Jan Eliasson

Jan Eliasson (Ambassador, Special Envoy of the United Nations Secretary-General for Darfur)

"A veteran in the fields of diplomacy and foreign relations, Mr. Eliasson served from 1994 to 2000 as State Secretary for Foreign Affairs, a key position in formulating and implementing Swedish foreign policy. In 1992, Mr. Eliasson was appointed the first United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and was involved in operations in Somalia, Sudan, Mozambique and the Balkans. He also took initiatives on landmines, conflict prevention and humanitarian action.

"During his long diplomatic career, Mr. Eliasson has been posted to New York (twice) Paris, Bonn, Washington (twice) and Harare, where he opened the first Swedish Embassy in 1980. He served as Diplomatic Adviser to the Swedish Prime Minister 1982-1983, and as Director General for Political Affairs in the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs 1983-1987. Mr. Eliasson has authored and co-authored numerous articles and books and is a frequent lecturer on foreign policy and diplomacy. He is recipient of honorary doctorate degrees from American University, Washington, D.C., Uppsala University and Göteborg University, Sweden. He has been decorated by a number of Governments.

"Born in Göteborg, Sweden, in 1940, Mr. Eliasson was an exchange student in the United States 1957-1958. He graduated from the Swedish Naval Academy in 1962 and earned a Master’s degree in Business Administration in 1965."


 * Director, Tallberg Foundation
 * Advisory Board, Cypress Fund
 * Advisory Board, International Task Force on Preventive Diplomacy
 * Advisory Board (2002), Center for the Global South
 * International Advisory Board, Center on International Cooperation
 * Patron, Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect