{ Major General Kristin Lund today officially assumed her duties as Force Commander of the United Nations peacekeeping force in Cyprus where the top UN official, Lisa Buttenheim, is also a woman. That UN operation is now the first in the world to have a dual female leadership.}<\/p>\n
At a brief ceremony held in the UN Protected Area in Nicosia, Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Ms. Buttenheim, thanked Major General Lund\u2019s predecessor, Major General Chao Liu, a Chinese national who served from February 2011. The Special Representative paid tribute to his \u201cdedication, professionalism and leadership which greater contributed to United Nations efforts on the island.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Security Council established the UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP), which marked its 50th anniversary in March, in 1964 to contribute to a return to normal conditions following violence and bloodshed between the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities.<\/p>\n
In Cyprus, Major General Lund is commanding a force which over the years has rotated through more than 150,000 troops. UN troops supervise the de facto cease fire lines established in 1974, and maintain control over the buffer zone dividing the island. Despite the general calm, UNFICYP records on average about 1,000 incidents in the buffer zone every year.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s hard to believe there is a place where you can go and have a beautiful day vacation, [but] has mine fields that are not cleared yet,\u201d Major General Lund had told the UN News Centre back in May. At that time, the Major General said she would prepare for her position by analyzing the Mission mandate to see what type of activities she could do in support of the Mission and SRSG Buttenheim.<\/p>\n
In addition to its military activities, UNFICYP also undertakes humanitarian activities and supports the good offices mission of the Secretary-General, according to its website. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you approach a challenge in a country, such as Cyprus, it\u2019s important also that you represent \u2013 because there are so many men force commanders \u2013 the other 50 per cent of the population in the world,\u201d Major General Lund had said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s very important that the UN took this step to appoint a female force commander and I hope that I can be a role model for other female officers that see that it\u2019s possible.\u201d <\/p>\n
The Norwegian Major General has had a distinguished military career, according to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon\u2019s spokesperson, with over 34 years of military command and staff experience at national and international levels.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe first time you are out is often, in a way, what sits for a long time in your mind,\u201d the Major General said about her deployment to Lebanon with the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) in 1986 as a transport officer.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was on a vehicle where we had 50 calibre, we had a machine gun and I was sitting behind the machine gun,\u201d she said describing an escort mission to pick up new soldiers. After shooting broke out, the vehicle took an alternative route and ended up in an area where it was not supposed to be.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe way to handle it was actually through communication, through building trust at the check points. And I think that was the first time I realized why it is so important for the UN to always use minimal force and as a last resort,\u201d she continued.<\/p>\n
Her deployment in the Balkans, where between 1992 and 1993 she served with the UN Protection Force (UNPROFOR) in Bosnia and later with the NATO-led force, was what \u201cformed me as a leader because you have to play like an orchestra\u201d [to cope] with the various military components and the people involved in the conflict.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou learn how important the mandate is,\u201d she said, referring to the responsibilities tasked to the Mission by the 15-member UN Security Council. \u201cYou see the importance of not taking sides.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bosnia was also the first deployment where the Major General experienced real violence.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not normal that you see people get killed. You get used to seeing scenes that you, as a military, in a way, prepare for, but you don\u2019t actually hope to get involved. But there you saw the whole spectra,\u201d she recalled in her interview with the UN News Centre.<\/p>\n
Major General Lund also served in the Middle East during the first Gulf War in 1991 and in Afghanistan with the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) from 2003 to 2004.<\/p>\n
Ms. Lund rejoins the Organization as the UN Department of Peacekeeping is spearheading a modernization campaign in its missions \u201cto do more with less,\u201d at the request of the Secretary-General and the resource-contributing Member States.<\/p>\n
\u201cCommunication is vital,\u201d said Maj Gen Lund, who led the 56,000-strong Norwegian Home Guard during its modernization. \u201cWhen you are changing a huge organization, everyone needs to know the end stage, where are we going, because if you are [making] changes and you don\u2019t have all the layers with you, it will take a very long time.\u201d<\/p>\n
She was appointed Norway\u2019s first female General in 2009, having taken deputy command of the country\u2019s armed forces in 2007. Her most recent position was head of Veteran Affairs on the Norwegian Defence Staff.<\/p>\n
A motorcycle aficionado, Ms. Lund has decided against taking her beloved Harley to Cyprus.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m quite into Harley-Davidson, that\u2019s my favourite, but I don\u2019t think I will take a bike. I will see if I can borrow or buy a bike there because [mine is] a collector\u2019s item.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
{ Major General Kristin Lund today officially assumed her duties as Force Commander of the United Nations peacekeeping force in Cyprus where the top UN official, Lisa Buttenheim, is also a woman. That UN operation is now the first in the world to have a dual female leadership.} At a brief ceremony held in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2000053467,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[75],"byline":[170],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-15799","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-homenews","byline-igihe"],"bylines":[{"id":170,"name":"IGIHE","slug":"igihe","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":8}],"contributors":[{"id":170,"name":"IGIHE","slug":"igihe","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":8}],"featured_image":{"id":2000053467,"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/arton15799.jpg","alt":"","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","width":0,"height":0,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/arton15799.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"medium":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/arton15799.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"medium_large":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/arton15799.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"large":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/arton15799.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"full":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/arton15799.jpg","width":0,"height":0}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15799","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15799"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15799\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2000053467"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15799"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15799"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15799"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=15799"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=15799"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}