By Staff Writer
Zimbabwean lawyer Thompson Chengeta has been appointed by the United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres to his 15-member Advisory Board on Disarmament Matters (ABDM).
ABDM was established in 1978 and its functions include advising the Secretary-General on matters within the area of arms limitation and disarmament, including on studies and research under the auspices of the United Nations or institutions within the United Nations system.
Chengeta’s appointment was confirmed in a letter dated 07 December 2023, addressed to the Zimbabwean by Guterres. He wrote:
I have the honour to invite you to become a member of my Advisory Board on Disarmament Matters, as of January 2024.
Your experience and knowledge will enhance the work of the Board, both in its advisory capacity on disarmament issues and in its role as the Board of Trustees of the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR).
Chengeta studied law at Harvard Law School, the University of Pretoria (UP) and Midlands State University (MSU).
He is a Fellow at the South African Research Chair in International Law, University of Johannesburg (UJ), an Adjunct Senior Lecturer at MSU and a Non-Resident Fellow at the Institute of International and Comparative Law in Africa, UP.
Previously, Chengeta has worked on the mandate of the UN Special Rapporteur on extra-judicial killings and has experience with the OHCHR and the International Criminal Court.
