Some 25 UN special envoys and six secretary-generals have been involved in efforts to resolve the Cyprus problem over a period of more than half a century.

You can read a lively Cyprus Mail account about the work of these ‘facilitators’ and who they were under the title:

Other diplomats stationed in Cyprus may not have been directly involved in the negotiations but they also have had tales to tell though not many have put pen to paper like former Swedish Ambassador Ingemar Lindahl who published his account in early 2019 titled

Below is a chronological list of the of the names and nationalities of UN secretary-generals’ special representatives — also known as Unficyp chiefs of mission — and special advisers. Their terms may overlap in some instances.

  • 1964 Sakari Tuomioia, Finland
  • 1965 Galo Plaza Lasso, Ecuador
  • 1965-1967 Carlos Bernardes, Brazil
  • 1967 Pier P Spinelli, Italy
  • 1967-1974 Bibiano Osorio-Tafall, Spain
  • 1974 Luis Weckmann-Munoz, Mexico
  • 1975-1977 Javier Perez de Cuellar, Peru
  • 1977-1978 Remy Gorge, Switzerland
  • 1978-1980 Reynaldo Galindo Pohl, El Salvador
  • 1980-1984 Hugo Gobbi, Argentina
  • 1984-1988 James Holger, Chile
  • 1988-1993 Oscar Camilion, Argentina
  • 1993-1996 Joe Clark, Canada
  • 1993-1998 Gustave Feissel, US
  • 1996-1997 Han Sung-Joo, Korea
  • 1997-1999 Diego Cordovez, Ecuador
  • 1999 Dame Ann Hercus, New Zealand
  • 1999-2000 James Holger, Chile (second term)
  • 2000-2004 Alvaro de Soto, Peru
  • 2005-2006 Zbigniew Wlosowicz, Poland
  • 2006-2008 Michael Moller, Denmark
  • 2008 Elizabeth Spehar, Canada
  • 2008-2010 Taye-Brook Zerihoun, Ethiopia
  • 2008-2014 Alexander Downer, Australia
  • 2010-2016 Lisa Buttenheim, US
  • 2016-2021 Elizabeth Spehar, Canada
  • 2018-2021 Jane Holl Lute US
  • 2021- Colin Stewart Canada
  • 2024-Maria Angela Holguin Colombia

Not all UN envoys over the years were popular and some were even less popular than others.

Below is a list of the UN Secretaries-General who held office since the UN’s peacekeeping force, Unficyp, was established in March 1964.

  • 1961-1971 U Thant, Burma
  • 1972-1981 Kurt Waldheim, Austria
  • 1982-1991 Javier Perez de Cuellar, Peru
  • 1992-1996  Boutros Boutros-Ghali, Egypt
  • 1997-2006 Kofi Annan, Ghana
  • 2007-2016 Ban Ki-moon, South Korea
  • 2017- Antonio Guterres, Portugal

Keep up with the UNSG’s Good Offices Missions and all his reports on Cyprus here: https://uncyprustalks.unmissions.org/

On a local level, learn more about Unficyp here: https://unficyp.unmissions.org/