Diplomaat Jan Kubis uit Slowakije nieuwe chef UNAMA in Afghanistan

De Slowaakse diplomaat Jan Kubis volgt de Zweed Staffan de Mistura op als Speciale Gezant van de VN in Afghanistan en hoofd van de United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA).

De termijn van De Mistura eindigt op 31 december. Volgens de Verenigde Naties is de post die Kubis (59) gaat bekleden “een van de meest uitdagende dienststations”.

Jan Kubis is al werkzaam bij de VN en was voorheen onder meer minister van Buitenlandse Zaken van Slowakije.

Het is de derde keer in vier jaar tijd dat de functie overgaat in andere handen. Voor Staffan de Mistura leidde de Noor Kai Eide de United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan.

De UNAMA zorgt voor politieke ondersteuning en is betrokken bij de hulpverlening in Afghanistan. De missie stelt ook rapporten op over burgerslachtoffers die vallen.


De verklaring van de VN over de benoeming van Jan Kubis:

BAN SELECTS EXPERIENCED DIPLOMAT AS NEXT ENVOY TO AFGHANISTAN

A senior United Nations official and former Slovakian foreign minister will be the next UN envoy to Afghanistan, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced today.

Jan Kubiš, 59, succeeds Staffan de Mistura as Mr. Ban’s Special Representative and head of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), with Mr. de Mistura completing his term on 31 December.

Mr. Kubiš has been Executive Secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) since 2009, and previously served with the Organization in the late 1990s as the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Tajikistan and head of the UN mission of observers to that Central Asian country.

Announcing the appointment in a statement, Mr. Ban noted that Mr. Kubiš has more than three decades of experience in diplomacy, foreign security policy and international economic relations.

The Slovakian served as his country’s foreign minister from 2006 to 2009, and has also had stints as the chairman of the Council of Europe’s committee of ministers and as secretary-general of the Organization for Security Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

Next month a major international conference on Afghanistan’s future direction will be held in Bonn, Germany, focusing on helping the country on the path towards greater democracy, stability, security and economic development.

(VN: New York, Nov 23, 2011)