Central Asia
The United Nations Regional Centre for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia (UNRCCA) was established in December 2007 in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, to assist the governments of Central Asia in peacefully and co-operatively managing common challenges and threats including organized crime, drug trafficking, terrorism and environmental degradation.
Crisis in North Africa and the Middle East
The political tumult sweeping North Africa and the Middle East since early 2011 has challenged the United Nations to respond effectively to fast-moving and unpredictable developments at a moment of historic opportunity to support popular aspirations for democratic change in the Arab World. The Department of Political Affairs has worked at the center of the UN’s response .
Iraq
The United Nations continues to work under challenging conditions in Iraq to provide valuable assistance to the country’s post-war political transition, and to meeting its humanitarian, reconstruction and development needs. Leading and coordinating UN on the ground is the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI), a DPA-led field mission based in Baghdad and other locations, and headed currently by Martin Kobler, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Iraq.
Lebanon
Lebanon's civil war came to an end in 1990, but the country has been challenged since to chart out a fully peaceful, democratic, and sovereign future. The United Nations is working on multiple fronts to help Lebanon fulfill these vital aspirations. Providing leadership and coordination to UN efforts on the ground is the Office of the United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon (UNSCOL), a Beirut-based field operation of the Department of Political Affairs headed currently by UN Special Coordinator, Derek Plumbly.
Middle East Peace Process
The United Nations cooperates with regional and international partners in efforts to defuse tensions, encourage improvements on the ground, and advance political negotiations toward a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as well as a comprehensive peace in the Middle East.
Pakistan
The Department of Political Affairs provides staff support and guidance to the Special Envoy for Assistance to Pakistan, Rauf Engin Soysal, who was appointed by the Secretary-General in September 2010. DPA also assisted the Secretary-General in establishing the Commission of Inquiry into the Benazir Bhutto assassination.
Syria
The United Nations and the League of Arab States in February appointed Kofi Annan as their Joint Special Envoy to help resolve the conflict in Syria. The former UN Secretary-General will work towards a peaceful, political solution to end the ongoing violence. One of his immediate objectives will be to find solutions to ease the human suffering in the conflict-ridden country.