Karin Landgren (born 1957) is the executive director of the independent think tank Security Council Report. [1] A former United Nations Under-Secretary-General, she has headed multiple UN peace operations. She has also worked extensively in humanitarian response, development, and protection with the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, and the UN Children's Fund, UNICEF.
Landgren grew up in Japan and Denmark. She graduated from the London School of Economics with a Bachelor of Science (Economics) in international relations (1978) and a Master of Laws in international law (1979). [2]
Landgren joined UNHCR in 1980. In early 1983 she moved to India, working on the protection of Afghan and Iranian asylum-seekers. Subsequently, she worked with Vietnamese asylum-seekers in the Philippines and in Singapore, where she was the UNHCR Representative (1988–90). After serving as chief of staff to the Deputy High Commissioner for Refugees (1990–92), she led UNHCR offices in Eritrea in the aftermath of the Eritrean War of Independence and Bosnia-Herzegovina during the Bosnian War.
As UNHCR's Chief of Standards and Legal Advice in Geneva, Switzerland (1994–98), she contributed in particular to UNHCR’s work and international standards in the realms of statelessness, gender-based persecution, and refugee repatriation. Drawing on her experience in Former Yugoslavia, she published an article on the use of safe zones during conflict. [3]
She joined UNICEF in 1998 as the organisation’s first Chief of Child Protection, and in 2004–05 developed a new and systemic approach to child protection (the “protective environment”), [4] which became UNICEF policy [5] and has subsequently been adopted by other organisations. In 2007-8 she taught a graduate course in child protection at SIPA, Columbia University. She served on the editorial board of the UN Study on Violence Against Children. [6]
In 2008, Landgren became Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General to Nepal, under Special Representative Ian Martin, replacing Martin as the head of the UN Mission in Nepal (UNMIN) in February 2009. [7] In this capacity she oversaw the negotiated release of former child soldiers. She closed UNMIN in January 2011. [8]
From 2011 to 2012, she was head of the United Nations Mission in Burundi. [9]
From 2012 to 2015, she was the Special Representative of the Secretary-General to Liberia and head of the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL). [10] Upon this appointment, Landgren became the first woman to have headed three UN peace operations. She led UNMIL's response to the 2014 Ebola outbreak in Liberia. In these roles, she briefed the UN Security Council regularly. [11] [12]
In 2015 Landgren became a founding member of the Nordic Women's Mediation Network. [13] In an article published in December 2015, Landgren drew attention to the scant numbers of women appointed to senior UN positions that year, notwithstanding the Secretary-General’s stated commitment to gender parity at the United Nations. The following year, all candidates for the post of Secretary-General publicly pledged themselves to a policy of gender parity. [14]
Landgren was a visiting scholar at CEU Budapest in 2016, teaching a graduate course in international public policy, and joined the Center on International Cooperation of New York University as a Non-Resident Scholar. [15]
Landgren joined the Security Council Report as its Executive Director in May 2018. In this capacity she also acts as the organisation’s editor-in-chief. She briefed the Security Council annually in 2019–2021 on the subject of the Council’s working methods. [16]
Security Council Report, founded in 2005 and based in New York City, is an independent and impartial think tank analysing and reporting on developments in the UN Security Council. The SCR also provides training for non-permanent members of the UN security council.
Landgren was married to John Mills, a foreign correspondent and bureau chief of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and subsequently a UN spokesperson, until his death in 2001. [17] [18]
An internally displaced person (IDP) is someone who is forced to leave their home but who remains within their country's borders. They are often referred to as refugees, although they do not fall within the legal definitions of a refugee.
The United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) was a United Nations peacekeeping operation established in September 2003 to monitor a ceasefire agreement in Liberia following the resignation of President Charles Taylor and the conclusion of the Second Liberian Civil War (1999–2003). At its peak it consisted of up to 15,000 UN military personnel and 1,115 police officers, along with civilian political advisors and aid workers.
The United Nations Mission in Nepal or UNMIN was a special political mission in Nepal, established by the UN Security Council in January 2007 through resolution 174040 (2007) to assist in implementing key aspects of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement that ended the internal armed conflict in the South Asian country. The mandate was subsequently extended in resolutions 1796 (2008), 1825 (2008), 1864 (2009), 1879 (2009) and 1909 (2010). UNMIN ceased its operations on January 15, 2011.
A new civil war began in 1999 when a rebel group backed by the government of neighboring Guinea, the Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD), emerged in northern Liberia. By the spring of 2001, they were posing a major threat to the Taylor government. Liberia was now engaged in a complex three-way conflict with Sierra Leone and the Guinea Republic. By the beginning of 2002, both of these countries were supporting the latest addition to the lexicon of Liberian guerrilla outfits – Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD), while Taylor was supporting various opposition factions in both countries. By supporting Sierra Leonean rebels, Taylor also drew the enmity of the British and Americans.
Nicola Dahrendorf is a German and British national. She is a practitioner with 30 years’ experience in conflict and post-war settings with INGOs, the United Nations, the UK government and in an academic capacity. Her professional focus has been on peace building and conflict resolution, protection of civilians and child protection, sexual and gender-based violence and on security sector and justice reform in fragile environments. She has been engaged in providing support to community-based mediation and exploring the role of artistic practice in conflict environments and peace processes for the Swiss FDFA. Her past UN work involved six peacekeeping operations in senior management positions. She has worked at UNICEF HQ as Chief of Humanitarian Policy and Advocacy and with UNHCR for seven years on refugee protection.She was head of humanitarian policy in UNICEF, the UN Special Advisor on sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and has also served as Director of the Office for Addressing Sexual Exploitation and Abuse. Director of the Conflict Security and Development Group at King's College, London, She has carried out assignments for the Norwegian Refugee Council as a Senior Protection Adviser, with the Swiss Development Corporation. For the UK Government Stabilisation Unit and (former) DFID Conflict and Humanitarian Affairs Department she worked in Kenya, Nigeria, DRC, South Sudan, Somalia and Nepal. She has worked in academia at King’s College London, was a visiting research fellow at Birkbeck College, University of London and is now a visiting fellow at the University of Edinburgh. She has studied social anthropology and law. She is the daughter of Vera Dahrendorf and Lord Dahrendorf.
Filippo Grandi is an Italian diplomat and United Nations official, currently serving as United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. He previously served as Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) and United Nations Deputy Special Representative for Afghanistan. He received the Olympic Laureate award during the Paris 2024 Olympics Opening Ceremony.
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1909, adopted unanimously on January 21, 2010, after recalling resolutions 1740 (2007), 1796 (2008), 1825 (2008), 1864 (2009) and 1879 (2008), the Council extended the mandate for the United Nations Mission in Nepal (UNMIN) until May 15, 2010 at the request of Nepal, deciding that it should also end on this date and further requiring UNMIN to hand over residual responsibilities including the monitoring of weapons and armed personnel.
United Nations Security Council resolution 1261, adopted unanimously on 25 August 1999, in the first resolution to address the topic, the Council condemned the targeting of children in armed conflict including the recruitment and use of child soldiers.
United Nations Security Council resolution 1379, adopted unanimously on 20 November 2001, after recalling resolutions 1261 (1999), 1265 (1999), 1296 (2000), 1306 (2000), 1308 (2000), 1314 (2000) and 1325 (2000), the Council considered provisions to protect children during peacekeeping operations and requested the Secretary-General to identify parties to conflict that used or recruited child soldiers.
United Nations Security Council resolution 1509, adopted unanimously on 19 September 2003, after recalling all previous resolutions on the situation in Liberia, including Resolution 1497 (2003), the council established the 15,000-strong United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) to assist in implementing a ceasefire and peace agreement.
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1938, adopted unanimously on September 15, 2010, after recalling previous resolutions on the situation in Liberia, including resolutions 1509 (2003), 1626 (2005), 1836 (2005) and 1885 (2009), the Council extended the mandate of the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) for a further twelve months until September 30, 2011 and required it to provide electoral assistance.
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1939, adopted unanimously on September 15, 2010, after recalling previous resolutions on the situation in Nepal, including Resolution 1921 (2010), the Council extended the mandate of the United Nations Mission in Nepal (UNMIN) until January 15, 2011 amid concern over rising political tensions in the country.
United Nations Security Council resolution 1561 was adopted unanimously on 17 September 2004, after recalling all previous resolutions on the situation in Liberia, particularly resolutions 1497 (2003), 1503 (2003), 1521 (2003) and 1532 (2004). The Council extended the mandate of the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) for a further year until 19 September 2005.
United Nations Security Council resolution 1626, adopted unanimously on 19 September 2005, after recalling all previous resolutions on the situations in Liberia and Sierra Leone, particularly resolutions 1509 (2003), 1610 (2005) and 1620 (2005), the Council extended the mandate of the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) until 31 March 2006 and authorised the deployment of 250 troops to Sierra Leone to protect the Special Court.
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1667, adopted unanimously on March 31, 2006, after recalling all previous resolutions on the situations in Liberia and the subregion, particularly resolutions 1626 (2005) and 1638 (2005), the Council extended the mandate of the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) until September 30, 2006.
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1712, adopted unanimously on 29 September 2006, after recalling all previous resolutions on the situation in Liberia and West Africa, particularly resolutions 1509 (2003), 1667 (2006) and 1694 (2006), the Council extended the mandate of the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) for six months until 31 March 2007.
United Nations Security Council Resolution 2008 extended the mandate of the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) for one year, until 30 September 2011. It was unanimously adopted on 16 September 2011.
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1836 was unanimously adopted on 29 September 2008.
The Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict (OSRSG-SVC) is an office of the United Nations Secretariat tasked with serving the United Nations' spokesperson and political advocate on conflict-related sexual violence, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict (SRSG-SVC). The Special Representative holds the rank of Under-Secretary-General of the UN and chairs the UN Action Against Sexual Violence in Conflict. The mandate of the SRSG-SVC was established by Security Council Resolution 1888, introduced by Hillary Clinton, and the first Special Representative, Margot Wallström, took office in 2010. The current Special Representative is Pramila Patten of Mauritius, who was appointed by UN Secretary General António Guterres in 2017. The work of the SRSG-SVC is supported by the UN Team of Experts on the Rule of Law/Sexual Violence in Conflict, co-led by the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPO), Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the UN Development Programme (UNDP), also established under Security Council Resolution 1888.
Sara Frances Beysolow Nyanti is an international development expert, Liberian pastor and since February 2024 the Foreign Minister of Liberia. She has more than 20 years of professional experience. She was the United Nations Assistant Secretary General from December 2021 to her retirement in July 2023.