Omar Touray

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Omar Alieu Touray (born 5 November 1965) is a Gambian diplomat who has led the ECOWAS Commission since July 2022. He was The Gambia’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations from 2007 to 2008 and served as Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs from March 2008 to September 2009. In October 2021 he was unanimously chosen to head the ECOWAS Commission for the 2022–2026 term.

Education and early career: He earned a BA in literature and linguistics from Ain Shams University in 1987 and a PhD in international relations from the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva in 1994. He worked as a liaison officer for the World Indigenous Organization at the UN office in Geneva (1993–1994), then as a consultant at the International Labour Organization in Geneva, and later held various Gambian diplomatic roles.

Diplomatic career: He served as First Secretary of the Gambian Embassy to Belgium and Permanent Mission to the European Union and the World Trade Organization in 1995, and as Counsellor and Head of Chancery there from 1996 to 2002. From 2002 to 2007 he was Gambian Ambassador to Ethiopia, with accreditation to the African Union, the UN Economic Commission for Africa, the UN Environment Programme, and High Commissioner to South Africa and Kenya. He became The Gambia’s Permanent Representative to the UN in September 2007 and was sworn in as Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs on 26 March 2008, serving until September 2009. After leaving government, he worked for the Islamic Development Bank in Saudi Arabia and the Ivory Coast.