United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appointed on June 2 Lisa Buttenheim as the special representative and head of the U.N. peacekeeping force in Cyprus, or UNFICYP.
Buttenheim has served as director of the Middle East and West Asia Division in the Department of Political Affairs of the U.N. Secretariat since January 2009. Aside from her stint in New York, she had also worked at the U.N. offices in Belgrade, Geneva, Kosovo and Jerusalem.
The U.N. continues to mediate between Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot leaders to negotiate efforts toward unification. UNFICYP has been stationed in Cyprus since 1964.
