Cheryl Pearce of Australia appointed new UNFICYP Commander

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has appointed Major General Cheryl Pearce of Australia as Force Commander of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus.

According to a press release issued Thursday by the United Nations in Cyprus, Major General Pearce succeeds Major General Mohammad Humayun Kabir of Bangladesh, who completed his assignment on 6 October 2018. The Secretary-General is grateful to Major General Kabir for his dedication and leadership during his two years of service in UNFICYP.

Major General Pearce has had a distinguished career in the Australian Defence Force, most recently as Commandant of the Australian Defence Force Academy (since 2017), which provides undergraduate and postgraduate education as well as military training and education for future leaders of the Navy, Army and Air Force.

In 2016, Major General Pearce was the Commander of the Australian Joint Task Force Group in Afghanistan providing training, advice and assistance to the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces as part of the Resolute Support Mission of The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). From 2013 to 2016, she served as the Australian Army Headquarters Chief of Staff and, from 2010 to 2012, as Director of Special Operations Support.

She also held the positions of Commandant of the Defence Police Training Centre and Commanding Officer of the 1st Military Police Battalion. Major General Pearce was also the Australian Army’s Provost-Marshal and a military observer with the United Nations Mission of Support in East Timor in 2002.

Major General Pearce holds a Bachelor of Arts in Asian Studies from the University of New England in Armidale, a Master’s in Policing, Intelligence and Counter-Terrorism from the Macquarie University in Sydney and a Master’s of Arts in Defence Studies from the Deakin University in Melbourne.

Major General Pearce was born in South Australia. She has a partner and two daughters.