António Guterres, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, has designated Markus Potzel from Germany as the new Deputy UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative (Political) for Afghanistan.
The UN Secretary-General has appointed Markus Potzel on Friday, 17th June, as the deputy special (political) representative of UN in Afghanistan, taking over from Mette Knudsen.
The recent appointment for the senior UN position comes at a time when Deborah Lyons, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative (Political) for Afghanistan completed her mission and made a farewell statement to the people of Afghanistan.
In her farewell statement, Lyons said that the best hope rests in an engagement strategy that proves to the de facto administration that a system that excludes women, minorities, and talented people will not continue, and that an inclusive and Islamic state can be built at the same time.
Markus Potzel has served as the German Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, and the Ambassador of Germany to Afghanistan.
Markus Potzel completed master’s degrees in Persian and English language and literary studies from Humboldt University Berlin in Germany and the University of Dushanbe in Tajikistan, respectively.
He is multilingual, speaking German, English, Persian, and Dari.
