Ambassador Mari Skåre is the Chef de Cabinet to the President of the 74th Session of the United Nations General Assembly.
Prior to this appointment, Skåre was the Deputy Permanent Representative of Norway to the United Nations in New York, after serving as Norway’s Ambassador to Afghanistan, 2016-2018. In Afghanistan, she worked with key stakeholders including the Government of Afghanistan, civil society, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) and the wider UN system, to achieve significant progress on issues relating to women, peace and security, and anit-corruption.
Skåre was the first NATO Secretary General’s Special Representative for Women, Peace and Security from 2010 to 2012. Here, she set NATO’s agenda on WPS and built partnerships with governments, the EU, the UN, international organisations and the civil society through extensive public diplomacy and outreach. Her tenure had a transformative impact, putting NATO at the forefront of the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 and other related resolutions, through the development and implementation of coherent policies and action plans. The impact of this work led to establishment of this position as a permanent high-level post in NATO.
Skåre joined the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1991 and has, over the course of her career, worked extensively on a broad range of issues in diplomacy. She has served as Minister Counsellor and Deputy Permanent Representative at the Norwegian Delegation to NATO from 2010 to 2012 and Minister Counsellor and Deputy Head of Mission at the Norwegian Embassy in Kabul from 2008 to 2010.
In the period 2003 to 2007 she served as Counsellor and Legal Adviser, as well as a delegate to the 5th Committee, at the Norwegian Mission to the UN, New York.
Her other appointments in the Norwegian Foreign Service include the positions of Legal Adviser for the Minister for Development Cooperation; Head of the Division of Environment and Sustainable Development; Adviser on Antarctic and Antarctica Affairs; as well as work on the international financial institutions.
Ambassador Skåre holds a Master Degree in Law from the University of Oslo, and has two daughters.
