The UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus has announced that the third member of the Committee on Missing Persons, Pierre Gentile, has taken office.

The Special Representative of the Secretary-General in Cyprus, Mr. Colin Stewart, welcomed the arrival of Mr. Pierre Gentile, who assumed today his responsibilities as the new UN Third Member of the Committee on Missing Persons in Cyprus (CMP).

Mr. Gentile succeeds Mr. Paul-Henri Arni, who concluded his assignment with the CMP in August 2023.

Prior to joining the United Nations in Cyprus, Mr. Gentile, a Swiss national, was the Director of the Social Center for the Integration of Refugees (CSIR) in Lausanne.

He has extensive experience with the International Committee of the Red Cross, including as Head of the Central Tracing Agency’s Protection Division and as the Project Manager of the ‘Health Care in Danger’ project.

In welcoming Mr. Gentile, SRSG Stewart praises the CMP project, which is an effective mechanism to identify and return the remains of missing individuals, bringing to an end the uncertainty which has affected the families of missing persons for many years and demonstrating the good cooperation between the two communities.