As
Princeton Lyman Passes His Sudan
Work Recalled as Positive and
Contrasted With Today's UN
By Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED NATIONS
GATE, August 25 – Long
time US
diplomat
Princeton
Lyman has
died, and
coming as it
does less than
a week after
the passing of
Kofi Annan
amid decay,
stasis and
censorship at
the UN it
feels like not
only the
diplomats but
diplomacy
itself, at
least by the
UN, is dying.
Lyman while
working on the
Sudan and
South Sudan
issues came to
the UN on
February 22,
2012 to brief
the Security
Council. The
meeting was
closed, and
the UN hardly
covered it or
Lyman's
presence. But
attendees whom
Inner City
Press
interviewed
outside the
meeting room -
a practice now
frowned on and
punished at
the UN - were
full of praise
for Lyman's
approach. "If
only they
would listen
to him," one
said. If only.
The praise of
Lyman was a
recurring
theme on the
afternoon of
August 25,
2018 outside
the US Mission
to the UN
which Inner
City Press covered
from the
sidewalk, with
former Deputy
Ambassador
David Pressman
passing
by.
Notably, the
praise was
bipartisan.
The Sudans
were only one
part of
Lyman's long
career,
including as a
mentor to
many: he began
his career
with US Agency
for
International
Development,
first serving
in Korea and
later as the
Director in
Ethiopia. He
moved to the
Department of
State where he
served as the
US Ambassador
to Nigeria.
Other
assignments
included
Deputy
Assistant
Secretary of
State for
African
Affairs,
Director of
Refugee
Programs, and
Assistant
Secretary of
State for
International
Organization
Affairs. He
served as US
Ambassador to
South Africa
during the
momentous
election of
Nelson Mandela
and as the US
envoy to Sudan
and South
Sudan, where
he helped to
implement the
2005
Comprehensive
Peace
Agreement.
Ambassador
Lyman was the
Senior Advisor
to the
President of
US Institute
of Peace, the
Ralph Bunche
Fellow for
African
Affairs at the
Council on
Foreign
Relations, and
and an adjunct
professor at
Georgetown
University and
the Johns
Hopkins School
for Advanced
International
Studies.
Arrangements
are via Hines-Rinaldi Funeral
Home in Silver Spring,
Maryland where for now Arlene
Maclin has said, "Princeton
was a kind and caring man, who
devoted his professional life
to the betterment of the lives
of many people on the African
Continent. He was a dedicated
and committed diplomat and all
Americans owe him a tremendous
debt for his long service to
our nation." Rest in peace.
***
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