Roza Otunbaeva is appointed Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Afghanistan and Head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan

UN Secretary-General António Guterres announced the appointment of Roza Otunbaeva as his new special representative for Afghanistan and head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA).

Roza Otunbaeva succeeds Deborah Lyons of Canada.

Roza Otunbaeva served as president of the Kyrgyz Republic (2010-2011) and was Minister of Foreign Affairs three times, most recently in 2005.

She was a deputy of the Kyrgyz Parliament (2007-2010) and served as deputy prime minister in 1991. She has also held diplomatic posts in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, including ambassador of Kyrgyzstan to the United States and Canada (1992-1994), and ambassador to the United Kingdom (1997-2002).

From 1989 to 1991, she chaired the Soviet National Commission for UNESCO.

Roza Otunbaeva worked for the UN as Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General in the UN Observer Mission in Georgia (2002-2004). She is currently a member of the UN Secretary-General's High-Level Advisory Council on Mediation and is the founder of the International Public Foundation "Roza Otunbaeva Initiative".

She holds a PhD from Moscow State University and graduated from the Philosophy Department of Moscow State University. She is fluent in Kyrgyz, Russian and English languages.