PANEL DISCUSSION
"CHALLENGES FOR HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE IN THE LAST DECADE AND INTO THE FUTURE" ON THE OCCASION OF THE 10TH ANNIVERSARY OF GENERAL ASSEMBLY RESOLUTION 46/182
Wednesday, 17 July 2002, Dag Hammarskjöld Library Auditorium
United Nations, New York


BIOGRAPHIES OF SPEAKERS

Mr. Kenzo Oshima, a national of Japan, took up his responsibilities as Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator in January 2001.

Prior to this appointment, Mr. Oshima served as the Executive Secretary of the International Peace Cooperation Headquarters within the Office of the Prime Minister of Japan since August 1999. As such, he bore responsibility in Japan for issues relating to United Nations peacekeeping operations and emergency humanitarian assistance efforts. Mr. Oshima has broad experience in the fields of development and humanitarian assistance, having served, inter alia, as the Director-General of the Economic Cooperation Bureau of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1997-1999) and the Managing Director of the Department of General Affairs of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (1993-1995). For five years in the late 1980s, Mr. Oshima worked in successively senior appointments in the Japanese Foreign Ministry's Economic Cooperation Bureau, on technical cooperation, aid policy and humanitarian and emergency assistance. In earlier assignments, Mr. Oshima also served in the Japanese Permanent Mission to the United Nations, as Minister in the Japanese Embassy in the United States, and as Deputy Director-General for the Ministry's Asian Affairs Bureau.

Jan Eliasson has been Sweden's Ambassador to the U.S. since September 1, 2000. Prior to assuming this position, he was Deputy Secretary of State of Sweden for six years, a key position in formulating and implementing Swedish foreign policy.

Before taking up this assignment, Eliasson was a visiting professor at Uppsala University in Sweden, lecturing and writing on topics such as mediation, international organizations, conflict resolution and prevention. During this period he was also mediator in the Nagomo-Karabakh conflict.

During the period 1988-1992, Eliasson was Sweden's Ambassador to the United Nations in New York. He served as the Secretary General's Personal Representative on Iran/Iraq 1988-92. He was Vice President of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) 1990-91 and Chairman of the U.N. General Assembly's working group on emergency relief in 1991.

In 1992, Eliasson was appointed the first Under Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs of the U.N. He was involved in operations in inter alia Somalia, Sudan, Mozambique and the Balkans. He also took initiatives on issues such as landmines, prevention and humanitarian action.

During his diplomatic career, Eliasson has been posted in Paris, Bonn, Washington and Salisbury, Zimbabwe, where he opened the first Swedish Embassy in 1980.

Jan Eliasson served as Diplomatic Advisor to the Swedish Prime Minister 1982-83, and as Director General for Political Affairs in the Ministry for Foreign Affairs 1983-87

In 1994, American University in Washington D.C. awarded Jan Eliasson an honorary doctorate and in 2001 he was made doctor honoris causa at the University of Göteborg (Gothenburg). He is the author of or co-author of numerous books and articles, and is a frequent lecturer on foreign policy and diplomacy.

Jan Eliasson was born in Göteborg, Sweden in 1940. He was an exchange student in Indiana 1957-58 and graduated from the Swedish Naval Academy in 1962. He earned a Master's degree in Economics in 1965.

Jan Eliasson is married to Kerstin, who is also Science Counsellor at the Swedish Embassy. They have three grown children, Anna, Emilie and Johan

William Maley is Chair of the Refugee Council of Australia, and Senior Lecturer in Politics, University College, University of New South Wales, Australian Defence Force Academy. He has served as a Visiting Professor at the Russian Diplomatic Academy, a Visiting Fellow at the Centre for the Study of Public Policy at the University of Strathclyde, and a Visiting Research Fellow in the Refugee Studies Programme at Oxford University. He has co-authored The Theory of Politics: An Australian Perspective (1990), Regime Change in Afghanistan: Foreign Intervention and the Politics of Legitimacy (1991), Political Order in Post-Communist Afghanistan (1992), and The Australian Political System (First edition 1995, Second edition 1998); edited Dealing with Mines: Strategies for peacekeepers, aid agencies and the international community (1994), Shelters from the Storm: Developments in International Humanitarian Law (1995), and Fundamentalism Reborn? Afghanistan and the Taliban (1998); and co-edited The Soviet Withdrawal from Afghanistan (1989), The Transition from Socialism: State and Civil Society in the USSR (1991), and Russia in Search of its Future (Press, 1995). He has also published articles in The Modern Law Review, Political Studies, Australian Outlook, The Australian Journal of International Affairs, Soviet Studies, Asian Survey, the Review of International Studies, Report on the USSR, Security Dialogue, The World Today, World Development, Nationalities Papers, and Central Asian Survey, as well as chapters in a range of books.

Eric E. Morris is currently the Director of the UNHCR Liaison Office in New York, since taking up his functions on 1 February 2002. He reports directly to the High Commissioner, who is based in Geneva, and represents him and the Office's interests at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. Prior to his present appointment, Mr. Morris was the Special Envoy of the High Commissioner for Refugees, for the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, and the Republic of Albania, during the second half of 2000 and most of 2001. During this time, he also served as United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator for Kosovo.

While most of Mr. Morris' career has been with UNHCR, he was also on loan to the United Nations from 1998 to 2000. During this time he was the Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General in Bosnia and Herzegovina. He then worked with the Department of Peacekeeping Operations, designing the United Nations Interim Administration in Kosovo and the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor. From 1980-1998, Mr. Morris held various positions with UNHCR, including at UNHCR's Headquarters in Geneva, and with UNHCR in Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia.

Mr. Morris has three degrees. He majored in Political Science at Baylor University in 1968. He then went on to pursue an M.A. specialising in Southeast Asia Studies at Yale University, graduating in 1970. Mr. Morris also completed a Ph.D. in Government / Political Science at Cornell University in 1983. Mr. Morris is a citizen of the United States of America, and has two children.

Rafael Vila SanJuan took a degree in journalism and political science at the University of Barcelona. He then worked as a journalist in Spain until 1988 when he became deputy communications director for the Olympic Games in Barcelona. In 1994 he worked as communications director for Benetton. He joined MSF in 1995 when he coordinated the return of the MSF Spain teams in Rwanda. In 1996 he became director of communications at MSF Spain and in 1998 Director General. Since 2000 Rafa Vilasanjuan has been the Secretary General of Médecins Sans Frontières. Médecins Sans Frontières is currently Chair of the Steering Committee on Humanitarian Response, an umbrella organization of international non-governmental organizations.
Jean-Jacques Graisse, a national of Belgium, started his UN career in 1963 with the predecessor organization of the UNDP in the Technical Assistance Board office in Tunis. After a number of assignments with UNDP, UNEP Headquarters in Nairobi and the International Trade Center he became Chief of staff of Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan in 1988 of the beginning of Operation Salam for the reconstruction of Afghanistan.

He then rejoined UNDP as Resident Coordinator in Kenya and later as Assistant Administrator of the Bureau for Resources and External Affairs of UNDP.

He joined the WFP as Assistant Executive Director in 1996, becoming Deputy Executive Director in 2001.

Carol Bellamy, Executive Director of the United Nations Children's Fund since 1995, Carol Bellamy is a respected voice in the international community.

Now entering her eighth year at the helm of UNICEF, Ms. Bellamy has focused the world's leading children's organization on five major priorities: immunizing every child; getting all girls and boys into school, and getting all schools to offer quality basic education; reducing the spread of HIV/AIDS and its impact on young people; fighting for the protection of children from violence and exploitation; and introducing early childhood programs in every country.

Under Ms. Bellamy's leadership UNICEF has become a champion of global investment in children, arguing that efforts to reduce poverty and build a more secure world can only be successful if they ensure that children have an opportunity to grow to adulthood in health, peace and dignity. She has challenged leaders from all walks of life to recognize their moral, social, and economic responsibility to invest in children - and to shift national resources accordingly. She encouraged the General Assembly to allow children to take part in the UN Special Session on Children in May 2002, and hundreds did, meeting directly with Heads of State to discuss the issues affecting their lives. The ground-breaking summit adopted new global goals for children and provided world leaders with ideas and inspiration for achieving them. (A complete overview is available at www.unicef.org/specialsession.)

Ms. Bellamy has visited more than 100 countries, advocating for children and women with heads of state, cultural icons, corporate leaders, rebel commanders, and many others.

Trained in corporate law and finance and deeply committed to global peace and development, Ms. Bellamy has brought a compassionate yet pragmatic ethic to improving the lives of children. Her first two years at UNICEF were devoted to streamlining operations, cutting costs, and giving UNICEF's 160 country offices more flexibility to respond to local needs. She also focused UNICEF on helping countries improve their data gathering so that global goals set for children in 1990 could be monitored effectively. The results of that successful effort can be found in UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan's 2001 report, "We The Children," perhaps the most comprehensive picture of the global child ever assembled. (Available at www.unicef.org.)

Prior to joining UNICEF, Ms. Bellamy was Director of the United States Peace Corps. Having served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Guatemala from 1963 to 1965, she was the first former volunteer to run the organization, which works in more than 90 countries.

Ms. Carole Bellamy has had a distinguished career in the private sector. She was a Managing Director of Bear Stearns & Co. from 1990 to 1993, and a Principal at Morgan Stanley and Co. from 1986 to 1990. Between 1968 and 1971 she was an associate at Cravath, Swaine and Moore.

Ms. Bellamy also spent 13 years as an elected public official, including five years in the New York State Senate (1973-1977). In 1978, she became the first woman to be elected President of the New York City Council, a position she held until 1985.

Ms. Bellamy earned her law degree from New York University in 1968. She is a former Fellow of the Institute of Politics at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, and an honorary member of Phi Alpha Alpha, the U.S. National Honor Society for Accomplishment and Scholarship in Public Affairs and Administration. Ms. Bellamy graduated from Gettysburg College in 1963. She was born and raised in the New York area. She is a Mets fan.

Frederick Krimgold is Co-Director of the World Institute for Disaster Risk Management, a joint initiative of the Board of the Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology, Swiss Re and Virginia Tech. He has served as the Associate Dean for Research and Public Service of the College of Architecture and Urban Studies. From 1977 to 1983, Dr. Krimgold was Program Director in the Engineering Directorate of the National Science Foundation. From 1975 to 1977, he was a Research Associate in the Department of Civil Engineering of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Dr. Krimgold received his undergraduate training at Yale University and his doctorate in Building Science from the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm.

Dr. Krimgold has served as President of the Architectural Research Centers Consortium, as a member of the Building Research Board of the National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences, and as a member of the Advisory Board of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. He is currently a member of the Consultative Council of the national Institute of Building Sciences and the Endowment Committee of the Earthquake Engineering Research institute.

Dr. Krimgold has worked as a consultant on disaster management for the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, USAID, the Swedish International Development Authority, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, the Government of Maharashtra, India, the US Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Virginia Department of Emergency Management.

Eva von Oelreich, born in Lund, Sweden, Master of Arts, Lund University, Sweden.

1988 - 1996 Different positions in the Swedish Red Cross, mainly in Africa projects
1994 - 1996 Swedish Red Cross, Head of Africa/ Middle East Section and Emergency Logistics
1996 - 2000 Swedish Red Cross, Director of International Issues and Humanitarian Aid Programs Functional focus; disaster management and capacity building of National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
1996 - 2000 Member of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies statutory Commission for Disaster Relief
2000 - International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, Head of Disaster Preparedness and Response, including disaster policy issues In charge of the international Federation's annual publication World Disasters Report.

Carlos dos Santos is the Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Republic of Mozambique to the United Nations since April 1996.

Previously, Mr. Dos Santos served as Chairman of the Preparatory Committee of the 2001 International Conference on Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in all its Aspects (2000-2001). He was Secretary-General of the First Meeting of States Parties to the Ottawa Convention to Ban landmines (1999). He was Private Secretary to the President of the Republic (1992-1996). Mr. Dos Santos also served in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as Chef de Cabinet (1991-1992), Head of the Political Department-Africa and the Middle East Desk (1989-1990), First Secretary-Mozambique Embassy in Harare (1984-1989) Protocol Officer (1980-1982).

During his career he participated in International Conferences and Seminars, and was a member of the International Advisory Board of the Wagner School - New York University - since 2001, Member of the Mozambique Delegations to the Joint Security Commission Mozambique/RSA 1990-1992.

Mr. Dos Santos was born in Maputo City, in Mozambique; he lived in Zimbabwe and New York. He graduated from the University of Zimbabwe with a M.A. of Science in International Relations, and also a M.A. in Business Administration for Zincklin School of Business - Baruch College - CUNY. Mr. Dos Santos and his wife Isabel dos Santos have three children.

Julia Taft is the Assistant Administrator and Director of UNDP's Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery (BCPR). BCPR addresses the issues of prevention, post-conflict recovery and institution building, as well as natural disaster mitigation. Since January 2002, Mrs. Taft has led the UNDP Afghan Task Force integrating activities into a single, coherent recovery effort in support of the work of the Special Representative of the Secretary General for Afghanistan.

Previously, Mrs. Taft served as Assistant Secretary of State in charge of the Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration at the US State Department (1997-2001). She was responsible for overseeing United States Government policies regarding population, refugee and international migration issues and managed $700 million in annual allocations for refugee protection and humanitarian assistance. She was President and CEO of InterAction (1993-1997), a coalition of 156 U.S.-based private, voluntary organizations working on international development, refugee assistance, and humanitarian relief around the world. Mrs. Taft has also served as the Director of the Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance with USAID, the Director of Refugee Programs and Acting U.S. Refugee Coordinator at the Department of State, and the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare.

During her career she has received several awards including the Presidential End Hunger Award (1989); the AID Distinguished Service Award (1989); the USSR Supreme Soviet Award for Personal Courage, presented for relief efforts in the Armenian Earthquake (1990); and the Flemming Award as "One of the Ten Outstanding Men and Women in Federal Service" (1975).

Mrs. Taft was born in New York City. As the daughter of a U.S. Army surgeon, she lived in Germany, Colorado and Texas. She graduated from the University of Colorado with a B.A. in Political Science, and also received an M.A. in Political Science from the same institution. Mrs. Taft and her husband, William H. Taft IV, have three children.

Ross Mountain, a national of New Zealand, was appointed Assistant Emergency Relief Coordinator and Director of the Geneva Office of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in August 1998. Prior to that, Mr. Mountain was United Nations Resident Coordinator in Lebanon since August 1995. In this position, Mr. Mountain also served as the Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Representative of the United Nations Populations Fund (UNFPA). He was also Representative of the World Food Programme (WFP) and of the United Nations Drug Control Programme (UNDCP) until these offices closed in 1997, and Acting Director of the United Nations Information Centre (UNIC) in Beirut.

Mr. Mountain has some 30 years of experience in the fields of social and economic development and humanitarian affairs. Before his appointment to Lebanon, he served as UNDP Representative and UN Humanitarian Affairs Coordinator in Haiti on secondment from Barbados where he was assigned as UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Coordinator for the Eastern Caribbean in 1993. From 1991 to 1993, he was UN Special Coordinator for Emergency Relief Operations, UNDP Resident Representative and WFP and UNFPA Representative in Liberia. From 1988 to 1991 he was the UNDP Representative and UNIC Director in Kabul. Between 1985 and 1988 he was Deputy Resident Representative in the South Pacific based in Fiji.

Mr. Mountain earlier worked in Geneva as Chief of the Information Section in the UNDP European Office (between 1976 and 1985) and Coordinator of the UN Non-Governmental Liaison Service for eight years from its foundation in 1975. His first UN assignment was in 1973 as Inter Agency Liaison Officer in the Division of Social Affairs also in Geneva.

Mr. Mountain is a graduate of the Victoria University of Wellington (New Zealand).

Martin Griffiths is the Director of the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, a position he took up in August 1999. Prior to this he served in the United Nations as Deputy to the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs; in 1999 he also served as UN Co-ordinator for the Balkans with the rank of Assistant Secretary-General. Before joining the United Nations in 1994, Mr. Griffiths was the Chief Executive of ActionAid, a development NGO based in the United Kingdom. He has also been a member of the UK Diplomatic Service, as well as having worked as a Barrister and Attorney.