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19-21 April 2008 - Under-Secretary-General visits UN Mission in Iraq
 The Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, B. Lynn Pascoe made a three-day visit to Baghdad where he held high-level discussion with Iraqi and US officials and spent time with the staff of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI), a field operation of the Department of Political Affairs. In comments at the conclusion of the visit, USG Pascoe expressed confidence that the United Nations is playing a constructive and positive role in the country and will continue working to build a peaceful and prosperous Iraq. He praised stepped up efforts by UNAMI – working under Security Council Resolution 1770 of August 2007 -- to help the Government and the Iraqi people through assistance to elections, reconciliation, the resolution of disputed boundaries, human rights and humanitarian concerns as well as UN support for reconstruction and development. From Iraq, Under-Secretary-General Pascoe traveled to Kuwait to represent the Secretary-General at the Expanded Ministerial Meeting of Iraq’s neighbors. In his remarks to that gathering, USG Pascoe urged further support by Iraq’s neighbors for stabilizing the war-torn country, including through the opening of embassies in Baghdad.
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10 April 2008 - Nepal holds historic Constituent Assembly election with UN support
 With assistance from the United Nations Mission in Nepal (UNMIN), Nepal’s Constituent Assembly election was held in a general peaceful and orderly atmosphere, marking an important step forward in the country’s transition to peace following a decade of armed conflict. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon commended the Nepalese people for their enthusiastic participation in the vote and appealed to all parties to remain calm while awaiting the results. UNMIN, which operates under the supervision of the Department of Political Affairs, was established in 2007 at the request of the parties in Nepal to assist in the establishment of a free and fair atmosphere for the election. The Mission has done so by providing technical assistance to Nepal’s electoral authorities, deploying UN military observers to monitor Maoist and government arms and armies, and through the work of civil affairs teams located around the country. For more on UNMIN and UN support to the peace process in Nepal, please visit the Mission’s website at (http://www.unmin.org.np/)
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2 April 2008 - In visit to Cyprus, Under-Secretary-General sees momentum for reunification
 B. Lynn Pascoe, the United Nations Under-Secretary General for Political Affairs, concluded a three-day visit to Cyprus expressing hope for revived efforts at reunifying the island and pledging assistance from the United Nations as that process moves forward. “There is a positive tone here in Cyprus at the moment, and a palpable sense of momentum. The two leaders have set their sights on achieving a fair and lasting solution, and I think Cypriots are right to have high expectations,” Mr. Pascoe, said during a briefing to reporters following the visit, which included meetings with Greek Cypriot leader Demetris Christofias, Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat, as well as civil society representatives and political party leaders in both North and South Cyprus. The visit took place on the heels of the 21 March 2008 agreement by the two leaders to begin working level discussions aimed at starting full-fledged political negotiations under UN auspices within three months. Indicative of the improved environment on the island, on the day after USG Pascoe’s departure from Cyprus, a street crossing where North meets South in a part of Nicosia was reopened after more than 40 years during which its barriers had come to symbolize the division of Cyprus.
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5 March 2008 - UN launches “on-call” mediation team to assist envoys in peace talks
 In an innovative bid to sharpen its work in conflict mediation, the United Nations has established a new team of mediation experts who can be deployed quickly, on demand to assist envoys in the field with complex issues that arise often in peace talks. “Even the most experienced envoys cannot do it alone. They can benefit from the kind of timely and expert advice that this Team has to offer,” the Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, B. Lynn Pascoe, said in launching the team. The team, which will be managed by the Department of Political Affairs, is comprised of leading experts on issues such as rewriting constitutions to secure a lasting peace, promoting justice and reconciliation, and transitioning former combatants into civilian life. Its members will be “on call” to promptly assist UN envoys, political and peacekeeping missions in the field, as well as regional organizations with which the UN works closely. The experts were chosen by a selection of several hundred candidates, and their work is being financed in its first year through a contribution from the Government of Norway. Click here to watch the public launch of the team at a news conference at UN headquarters.
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24 January 2008 - Restructuring proposals, peacemaking efforts, highlighted in DPA newsletter
 The Winter 2007-2008 edition of Politically Speaking, the bi-annual bulletin of the Department of Political Affairs highlights the Secretary-General’s proposals to strengthen and reorganize DPA for a more proactive UN diplomacy in preventing and resolving conflicts. The proposals, currently under consideration by Member States, constitute the first major overhaul of the Department since its establishment in 1992. As explained in the newsletter, they aim to redress chronic resource shortages facing the Department and to help transform DPA into an entity that is “more field-oriented and less bound to the desk”, thereby better equipped to mount timely diplomatic initiatives. Also profiled in this latest edition of the publication are UN political and diplomatic efforts on Myanmar and the Middle East peace process, as well as in carrying out a strengthened mandate for Iraq. Interviews with UN envoys for Northern Uganda and Western Sahara illustrate some of the challenges and opportunities they face in trying to help parties bring longstanding conflicts to an end. DPA’s cross-cutting work is also highlighted in this issue, which includes an overview of the activities of the recently-established Mediation Support Unit during its first full year of operations in service of UN peacemakers in the field. UN anti-terrorism efforts are highlighted in a report on a November 2007 conference on terrorism attended by the Secretary-General in Tunis. Recent trends in UN electoral assistance are analyzed, as well. And Francis Deng, the Secretary-General’s Special Adviser for the prevention of genocide, discusses in an interview his important mandate.
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11 January 2008 - UN-backed crime-fighting commission up and running in Guatemala.
 The International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala -- an innovative effort to help Guatemala investigate and dismantle violent criminal organizations believed responsible for widespread crime and the paralysis in the country’s justice system – was launched in Guatemala City by the Government of Guatemala and the United Nations. The establishment of CICIG culminates years of efforts to create an effective means of international assistance to Guatemala in its fight against “illegal security forces and clandestine security organizations” – criminal groups believed to have infiltrated state institutions including the justice system, ensuring impunity for their actions and undermining democratic gains in Guatemala since the end of the country’s armed conflict in the 1990s. The Commission’s mandate permits it to carry out independent investigations and to act as a complementary prosecutor, helping Guatemalan authorities to bring representative cases to trial in national courts At ceremonies in Guatemala City marking the startup of the Commission, the Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, B. Lynn Pascoe thanked the international community for its support and donations to CICIG, saying he hoped the Commission would be a success for Guatemala as well as “a model for other countries that face similar challenges in fighting impunity, strengthening the rule of law, and perfecting their democracies in the aftermath of conflict.”
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7 December 2007 - UN unveils new centre for preventing conflict in Central Asia
 In an initiative to help the governments of Central Asia peacefully and cooperatively manage an array of common challenges and threats -- including terrorism, drug trafficking, organized crime, and environmental degradation -- the United Nations Regional Centre for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia (UNRCCA) was inaugurated in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan on 10 December 2007. UNRCCA is an initiative of the United Nations and all five Central Asian countries, hosted by the Government of Turkmenistan. The establishment of UNRCCA culminates several years of consultations between the United Nations Department of Political Affairs, which will oversee the Centre, and the governments of Central Asia. The Centre will offer governments its assistance in building capacities to peacefully prevent conflict, in facilitating dialogue, and in catalyzing international support behind projects and initiatives. It will cooperate closely with the existing UN programs and agencies in the region, as well as with regional organizations including the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). UNRCCA will be headed by a senior Representative of the Secretary-General. It has an initial budget of $2.3 million USD and a small international staff. Attending the opening ceremonies on behalf of Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, the Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, B. Lynn Pascoe, said that “resolving conflicts before violence occurs is one of the smartest investments we can make.”
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25 October 2007 - Secretary-General: Strengthening DPA a “Smart Investment” in Preventing Conflicts
 “Strengthening the UN’s capacity to step in – to resolve conflicts earlier rather than later – is among the smartest investments we can make,” UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon declared in unveiling a major new plan to strengthen and reorganize the Department of Political Affairs (DPA) as part of his $4.2 billion proposed 2008-2009 budget. The proposals aim to make the United Nations more proactive and more effective at preventing and resolving conflicts through political means – particularly through the use of preventive diplomacy in cooperation with Member States and regional organizations. “We have re-organized our worldwide peacekeeping operations,” the Secretary-General told members of the Fifth Committee of the General Assembly, which has jurisdiction over budgetary matters. “Now it’s time to turn our attention to conflict prevention and peace-building, with special emphasis on Africa, Asia and the Middle East. Let us rethink our approach to preventive diplomacy. Let us exploit to the fullest our potential for good offices and international mediation – in the broadest spirit of the Charter.” The proposed $21 million budget increase for DPA covers the cost of 101 additional staff based mainly at UN headquarters as well as an increased budget for travel of officials to areas of conflict or potential conflict. In addition, the Secretary-General is proposing the establishment, in close consultation with Member States, of a limited network of regional offices in regions such as Central Asia, Central Africa, Central America, South-East Asia and South-Eastern Europe. The changes would redress chronic resources shortages, providing DPA with the minimum staffing, field presence and mobility it needs to adequately assist the Secretary-General in detecting potential crises, and in mounting timely diplomatic initiatives.Click for a fact sheet on the Secretary-General’s proposals or read the full document.
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17 September - Guatemala: Steps in Motion to Establish UN-backed Commission against Impunity
 The Secretary-General has appointed the distinguished Spanish prosecutor and jurist, Carlos Castresana Fernandéz, to head the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala, CICIG, a UN-backed panel charged with carrying out independent investigations and assisting Guatemalan authorities in mounting prosecutions against criminal groups who operate with impunity in the Central American country. Following his appointment, Castresana traveled immediately to Guatemala to begin preparations for inaugurating the Commission by early 2008. The entry into force, in September of this year, of an agreement between the United Nations and Guatemala to create CICIG capped several years of advance preparations led, for the UN, by the Department of Political Affairs. The Commission has a two-year mandate and will be financed by voluntary contributions from the international community. The United Nations previously assisted Guatemala in brokering the peace accords that ended a decades-long armed conflict in 1996 and deployed a verification mission that remained in the country until the end of 2004.
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12-19 August 2007 - Under-Secretary-General tours Asia with stop in Nepal to support peace process
 B. Lynn Pascoe, the Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, concluded a week-long visit to Asia with a stop in Nepal where he expressed confidence in the peace process and continued assistance from the United Nations. Pascoe held two days of talks in Kathmandu with senior government officials, the Maoist leadership and representatives of the United Nations Mission in Nepal (UNMIN), which is working under a mandate of the Security Council to assist Nepal in the holding of crucial Constituent Assembly elections. Before arriving in Nepal, Pascoe delivered a message of the Secretary-General to the Seventh Summit of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, taking advantage of the opportunity to also advance discussions with Central Asian leaders on the planned establishment, before the end of 2007, of a United Nations Office for Preventive Diplomacy in Central Asia, based in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan. Click here to view Under-Secretary-General Pascoe briefing reporters at UN headquarters on the results of his trip, which also took him to Beijing for two days of discussion with Chinese officials on topics ranging from Darfur and UN-Chinese cooperation in Africa, to the Middle East peace process and the situation in Myanmar.
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31 July 2007- UN peace-building office in Tajikistan comes to a close
 A flag-lowering ceremony in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, marked the closure of the United Nations Tajikistan Office of Peace building (UNTOP), which was first established in 2000 under the oversight of the Department of Political Affairs. The closure of UNTOP culminates the UN's fifteen-year political presence in the country, first in helping to bring an end to the armed conflict and then through the role of in helping to consolidate the peace. The Representative of the Secretary-General Mr. Vladimir Sotirov gave a speech in which he highlighted UNTOP's accomplishments in strengthening national dialogue, helping to build democratic institutions, and to promote respect for human rights in the country. He also recalled that five UN staff members gave their lives in Tajikistan working for the cause of peace. Tajik Foreign Minister Hamrokhon Zarifi thanked the United Nations for its commitment to Tajikistan. In a recent statement marking the 10th anniversary of peace in Tajikistan, Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon referred to UNTOP as successful illustration of the UN working with the Tajik people and the guarantor countries, adding that the past decade has shown that “there is no viable alternative to the road of peace and national reconciliation” in Tajikistan.
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1 July 2007 - DPA bulletin spotlights conflict mediation, political solutions to global conflicts
 In the Summer 2007 issue of its bulletin, Politically Speaking, DPA highlights its growing focus on conflict mediation, and also presents an interview with B. Lynn Pascoe, the Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, in which he defends the UN against its critics and stresses the need for political solutions to conflicts around the world. In the interview, USG Pascoe notes the importance of “results” for demonstrating the effectiveness of the United Nations, while at the same time challenging UN critics to see the good along with the bad. “The UN has knowledgeable and capable people who are trying to do something about the problems in the world. The problem is one perhaps of unrealistic expectations,” he says. Also profiled in this latest issue are DPA-led efforts to assist the peace process in Nepal and to promote reconciliation in Somalia; the International Compact with Iraq; achievements and the pending agenda of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region of Africa; a proposed UN-backed commission against impunity in Guatemala; and a UN project to build ties with universities in the developing world. The issue also includes a thought-provoking piece on elections, suggesting that expectations are often too high regarding what elections can achieve as a vehicle for instituting democracy or bringing peace to war-torn societies.
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6-11 June 2007 - Somalia the focus of high-level mission to the Horn of Africa
 B. Lynn Pascoe, the Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, visited the Somali capital of Mogadishu during a weeklong tour of the Horn of Africa region aimed a shoring up efforts at peace and stabilization in Somalia. In addition to his one-day stop in Somalia, where he met with the President and Prime Minister of the Transitional Federal Government, USG Pascoe also visited Nairobi, Asmara, Addis Ababa and Cairo, and attended a meeting in London of the International Contact Group for Somalia. In comments to the press and in his briefing to the UN Security Council after returning to New York, USG Pascoe stressed the importance of a planned National Reconciliation Congress in demonstrating that there is a viable political process in Somalia. He said he had urged Somalia’s leaders to reach out to opponents in an all-inclusive dialogue. Meanwhile, as contingency planning continued for a possible UN peacekeeping force, Pascoe urged additional troops and other support be provided to AMISOM, the African Union force already deployed on the ground in order to help stabilize the TFG and create a more secure environment for reconciliation talks. Provided that security improves and the political process moves forward, he said, next steps in Somalia could include the establishment of a larger international humanitarian presence on the ground and an influx of development assistance to the country.
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22-23 May 2007 - DPA examines peacemaking experiences in Europe and Central Asia
 Continuing a series of regional consultations organized by its new Mediation Support Unit, DPA teamed up with the Organization for Security and Co-Operation in Europe and the Geneva Centre for Security Policy (GCSP) for a two-day seminar in Mont Pelerin, Switzerland, exploring lessons learned from mediation and conflict resolution in the OSCE area. Angela Kane, the Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs, delivered opening remarks along with Ambassador Herbert Salber, Director of the OSCE Conflict Prevention Center, and Ambassador Fred Tanner, Director of GCS. The meeting was attended by officials of the three organizations, the government of Switzerland, representatives of academia and NGOs. Panels examined peacemaking experiences in the Balkans, Black Sea region, South Caucasus and Central Asia, challenges to implementing agreements, constitutional dimensions of mediation and transitional justice. Among the participants on behalf of the United Nations were experienced UN mediator Jean Arnault, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General in Georgia, and Vladimir Sotirov, the Secretary-General’s Representative in Tajikistan, which is celebrating this year the 10th anniversary of UN-mediated peace accords ending a five year civil war. The event in Mont Pelerin is the third in a series of regional workshops on mediation support since October 2006. Previous consultations were held in Cape Town, South Africa and in San José, Costa Rica, examining, respectively, peacemaking experiences in Africa and Latin America.
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16 May 2007 - New Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs named
 Haile Menkerios of Eritrea, a former senior DPA official for African affairs, will be rejoining the Department as Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs, succeeding Tuliameni Kalomoh, who has served in the post since 2002. The appointment was announced in New York by the spokesperson for Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. Menkerios, who is expected to begin his new functions in July 2007, is currently serving as Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General for the Democratic Republic of the Congo. During 2003-2005 he was the Director of the Africa I Division of DPA, which covers East and Southern Africa. In 2002, Mr. Menkerios was Senior Advisor to the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General to the Inter-Congolese Dialogue. From 1991 to 2000, he represented the Eritrean Government in various capacities including as Ambassador to Ethiopia and the Organisation of African Unity, Special Envoy to Somalia and also the Great Lakes region, and as Permanent Representative to the United Nations. Mr. Menkerios has a Master’s degree from Harvard University and a Bachelor’s degree from Brandeis University.
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25 April 2007- USG Pascoe urges restraint to prevent Mideast violence from scuttling peace efforts.
 In a briefing to the Security Council on developments during the past month in the Middle East, the Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, B. Lynn Pascoe, warned that an upsurge in violence between Israelis and Palestinians threatened to undermine a number of positive steps toward rejuvenating Middle East peacemaking. “The forward momentum we are witnessing on the political-diplomatic level is threatened by the deteriorating security situation on the ground,” he said, adding that “Leaders on all sides must do their utmost to prevent this latest upsurge of violence from escalating any further.” USG Pascoe’s statements followed a week in which nine Palestinians were killed during Israeli arrest raids into West Bank cities and new barrages of rockets and mortars were fired from Gaza into Israel. While noting positive developments during the period such as the start of regular meetings between Palestinian President Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Olmert and the reaffirmation of the Arab Peace Initiative, Pascoe said “the renewed violence of the past few days shows how precarious the situation is.”
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20 March 2007 - Strengthening UN peacemaking – lessons from Latin America and the Caribbean
 At a high-level meeting held in Costa Rica late last week, the Department of Political Affairs sought to learn from peacemaking experiences in Latin American and the Caribbean as it works to make the UN the best that it can be in brokering peace agreements and in providing advice and support to others who are doing so.
Angela Kane, the Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs, joined the Foreign Minister of Costa Rica, Dr. Bruno Stagno, and Dr. Francisco Rojas, the Secretary-General of the Latin America Faculty of Social Sciences (FLACSO), in inaugurating the 15-16 March event held in San Jose, entitled: “Strengthening Mediation Support, Lessons Learned from Mediation in Latin America and the Caribbean”.
The event, organized jointly with FLACSO, was second in a series of regional consultations carried out by DPA’s Mediation Support Unit, which was established last year in response the call of the 2005 World Summit to strengthen the Secretary-General’s “good offices” for preventing and resolving conflict. The first consultation, with experienced African mediators, took place in South Africa in October 2006. The next, scheduled for May of this year, will focus on peacemaking experiences in Europe and Central Asia.
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14 March 2007 - Under-Secretary-General Sees Potential Progress on Middle East Peace
 In his first briefing to the Security Council on the Middle East Peace Process, the Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, B. Lynn Pascoe said that following a year of diminished peace prospects events such as the Mecca Agreement and the renewal of Israeli-Palestinian dialogue “hold out the potential, if not yet the promise, to begin turning that trend around." Mr. Pascoe, who travels with the Secretary-General to the region later in the month, expressed hope that a new Palestinian government will take "positions and actions" that demonstrate respect for signed agreements of the PLO which renounce terrorism and recognize Israel's right to exist in peace and security. He also expressed concern about continuing challenges to progress, including rocket attacks on Israel as well as IDF military operations, Israeli barrier construction and settlement activities. USG Pascoe concluded by calling on the international community to be engaged with "both firmness and flexibility" to help ensure that "encouraging steps forward turn into longer strides for peace." Click here for the full text of the briefing.
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2 March 2007 - Under-Secretary-General B. Lynn Pascoe assumes the leadership of DPA.
 The new UN Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, B. Lynn Pascoe, was sworn in at UN headquarters on 2 March by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. Mr. Pascoe joins the United Nations after a nearly forty-year career in the U.S. Foreign Service, most recently as U.S Ambassador to the Republic of Indonesia, from October 2004 to February 2007. He previously served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs at the State Department in Washington, D.C., following postings as U.S. Ambassador to Malaysia and U.S. Special Negotiator for Regional Conflicts in the former Soviet Union. In 1996, Mr. Pascoe served at the United Nations as a Special Advisor to the U.S. Permanent Mission to the UN. From 1993 to 1996, he was Director of the American Institute in Taiwan. He also served as the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary in the East Asian and Pacific Bureau of the State Department, Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, Deputy Executive Secretary of the Department of State, and Special Assistant to the Deputy Secretary of State. Mr. Pascoe also held positions on the Soviet and China desks and has been posted to Moscow, Hong Kong and Bangkok, as well as to Beijing twice and to Kuala Lumpur. He speaks mandarin Chinese. Born in the State of Missouri in 1943, he received his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Kansas and his Master of Arts from Columbia University. Mr. Pascoe and his wife, Diane, have two grown daughters and two grandchildren.
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