Awoonor was Ghana's ambassador to Brazil from 1984 to 1988, before serving as his country's ambassador to Cuba.[7] From 1990 to 1994 Awoonor was Ghana's Permanent Representative to the United Nations,[12] where he headed the committee against apartheid.[13] He was also a former Chairman of the Council of State,[14] the main advisory body to the president of Ghana, serving in that position from 2009 to January 2013.[5]