SECRETARY-GENERAL APPOINTS TOM ERIC VRAALSEN, OF NORWAY, AS SPECIAL ENVOY FOR HUMANITARIAN AFFAIRS FOR SUDAN
Press Release
SG/A/682
BIO/3166
SECRETARY-GENERAL APPOINTS TOM ERIC VRAALSEN, OF NORWAY, AS SPECIAL ENVOY FOR HUMANITARIAN AFFAIRS FOR SUDAN
19980611 Secretary-General Kofi Annan has decided to appoint Tom Eric Vraalsen, who is currently Ambassador of Norway to the United States, as his Special Envoy for Humanitarian Affairs for the Sudan. Ambassador Vraalsen will succeed Robert van Schaik, former Permanent Representative of the Netherlands to the United Nations, who has announced his resignation effective 15 June.Ambassador Vraalsen joined the Norwegian Foreign Service in 1960 and has held a number of distinguished positions, including: Ambassador to the United Kingdom (1994-1996); Assistant Secretary-General of the Norwegian Foreign Ministry (1992); Minister of Development Cooperation (1989-1990); Permanent Representative of Norway to the United Nations (1982-1989); and Director-General of the Ministry's Department of Political Affairs (1981-1982).
On the multilateral level, Ambassador Vraalsen has served as Vice-President of the General Assembly and as Chairman of its Fourth and First Committees. He also was Chairman of a number of intergovernmental groups and committees, and served as Special Envoy of the Secretary-General to South Africa (November 1992). Ambassador Vraalsen is the co-author of The United Nations in Focus (1975) and the author of the United Nations - Dream and Reality (1984).
Ambassador Vraalsen's appointment comes at a time when international humanitarian relief efforts conducted through Operation Lifeline Sudan (OLS) are focused on the crisis in the Bahr El Ghazal region and other areas of southern Sudan, where as many as 900,000 persons have been seriously affected by the combined effects of drought and renewed hostilities. At the same time, United Nations and international non-governmental organizations working within the OLS consortium have been encouraged by recent decisions communicated to the Secretary-General by the Government of the Sudan to allow unrestricted access to these areas. On the occasion of his discussions in Khartoum on 9 May, the Secretary-General also warmly welcomed the Government's decision to authorize an OLS needs assessment mission to the Nuba Mountains. This mission is scheduled to take place in early June.
The Sudanese population has been severely affected by the civil conflict in the country, which is now entering its fifteenth year and which is estimated to have cost the lives of over 1 million persons. An estimated 4 million persons have been displaced internally.
- 2 - Press Release SG/A/682 BIO/3166 11 June 1998
Ambassador Vraalsen, who will be continuing his functions as Norwegian Ambassador to the United States, plans to visit the Sudan and neighbouring countries shortly to consult with all concerned parties on additional ways and means of meeting the urgent humanitarian needs of affected populations in all areas of the Sudan.
Born in 1936, Ambassador Vraalsen received a master's degree in economics from the University of Arhus, Denmark, in 1960. He is married and has five children.
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