KABUL (Pajhwok): Benon Sevan, a Cypriot diplomat and former senior United Nations official who played a key role in the UN’s diplomatic efforts on Afghanistan, has died at the age of 88 in Nicosia, the capital of Cyprus.
Cypriot media outlet Cyprus Inform reported that Sevan died on Monday after a long career with the United Nations and years of work promoting Armenian cultural heritage.
Sevan joined the UN Secretariat in 1965 and served in various political and international assignments, including missions related to West Irian, now part of Indonesia, and the Iran-Iraq War. He later served as secretary of the UN Economic and Social Council.
In April 1988, Sevan was appointed director and senior political adviser to the UN secretary-general’s representative on efforts to resolve the situation in Afghanistan.
In January 1990, he was also appointed as the UN secretary-general’s representative for the implementation of the Geneva Agreements on Afghanistan.
A year later, then UN Secretary-General Javier Pérez de Cuéllar assigned Sevan responsibility for the overall administration of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian and Economic Assistance Programmes relating to Afghanistan.
Sevan continued to play a prominent role in UN efforts concerning Afghanistan during the early 1990s. In July 1992, then UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali appointed him assistant secretary-general in the Department of Political Affairs at UN headquarters in New York.
He later became widely known for heading the UN Oil-for-Food Programme in Iraq from 1995 to 2003.
Sevan was born in Nicosia and was of Armenian descent. After leaving the United Nations, he returned to Cyprus, where he remained active in the Armenian community and maintained an interest in international affairs.
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