Ambassador Bethuel Abdu Kiplagat

Ambassador Kiplagat is from Kenya and represents Eastern Africa on the APR Panel. He is also the current Chairperson of the Panel.

Ambassador Bethuel Abdu Kiplagat was born on 28 November 1936 in Kenya. His studies included physical sciences at Makerere University and sociology of religion at Sorbonne Universities. After serving in the Kenyan Foreign Service for thirteen years he was appointed as Kenya's Ambassador to France (1978-1981); and the United Kingdom (1981-1983). From 1983 - 1991 Ambassador Kiplagat served as Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation of Kenya.

Ambassador Kiplagat has a distinguished record in conflict resolution efforts on the continent, in particular East African conflicts, including: Uganda (1985 -86); Mozambique (1988-1992); Ethiopia (1988-1992); and Sudan (1985 onwards).

Ambassador Kiplagat has been a valuable and willing resource to civil society organizations, having assisted the International Peace Academy and the OAU in examining the institutional relationship between the OAU and civil society. He is currently an independent consultant on peace and conflict resolution, Kenya's Special Envoy engaged in the ongoing Somali Peace Process and the Chairman of the IGAD Technical Committee on Somali National Reconciliation Conference. He is also presently engaged in activities that encourage community-based peace processes in Eastern Africa.

A fuller Curriculum Vitae of Ambassador Kiplagat may be found at: [www] http://www.undp.org/agf/working/cv_Kiplagat.pdf.