Martin Kobler is the Deputy Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General (Political) of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA).

Mr Kobler was posted as Germany’s Ambassador to Egypt from 2003 to 2005, and Ambassador to Iraq from 2005 to 2007.

 

He was serving as Director-General for Culture and Communication in Germany’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs when he was appointed by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in March 2010 to become one of UNAMA’s two Deputy Special Representatives.

He has more than 25 years of service in his country’s Foreign Ministry, and vast experience in developing policies in conflict areas. In 1974, he established the German Representative Office with the Palestinian Authority in Jericho, staying on as Office Head for three years. Then he moved to the position of Deputy Head of the Balkan Task Force of the German Foreign Ministry from 1997 to 1998.

From 1998 to 2000, he was Deputy Chief of Cabinet to then German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer, before being elevated to Chief of Cabinet to Minister Fischer from 2000 to 2003.

The German ambassador – who holds an advanced law degree and speaks German, English, French, Indonesian and Arabic – has also served with UN missions in Haiti, Nicaragua and Cambodia.

Born in Stuttgart in 1953, Mr Kobler is married and has three children.