Mr. Tayé-Brook Zerihoun was appointed by the Secretary-General of the United Nations as his Principal Deputy Special Representative for Sudan on 1 August 2004 with the rank of Assistant Secretary-General. Mr. Zerihoun joined the United Nations in March 1981. Since then, he has worked on special political questions in New York, in different capacities and areas: decolonization, trusteeship, conflict prevention and resolution, peacemaking and peace-building.

Between 1995 and 2003, Mr. Zerihoun served initially as Deputy and then Director of Africa I Division in the Department of Political Affairs (DPA), with responsibility for the countries of the Horn of Africa, Great Lakes and Southern Africa regions as well as regional organizations including IGAD and SADC. He was then appointed Chairman of the Inter-departmental Task Force for Sudan (ITF) and served in that capacity until his current appointment.

The ITF was established to integrate the efforts of the wider UN system in support of peace in the Sudan, and to help develop a forward looking strategy for an effective UN role in support of the implementation of a comprehensive peace agreement in the Sudan.
Mr. Zerihoun completed both his undergraduate and graduate studies in New York, and holds a Master of Philosophy degree in comparative politics from Columbia University. Mr. Zerihoun is married and is the father of four children, a son and three daughters.