Jan Eliasson was Special Envoy of the UN Secretary-General for Darfur. Prior to this, Jan Eliasson was President of the 60th session of the UN General Assembly. He was Sweden’s Ambassador to the US from September 2000 until July 2005. On 27 March 2006 Mr. Eliasson was appointed Foreign Minister of Sweden and served in this capacity until elections in the fall of 2006.

Mr. Eliasson served from 1994 to 2000 as State Secretary for Foreign Affairs, a key position in formulating and implementing Swedish foreign policy. He was Sweden’s Ambassador to the UN in New York 1988-92, and he also served as the Secretary-General’s Personal Representative for Iran/Iraq.

Mr. Eliasson was the first UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and was involved in different operations in Africa and the Balkans. He took initiatives on landmines, conflict prevention and humanitarian action.

1980-1986, Mr. Eliasson was part of the UN mediation missions in the war between Iran and Iraq, headed by former Prime Minister Olof Palme. In 1993-94 Mr. Eliasson served as mediator in the Nagorno Karabakh conflict for the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). He is Visiting Professor at Uppsala University in Sweden, lecturing on mediation, conflict resolution and UN reform.

Mr. Eliasson has had diplomatic postings in New York (twice) Paris, Bonn, Washington (twice) and Harare, where he opened the first Swedish Embassy in 1980.