Early life

Salim was born in what was then considered theSultanate of Zanzibar to Sheikh Ahmad Salim Riyami, an Arab from Oman and his mother a Tanzanian of Indian descendant Born to an Arab father and an Afro Arab Mother.

Education

He was educated at Lumumba College in Zanzibar and later pursued his undergraduate studies at the St. Stephen's College of the University of Delhi and obtained his master's degree in International Affairs from the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University in New York. He became a student activist in the early 1960s and was founder and first Vice President of the All-Zanzibar Student union.

Positions held in Tanzania

• Chief Editor of a Zanzibar daily paper, Secretary General of the All-Zanzibar Journalists Organisation 1963-1964
• Minister for Foreign Affairs 1980-1984
• Prime Minister of Tanzania 1984-1985
• Deputy Prime Minister of Tanzania 1986-1989
• Minister for Defence and National Service 1986-1989
• President of the Julius K. Nyerere Foundation 2001 - current
• Member of the Central Committee of the ruling political party in Tanzania (Chama Cha Mapinduzi).
• Member of the Tanzania Commission for Constitution Review 2012-2014

Diplomatic positions held

• Deputy Chief Representative of the Zanzibar Office based in Havana, Cuba 1961-1962
• Tanzania Ambassador to the Arab Republic of Egypt 1964-1965
• Tanzanian High Commissioner (i.e. Ambassador) to India 1965-1968
• Tanzania Ambassador to the People’s Republic of China 1969-1970
• Permanent Representative of Tanzania to the United Nations 1970-1980
• Tanzania Ambassador to Cuba 1970-1980 (served while at the UN)
• Tanzanian High Commissioner to Guyana, Barbados, Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago 1970-1980 (served while at the UN)
• Secretary-General of the OAU 1989-2001
• African Union Special Envoy on the Darfur Conflict 2004-2008

Positions at the United Nations

• June/July 1972: Chairman of the United Nations Special Mission to Niue
• August 1972: Drafting Committee of the Political Committee of the Ministerial Conference of non-Aligned States, Georgetown, Guyana
• 1972 to 1980: Chairman of the United Nations Special Committee on Decolonization (Committee of 24).
• April 1973: Chairman of the Political Committee of International Conference of Experts in Support of the Victims of Colonialism and Apartheid in Southern Africa, Oslo
• 1975: Chairman of the Security Council's Committee on Sanctions against Southern Rhodesia
• 1976: President of the United Nations Security Council
• 1979: President of the United Nations General Assembly for the Thirty-fourth, Sixth emergency special, Seventh emergency special, and Eleventh special sessions.
• 1981: President of the International Conference on Sanctions against South Africa.
• 1984: President of the Paris International Conference Against Apartheid.

Other diplomatic positions

At the continental level, following the invitation of the President of the African Development Bank, he has since March, 2002 been acting as African Water Ambassador whose responsibilities include advocacy, sensitization, and mobilization of support on African water issues. He also serves as:

• Chairperson, Advisory Board, Institute of Security Studies (ISS) based in Pretoria, South Africa
• Chairperson of the International Board of Trustees, Africa Humanitarian Action (AHI) based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
• Member and Chairperson of the Advisory Board of Trustees of the Institute of Peace, Leadership and Governance, Africa University, Mutare, Zimbabwe
• Member of the Panel of the Wise, a consultative body of the African Union

At international level, Salim serves on the following boards, panels and commissions:

• Co-chair, Eminent Persons Group (EPG) on Small Arms and Light Weapons (Secretariat, based in Washington DC)
• Member of the Board at the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, an organisation which supports good governance and great leadership in Africa. Salim is also Chair of the Foundation’s Ibrahim Prize Committee, having taken over from the inaugural chair, Kofi Annan in 2011.
• Member of the Global Leadership Foundation, an organization which works to support democratic leadership, prevent and resolve conflict through mediation and promote good governance in the form of democratic institutions, open markets, human rights and the rule of law. It does so by making available, discreetly and in confidence, the experience of former leaders to today’s national leaders. It is a not-for-profit organization composed of former heads of government, senior governmental and international organization officials who work closely with Heads of Government on governance-related issues of concern to them.
• Member of the Board of the South Centre (Secretariat based in Geneva)
• Member, Policy Advisory Commission, World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)
• Member of the Foundation Council, Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue based in Geneva
• Eminent Member of the Sergio Vieira de Mello Foundation

Honours and awards

Honours

Order		Country	Year
	Order of the Star of Africa	Liberia	1980
	Order of the United Republic of Tanzania	Tanzania	1985
	National Order of a Thousand Hills	Rwanda	1993
	Grand Cross of the Order of Devotion	Republic of the Congo	1994
	Order of Merit (Grand Officer)	Central African Republic	1994
	Medal of Africa	Libyan Arab Jamahiriya	1999
	National Order of the Lion (Grand Officer)	Senegal	2000
	Order of the Two Niles	Sudan	2001
	Ordre El-Athir	Algeria	2001
	Order of Mono	Togo	2001
	National Order of Mali (Commander)	Mali	2001
	Order of the Companions of O. R. Tambo (Gold)	South Africa	2004
	Order of the Uhuru Torch (Second Class)	Tanzania	2011

Awards

• 2014: Son of Africa Award by the African Union

Honorary degrees

University	Country	Degree	Year
University of the Philippines Los Baños	Philippines	Doctor of Laws	1980
University of Maiduguri	Nigeria	Doctor of Humanities	1983
University of Mauritius	Mauritius	Doctor of Civil Law	1991
University of Khartoum	Sudan	Doctor of Arts in International Affairs	1995
University of Bologna	Italy	Doctor of Philosophy in International Relations	1996
University of Cape Town	South Africa	Doctor of Laws	1998
Addis Ababa University	Ethiopia	Doctor of Laws	2003

Recipient of the 2006 Martin Luther King "Drum Major for Justice" award.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]