ANN HERCUS APPOINTED CHIEF OF MISSION OF UNITED NATIONS OPERATION IN CYPRUS
Press Release
SG/A/680
BIO/3157
ANN HERCUS APPOINTED CHIEF OF MISSION OF UNITED NATIONS OPERATION IN CYPRUS
19980513 Biographical NoteSecretary-General Kofi Annan announced today the appointment of Ann Hercus of New Zealand to succeed Gustave Feissel as Deputy Special Representative and Chief of Mission of the United Nations operation in Cyprus, who will relinquish his post on 30 June.
Mr. Feissel will be retiring from the United Nations after a distinguished career spanning 35 years. He has made an important contribution to the work of the Organization and particularly to its efforts to keep the peace and to bring about a comprehensive settlement in Cyprus.
Ms. Hercus is at present an international consultant and adviser to, inter alia the United Nations and the Commonwealth. She was a Member of the Secretary-General's Eminent Persons Group on Preparations for the World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995. In New Zealand, she has engaged in strategic planning, chairing policy reviews, facilitation and community consultation projects.
From 1988 to 1990 Ms. Hercus was Ambassador and Permanent Representative of New Zealand to the United Nations. She was a Member of Parliament from 1978 to 1987 and Minister of Social Welfare, Police and Women's Affairs from 1984 to 1987. From 1978 to 1984 she was Opposition Spokesperson on social welfare, consumer affairs and women's affairs. She was Deputy Chairperson of the Commerce Commission from 1976 to 1978 and a Member of the Public Expenditure Select Committee. In 1975, she was Chairperson of the Consumer Rights Campaign and from 1973 to 1976 she was a member of the Price Tribunal and Trade Practices Commission of New Zealand.
Ms. Hercus was a founding member of World Women Parliamentarians for Peace. She is currently Chairperson of the New Zealand Communication Disorders Trust and of the New Zealand Women's Refuge Foundation, as well as a Patron of the Comcare Charitable Trust.
Ms. Hercus holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature from the University of Auckland and law degree from the University of Canterbury, United Kingdom. She was made a Dame Commander of the Most Distinguished Order of St. Michael and Saint George in 1988.
Ms. Hercus was born in 1942. She is married and has two sons.
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