Antonio Guterres appointed a former president of Kyrgyzstan as his new special envoy for Afghanistan.

Afghan Voice Agency(AVA)_Monitoring, Roza Otunbayeva replaces Deborah Lyons, who stepped down in mid-June, the United Nations said in a statement.

Otunbayeva served as Kyrgyz president during 2010-2011 and on three occasions as foreign minister. She was a member of parliament during 2007-2010 and served as deputy prime minister in 1991. 

Otunbayeva has also served as Kyrgyz ambassador to the United States and Canada (1992-1994) and as ambassador to the United Kingdom (1997-2002). 

Presently, she is a member of the United Nations Secretary-General’s High-Level Advisory Board on Mediation.
Otunbayeva holds a Doctorate in Philosophy from Moscow State University and a degree from the Philosophy Faculty of the Moscow State University.