In December 2018, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres appointed Mr. Carlos Ruiz Massieu of Mexico as his Special Representative for Colombia and Head of the United Nations Verification Mission in Colombia.

In this position, Mr. Ruiz Massieu leads the verification of the implementation of the Final Peace Agreement signed in 2016 between the Government of Colombia and the former FARC-EP. More recently, he was designated by the Secretary-General to accompany the peace talks between the Government and the National Liberation Army, ELN. In the exercise of the good offices of the Secretary-General, he also accompanies other peace initiatives in the country. In 2022, Mr. Ruiz Massieu was decorated with the Order of Boyacá in Grado de Gran Cruz for his contributions to peace, the highest civil award conferred by the Colombian government.

Mr. Ruiz Massieu brings to this position 25 years of experience in diplomacy, both in bilateral and multilateral contexts. He has been involved in the establishment, monitoring and support of United Nations peacekeeping operations, as well as in promoting the three major reforms of the Organization: Peace and Security, the reform of the Development System and the reform of the Administration and Management Systems of the Organization.

From 2013 to 2019, he chaired the United Nations General Assembly’s Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ) at the Under-Secretary-General level.

A career diplomat since 1999, he has represented Mexico before various United Nations bodies, including the United Nations Security Council from 2009 to 2010, the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), the governing bodies of the United Nations Funds and Programs, and before the Main Committees of the General Assembly dealing with management and development issues.

He was also posted at the Embassy of Mexico in Costa Rica and held several positions in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Mr. Ruiz Massieu holds a law degree from Universidad Iberoamericana, Mexico City, and a master’s degree in political science, with a focus on Latin American politics, from the University of Essex, United Kingdom.

           X account: @CGRuizMassieu 

Raúl Rosende has 30 years of experience in coordinating peace initiatives and monitoring peace agreements, facilitating negotiations between authorities and non-state armed actors, and verifying peace and humanitarian agreements. Throughout his career, he has worked for the United Nations and the Organization of American States (OAS). Since 2016, he has been the Verification Director of the United Nations Verification Mission in Colombia.

Mr. Rosende was the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Northern Syria from 2014 to 2016; Director of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Damascus, Syria from 2013 to 2014, and in Yemen from 2010 to 2013. From 2008 to 2010 he was UNDP Peace Advisor in Palestine and from 2006 to 2008 he was Head of OCHA in Colombia, where he had previously been Advisor to the Resident Coordinator and Programme Coordinator.

In previous years, he worked as Political Advisor to the UN Missions in Afghanistan and Guatemala.

Before joining the UN, Rosende was Programme Coordinator for the OAS in Guatemala (1997-2000) and in Nicaragua (1990-1996).

He holds a Master's degree in International Relations and a Master's degree in Peacebuilding.

Raúl Rosende is Uruguayan and has two daughters.