Ambassador Téte António
After an eight-year stint in New York City as the African Union’s ambassador to the United Nations, Téte António is departing for his native Angola to assume his new post as Secretary of State for External Affairs.
In New York, the charming consummate diplomat was known to be at ease whether he was negotiating with diplomats and world leaders at the U.N. headquarters or interacting with people in the numerous Diaspora African, Carribean and African American community organizations whose leaders frequently invited him to address.
On Saturday, December 23, dozens of Ambassador “Téte’s” friends –as he’s popularly known– will gather at the African Union headquarters near the United Nations to accord him the grand farewell he deserves.
Several ambassadors –including Mr. Mamadou Tangara, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of The Gambia to the United Nations and Mr. Tekeda Alemu, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia to the United Nations– Tete’s former U.N. colleagues, community organization leaders, and an elected New York City official, Manhattan borough president Gale A. Brewer, will attend.
The event is being organized by several partner organizations –including the United Africa Congress, Give Them A Hand Foundation, the International Association of Applied Psychology and The Black Star News– whose leaders praised Téte for his effective outreach and the quick response in working with them to address global crises that impact Africans on the continent and in the Diaspora–including the 2014 Ebola outbreak and attacks on African immigrants by a right wing group in the Ukraine.
“The United African Congress of course is particularly appreciative of the many years of Téte’ s friendship and enduring support for our efforts to address issues of concern to our community,” said Dr. Mohammed A. Nurhussein, national chair of the UAC.
“One such issue, it must be recalled was the plight of Africans in the Ukraine. During the acute political and economic crisis in Ukraine, African immigrants were targeted by some xenophobic elements in that country. Unable to work and make a living and afraid for their lives confined to their apartments as they were, they appealed to us for help. We naturally came to Téte to share our concern and our plan to publicize their plight and to mobilize support for them. Not only did he make the Mandela House of the AU Mission available, but he also provided the logistical support for holding the forum and staying with us through the entire proceeding.” The event raised thousands of dollars for the Africans who faced violence in the Ukraine.
“Same is true about Téte’s unwavering support for our Ebola awareness campaign starting with a forum at the UN, a forum at which he, along with his colleagues from Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea attended and actively participated in,” Dr. Nurhussein added.
Dr. Judy Kuriansky, Board Member of International Association of Applied Psychology said: “Téte’s professional contribution to the world is profound but even more so, I adore his smile and how his face lights up when he greets a friend, revealing his loving heart; and as we know, he makes the world his friend.”
“Personally, I will miss our one-on-one strategy discussions to advance the Pan African Agenda. In public, he listened intently to issues that people brought to his attention and never once shied away from doing what he genuinely believed was the right thing to do. He was also generous and kind to others as well as to me,” said Sidique Wai, President and National Spokesperson, UAC.
Téte “helped build the capacity of the United African Congress from its humble beginnings as a New York City based civil society advocacy organization to a world class organization with global recognition and reach,” he added. “We may lose an African Union Ambassador but we’ve gained a tireless Secretary of State whose advocacy will make the world a better place.”
“Africa needs more Pan-Africans like Ambassador Téte,” said Milton Allimadi, Publisher of The Black Star News. “We have a rich continent. We need meetings of the mind and global strategies that allow Africa to use its resources to industrialize and build strong economies.”
Téte António became the Permanent Observer of the African Union to the United Nations in November, 2009.
Previously, he was the Diplomatic Adviser to the Chairperson of the Commission of the African Union. From December 2002 to April 2009, he was Angola’s Deputy Permanent Representative and Minister Counsellor at the country’s United Nations Mission in New York. In 2005, he served as adviser to the President of the fifty-ninth session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. From 1999 to 2002, he was Director, Office of the Deputy Minister of External Relations, in Luanda. Prior to that, he was an observer for the African Union to United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO), from 1997 to 1999, and served in his country’s embassy in Addis Ababa from 1993 to 1997.
The farewell event is from 5pm to 8pm at the African Union Obeserver Mission to the U.N. headquarters at 305 East 47th Street, in Manhattan.
Other sponsors of the event are: Institute for the Black World 21st Century; African Women Solidarity for Development, USA; World Association of Non-governmental Associations; Africa Hope Committee; Sierra Leone Arts Council; and, Women’s International Network.
Other invited speakers include: Dr. Haregewein Assefa, Professor, Touro College, Trustee, United African Congress; Dr. Edmund Bourke, Distinguished Professor Emeritus, SUNY Downstate Medical Center, Trustee, United African Congress; Ms. Verlaine Soobroydoo, a representative of some of the youth mentored by ambassador Téte; Princess Pulcherie Simpson, representing African women in the Diaspora; Dr. Ron Daniels, President, Institute of the Black World 21st Century; Dean Humphrey Crookendale, Metropolitan College of New York; Mr. Paul Goldenberg, President & CEO, Cardinal Point Strategies; Ms. Angèle Ventugol Onyie, President, Women International Network; Mr. Mustapha S. Wai, Managing Principal, Wai & Associates; Dr. Taj Hamad, Chairman, World Association of Non-Governmental Organizations; and, Mamadou Niang, Founder & CEO, NextMedia.tv.
The RSVP list closed on the same day it was launched, organizers said.
