Deborah Lyons is a Canadian diplomat, formerly Canada's

ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or sov ...

to Israel. Before that she was Canada's ambassador to

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

. She was the head of mission at the Embassy of Canada, Kabul. She was the only female ambassador in

Kabul Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into 22 municipal districts. Acco ...

. On July 19, 2016, she was appointed Canadian ambassador to Israel. She helped unveil a monument for guards at her embassy who were killed during the Kabul attack on Canadian Embassy guards. On March 24, 2020,

United Nations Secretary-General The secretary-general of the United Nations (UNSG or SG) is the chief administrative officer of the United Nations and head of the United Nations Secretariat, one of the six principal organs of the United Nations. The role of the secretary-ge ...

António Guterres António Manuel de Oliveira Guterres ( , ; born 30 April 1949) is a Portuguese politician and diplomat. Since 2017, he has served as secretary-general of the United Nations, the ninth person to hold this title. A member of the Portuguese Socia ...

appointed Lyons as his Special Representative and Head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), replacing Tadamichi Yamamoto. Lyons earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of New Brunswick and completed studies at the Canadian National Defence College.

References

Ambassadors of Canada to Israel Ambassadors of Canada to Afghanistan Canadian women ambassadors Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Special Representatives of the Secretary-General of the United Nations {{Improve categories, date=April 2020