Essy was initially a candidate for the post of Chairman of the Commission at the AU's July 2003 summit in Maputo, but he withdrew prior to the vote, leaving Alpha Oumar Konaré, the former President of Mali, as the only candidate. Essy remained interim Chairman of the Commission until he was succeeded by Konaré on 16 September 2003. Mr. Essy has participated in many sessions of the General Assembly as well as several sectoral conferences, including the United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea (Caracas, Geneva, New York), United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) IV and UNCTAD V in Nairobi and Manila respectively, the Conference of the International Year of Women in Mexico, the Conference on Codification of International Law in Vienna and many sessions, the Commission on Human Rights as well as those of the Economic and Social Council and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). He has also participated in many international conferences held by the Organization of African Unity (OAU), the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the Non-Aligned Movement.