Public life today

Mohamed Bihi Yonis (Maxamed Bixi Yoonis)

Mohamed Bihi Yonis is a Somaliland-Canadian diplomat who was Somaliland's Minister of Foreign Affairs from June 2013 to 2015. Before that he held senior posts with the African Development Bank and with United Nations and African Union peacekeeping missions, including as Deputy Joint Special Representative of the UNAMID mission in Darfur.

Last checked 2026-11-12 4 sources Reading time: 2 min

Mohamed Bihi YonisMaxamed Bixi Yoonis · Mohamed Behi Yonis

Known as one of
Public life today
Era
Rebuilding without a state, 1991 to 2012; Who holds power, 2012 to now
Sources
4 sources

Who is he?

Mohamed Bihi Yonis spent most of his career in international organisations before serving as Somaliland's Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation from 25 June 2013 until his resignation in 2015 (Wikipedia, Mohamed Yonis). Wikidata dates the end of his term to 26 June 2015 (Wikidata, Q6891557).

The African Development Bank

He worked for the African Development Bank in Côte d'Ivoire in several senior posts, including as Director and Management Adviser (Wikipedia).

United Nations peacekeeping, 2001 to 2013

He was Chief Administrative Officer in the Office of the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process from 2001 to 2002, and then at the UN Truce Supervision Organization from 2002 to 2006 (Wikipedia). In 2006 he led the Darfur planning team at UN headquarters in New York, and advised the African Union Mission in Sudan on mission support. He then became Director of Mission Support of UNAMID, the joint African Union and United Nations mission in Darfur, and later its Deputy Joint Special Representative for Operations and Management (same source).

Foreign Minister, 2013 to 2015

President Ahmed Mohamed Mohamoud "Silanyo" named him Foreign Minister in a cabinet reshuffle on 25 June 2013. He replaced Mohamed Abdullahi Omar (Midnimo, 25 June 2013; Wikipedia).

Wikipedia records that during his term he attended Somaliland's first investment conference, held in London in 2014 with the UK government, and arranged a visit by Ethiopian ministers to Somaliland in November 2014. In January 2015 he led a delegation to a conference on Somaliland at the European Parliament in Brussels. Later in 2015 he attended the African Development Bank's annual meeting in Abidjan and the World Economic Forum on Africa in Cape Town (Wikipedia).

Resignation, 2015

In 2015 he resigned along with eleven other government officials (Wikipedia). Saad Ali Shire succeeded him as Foreign Minister (Rulers.org, Foreign ministers S to Z).

Offices held

  • Chief Administrative Officer, UN Truce Supervision Organization, 2002 to 2006
  • Deputy Joint Special Representative, UNAMID, Darfur
  • Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Somaliland, 25 June 2013 to 2015. See Foreign Ministers of Somaliland.

Sources

  1. Wikipedia, Mohamed Yonis · en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikidata, Q6891557 · wikidata.org
  3. Midnimo, 25 June 2013 · midnimo.com
  4. Rulers.org, Foreign ministers S to Z · rulers.org

Mohamed Bihi YonisMaxamed Bixi Yoonis · Mohamed Behi Yonis

Known as one of
Public life today
Era
Rebuilding without a state, 1991 to 2012; Who holds power, 2012 to now
Sources
4 sources

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