[An Nahar] Canada's Kim Bolduc was on Monday named as the head of the United Nations...the Oyster Bay money pit...
mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO), a statement from secretary-general the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon
... of whom it can be said to his credit that he is not Kofi Annan...
's office said.
Bolduc, 62, will also serve as Ban's special representative for Western Sahara, replacing Germany's Wolfgang Weisbrod-Weber who steps down on July 31.
Bolduc has more than 30 years of experience working in U.N. agencies or missions.
She most recently served as U.N. coordinator and U.N. Development Programme (UNDP) resident Representative in Panama from 2010 to 2014.
Previous posts included stints in Haiti and Brazil, a statement said.
Western Sahara is controlled by Morocco and claimed by Polisario Front separatists backed by Algeria.
MINURSO is mainly charged with monitoring a ceasefire in the former Spanish colony.
Rabat has proposed autonomy under Moroccan illusory sovereignty for the vast region, which has fewer than one million inhabitants.
The Polisario Front wants a referendum on the territory's status.
| Ynet points out it was a day for women at the UN: |
The United Nations
...where theory meets practice and practice loses...
appointed on Monday the first woman to command one of the world body's peacekeeping operations.
UN Secretary-General
the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon... of whom it can be said to his credit that he is not Kofi Annan...
named Major General Kristin Lund, of Norway, as the force commander for the UN peacekeeping operation in Cyprus. She will replace Major General Chao Liu, of China, on Aug. 13. "Major General Lund has had a distinguished military career, with over 34 years of military command and staff experience at national and international levels," Ban said in a statement.