Biographical Note

SECRETARY-GENERAL APPOINTS PETER W. GALBRAITH OF UNITED STATES

AS DEPUTY SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE FOR AFGHANISTAN

 

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has decided to appoint Peter W. Galbraith of the United States of America as his Deputy Special Representative for Afghanistan.  Mr. Galbraith will be responsible for political issues, including continuing electoral and parliamentary matters, as well as issues related to peace and stability, security sector reform and human rights.  Mr. Galbraith replaces Christopher Alexander of Canada who will be completing his assignment at the end of March. 

The Secretary-General is grateful to Mr. Alexander for his dedicated service in Afghanistan over the past three years, during which he made a valuable contribution to United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) efforts to foster peace and stability in Afghanistan.

Mr. Galbraith is currently a Senior Diplomatic Fellow at the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation and founder of the Windham Resources Group LLC, a firm that specializes in international negotiations and strategies.  He has many years of humanitarian and security policy experience with regard to negotiations on Iraq, the former Yugoslavia and Timor-Leste.

Prior to this assignment, he served as Director for Political, Constitutional and Electoral Affairs for the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET) and, concurrently, Cabinet Member for Political Affairs and Timor Sea in the first East Timor Transitional Government in 2000-2001.  He served as United States Ambassador to Croatia from 1993 to 1998 and was the co-mediator of the 1995 Erdut Agreement.  From 1979 to 1993, he was a senior adviser to the United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, with major responsibilities for the Near East, South Asia and international organizations.

He has also been a senior legal adviser to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and has received awards for his work to protect the environment and to promote international educational exchange. 

Mr. Galbraith holds a Bachelor’s degree from Harvard College, a Master’s degree from Oxford University and a Juris Doctor degree from Georgetown University Law Center.

Born in 1950, he is married and has three children.

* *** *

For information media • not an official record