The Special Envoy of the Secretary-General on Myanmar is a special Representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations created in 2018 to respond to the Rohingya genocide starting in August 2017 and its effects in Myanmar.[1] According to the mandate established by the UN General Assembly in its resolution 72/248 in 2017, the Special Envoy "works in close partnership with all stakeholders including local communities and civil society, and regional partners, notably the Government of Bangladesh and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), regional countries, and the broader membership of the United Nations."[1]
Commenting on the nomination of the second Special Envoy in October 2021, a number of Myanmar political commentators said that the chances of this mission are very limited, independent of the current envoy. Rather, they cautioned that apart from the mission to positively influence the displacement and ongoing crimes against humanity affecting the Rohingya communities, the Special Envoy "must also continue with the task of trying to persuade the Myanmar junta leaders to engage in dialogue to settle the ongoing political and social turmoil caused by their February 1 coup".[2]