Jean-Marie Guéhenno

Secretary-General Kofi Annan appointed Jean-Marie Guéhenno Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations on 1 October 2000 .

Mr. Guéhenno came to the post with a wide experience in the field of diplomacy, defense and international relations, as well as in administration and management.

He spent a part of his career in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of France, as:
- Member of the Policy Planning Staff (1979-1981);
- Head of Cultural Affairs at the French Embassy in Washington (1982-1986);
- Director of the Policy Planning Staff (1989-1993);
- Ambassador to the Western European Union (1993-1995).

Mr. Guéhenno was a member of the Commission that produced the White Paper on Defense (1994). He was appointed Chairman of the Institut des hautes études de défense nationale in 1998. He has also been a member of the UN Secretary-General's Advisory Board on Disarmament Matters since 1999.

Mr. Guéhenno was educated at the École nationale d'administration in Paris . He became a member of the Court des comptes (the French Audit Office) after his graduation from ENA in 1976. He was attached to the section of the Court that audits the Ministry of Defense until his appointment as the Under-Secretary General for Peacekeeping Operations.

Mr. Guéhenno is Chevalier de la légion d'honneur and Commandeur de l'ordre du mérite allemand.

Mr. Guéhenno has contributed numerous articles on international affairs and is the author of The End of the Nation-State (University of Minnesota Press, 1993).

Born in October 1949, Mr. Guéhenno is married and has one daughter.