Ms Felicia Gordon arrived in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in March 2023 to assume her role as the Chief of Staff in the United Nations Office to the African Union (UNOAU). Ms Gordon brings to the role over 25 years of professional experience, including 19 years in international organizations. She has held various political, peacebuilding, programme management, and legal advisory roles across the globe, including in East & Central Africa, Southeast & East Asia, Eastern, Central & Western Europe, and North America.

Her extensive peace operations and management experience includes assignments in UNMISS, MINUSCA, UNMISET, and UNOTIL, as well as in peacekeeping planning at UN Headquarters in New York. Prior to joining UNOAU, she was the Chief of Staff for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)’s Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine.

Previously, Ms. Gordon was a member of the UN Peacebuilding Support Office team that planned and supported the implementation of the 2015 Peacebuilding Architecture Review, as well as the intergovernmental negotiations which resulted in twin ‘Sustaining Peace’ resolutions adopted by the General Assembly and the Security Council, respectively in 2016.

Her development experience includes assignments with the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, where she was involved in the programme management of the UN Development Account as well as of technical cooperation activities. She recently led the implementation of a special project to update the internal regulatory framework for the UN Climate Change Secretariat in Bonn, Germany.

Ms Gordon holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in social & behavioral sciences and a Juris Doctor degree in law, as well as a DELF certificate in French. She is licensed to practice law in the US (New York and the District of Columbia).