Caroline Ziadeh

Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG) and Head of UNMIK

Caroline Ziadeh was appointed as the Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) on 19 November 2021.

Having served since 2017 as Director of the Department of International Organizations, Conferences and Cultural Services in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants of Lebanon, Ms. Ziadeh brings to the position close to 30 years of experience in international diplomacy with extensive knowledge of the United Nations having led national delegations to the United Nations on human rights issues, the Women, Peace and Security agenda and migration.

Former Deputy Permanent Representative of Lebanon to the United Nations in New York (2006-2017), SRSG Ziadeh served at the Embassies of Lebanon to the United Kingdom (2004-2006), to Belgium and the European Union (1994-1999), as well as the Permanent Mission of Lebanon in Vienna and the Embassies to Austria, Croatia, and Slovakia (1999-2002).

SRSG Ziadeh holds a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts in Economy and Political Science from the Lebanese University, Beirut, and Diplomas in International Relations from the University Libre de Bruxelles and the Diplomatic Academy Vienna. She is fluent in Arabic, English and French.

Barrie Lynne Freeman

Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General (DSRSG)

Barrie Freeman was appointed Deputy Special Representative for the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) on 22 December 2020. Until her appointment, she had been serving as Political Director and Deputy Head of the Peacebuilding Support Office (PBSO) in the Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs (DPPA) of the United Nations since January 2018.

Ms. Freeman was Chief of Staff, and before that Director of Political Affairs, of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) from 2014 to 2017. Before joining the United Nations, Ms. Freeman served as Director for North Africa with the National Democratic Institute (NDI) from 2011 to 2014, overseeing a wide range of political development programs that included support to election processes, civil society development, legislative strengthening, political party development and promoting the participation of women, youth and marginalized communities in political and decision-making processes. Pior to that she served as NDI’s Deputy Regional Director for Central and West Africa, managing a diverse portfolio of country programs across the region.

Before joining NDI in 2002, Ms. Freeman spent approximately 15 years with the U.S. State Department, working in the political, economic and consular sections of U.S. embassies in Tunisia, Morocco, Lesotho and Nigeria. During postings in Washington, D.C., she served in the Office of the Inspector General and the Office of African Analysis. While at the State Department, she earned the Department’s Meritorious and Superior Honor Awards, as well as a Distinguished Analyst Award. Ms. Freeman has also been a contributing writer to Freedom in the World, an annual survey of political rights and civil liberties published by Freedom House, and served in a volunteer capacity as Vice-Chair of the Board of Elections for the City of Takoma Park, Maryland.

Ms. Freeman has a Bachelor of Arts degree from Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana and completed master’s coursework at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. In addition to native English, Ms. Freeman is fluent in French. She is the mother of three adult children.

Mari Yamashita
 
Representative of the UN Secretary-General,
Head of the UN Office in Belgrade

Mari Yamashita was appointed Representative of the Secretary-General and Director of the United Nations Office in Belgrade (UNOB) on 22 December 2020. Her previous assignments include Director of the Asia and the Pacific Division in the Departments of Peacebuilding and Political Affairs and Peace Operations (DPPA-DPO), Deputy Head and Director of the Peacebuilding Support Office (PBSO) and Director of the United Nations Information Centre in Japan (UNIC Tokyo).  Her service with the Organization spans over 30 years in preventive diplomacy and peacebuilding in Asia and the Pacific, focusing on good offices efforts in Fiji, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Timor-Leste among others and on relations with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).  In Southern Africa, she supported the Secretary-General’s Special Representatives for Angola, Northern Uganda and Zimbabwe. As an electoral and political expert, she managed over 20 electoral assistance projects in Africa, Asia, Central and South America.  
 
In the field, she was Head of the Political Affairs Office in the United Nations Mission in Nepal (UNMIN) (2010), Deputy Chief Electoral Officer with the United Nations Transitional Administration in Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Sirmium (UNTAES) (1996-1997) and United Nations Coordinator of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe-United Nations Joint Operation in Armenia (1994).  Ms. Yamashita joined the Organization in December 1990 as an Associate Political Affairs Officer in the Secretary-General’s Office for Research and the Collection of Information.   
 
Mari Yamashita has a Master of Arts degree in Law and Diplomacy from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy in the United States, and a Bachelor of Laws degree from Jochi Daigaku (Sophia University, Japan.  She speaks Japanese, English, German, French and basic Finnish.  A national of Japan, she is married and has one son.