James O.C. Jonah (1934- ) retired as under-secretary-general for political affairs (1992-94) after more than three decades in the UN secretariat, including as political adviser in the Office of the Secretary-General (1970-79), assistant secretary-general for personnel services (1979-82), of the Office for Field Operations and External Activities (1982-87), and for special political questions (1991-2). After leaving the UN, he became Sierra Leone’s permanent representative to the UN (1996-98) and minister of finance, development and economic planning (1998-2001). He was born in Sierra Leone and educated at Lincoln University, Boston University, Harvard Law School, and MIT. He is currently a senior fellow at the Ralph Bunche Institute for International Studies of The CUNY Graduate Center. His publications include his autobiography, What Price the Survival of the United Nations? Memoirs of a Veteran International Civil Servant.

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