Adolf Ogi is a Swiss politician who most recently served as Special Advisor to the UN Secretary General on Sport for Development and Peace from 2001 to 2008. He previously served as member of the Federal Council (Switzerland) for the Swiss People's Party from 1987 to 2000. He held the Presidency of the Swiss Confederation twice in 1993 and 2000.
Nabil Elaraby was an Egyptian politician and diplomat who was the 7th Secretary General of the Arab League from 1 July 2011 to 3 July 2016. Elaraby also had roles in the United Nations, holding positions at the United Nations Institute for Training and Research and serving as a Permanent Representative to the United Nations.
An under-secretary-general of the United Nations (USG) is a senior official within the United Nations System, normally appointed by the General Assembly on the recommendation of the secretary-general for a renewable term of four years. Under-secretary-general is the third highest rank in the United Nations, after the secretary-general and the deputy secretary-general. The rank is held by the heads of different UN entities, certain high officials of the United Nations Secretariat, and high-level envoys. The United Nations regards the rank as equal to that of a cabinet minister of a member state, and under-secretaries-general have diplomatic immunity under the UN Charter.
Ian Martin is an English human rights activist/advisor and sometime United Nations official. His most recent UN assignment was as the Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya. From 2015 to 2018 he was Executive Director of Security Council Report.
Juan Somavía Altamirano is the former Director-General of the International Labour Organization (ILO). He was elected to serve as the ninth Director-General of the ILO by the Governing Body on 23 March 1998. On 7 November 2013, he was appointed by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to serve as Special Adviser on Interregional Policy Cooperation.
The Department of Peace Operations (DPO) is a department of the United Nations charged with the planning, preparation, management, and direction of UN peacekeeping operations. Previously known as the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO), it was created in 1992 as part of a restructuring of the UN's peace and security apparatus. The DPO retains the core functions and responsibilities of its predecessor, with a greater emphasis on cohesion, integrating different resources and knowledge, and promoting human rights.
The United Nations Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs (DPPA) is a department of the Secretariat of the United Nations (UN) with responsibility for monitoring and assessing global political developments and advising and assisting the UN Secretary General and his envoys in the peaceful prevention and resolution of conflict around the world. The department manages field-based political missions in Africa, Central Asia, and the Middle East, and has been increasing its professional capacities in conflict mediation and preventive diplomacy. DPPA also oversees UN electoral assistance to Member States of the organization. Established in 1992, the department's responsibilities also include providing secretariat support to the UN Security Council and two standing committees created by the General Assembly concerning the Rights of the Palestinian People and Decolonization. DPPA is based at the UN Headquarters in New York City.
The Olympic Truce is a tradition originating from ancient Greece that dates back to 776 BC. A "truce" was announced before and during the Olympic Games to ensure the host city state (Elis) was not attacked and athletes and spectators could travel safely to the Games and peacefully return to their respective countries.
Wilfried "Willi" Lemke was a German football manager who later worked as a United Nations official. He served as United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Adviser on Sport for Development and Peace. He was appointed to the position by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on 18 March 2008.
Jan Margaret Beagle is a New Zealand diplomat who has been serving as the Director-General of the International Development Law Organization (IDLO) since 2020. From 2017 until 2019, she was the Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations for Management, appointed to this position by United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres on 1 June 2017. She then served as Special Advisor to the Secretary-General on Systemwide Implementation of Chief Executive Board decisions.
Michael Charles Williams, Baron Williams of Baglan was a British diplomat and crossbench life peer.
Franz Baumann is a German former United Nations official who, until the end of 2015, served as Assistant Secretary-General and United Nations Special Adviser on Environment and Peace Operations at the United Nations Secretariat in New York. From 2017 to 2021, he was a visiting research professor at New York University.
UN Special, the former magazine of international civil servants in Geneva, was founded in 1949 and circulated uninterruptedly until December 2019. As of 2020, the staff associations of the two organizations that co-owned the magazine went their separate ways, each with its own publication. The use of the United Nations name, logo and emblems are retained by UN Today exclusively, however the pool of writers of NewSpecial includes UN Staff members, diplomats, and others.
The United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) is a United Nations (UN) advanced mission in Libya, created in the aftermath of the Libyan Civil War. UNSMIL is a political mission, not a military mission. The main elements of its mandate defined by the UN include supporting Libyan transitional authorities in "post-conflict efforts", providing mediation in implementing Libyan political agreements, supporting key Libyan institutions and monitoring and reporting on human rights. UNSMIL is led by the UN Department of Political Affairs.
The United Nations Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States (UN-OHRLLS) is an office of the United Nations Secretariat which deals with the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries, and Small Island Developing States. It was founded in 2001 by United Nations resolution 56/227.
World Culture Open (WCO) is a non-profit organization that promotes cultural diversity and unprejudiced cultural exchange around the globe. WCO has its regional offices in New York City, Seoul, and Beijing.
Mohamed Sahnoun was an Algerian diplomat who served as ambassador of Algeria to West Germany, France, the United States, and Morocco as well as permanent representative of Algeria to the United Nations. He also served as the Organisation of African Unity's Assistant Secretary General, the Arab League's Assistant Secretary-general, the Secretary-General of the United Nations's Special Representative for Somalia in 1992 and the Secretary-General of the United Nations's Special Representative for the Great Lakes region of Africa in 1997 before continuing to work for peace and reconciliation through various UN-related or independent charities. He particularly focused on developing intercultural and inter-religious dialogues and on healing wounded memories from past conflicts.
Michael Møller is president of the Diplomatic Forum of the Geneva Science and Diplomacy Anticipator Foundation, principal advisor at Macro Advisory Partners and member of the boards of several foundations, including the Kofi Annan Foundation. He is Honorary President of the Association of Former International Civil Sevants for Development (Greycells). He is a Danish former Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and the 12th director-general of the United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG). He was also the secretary-general of the Conference on Disarmament and the United Nations Secretary-General's personal representative to the conference. He was appointed to these roles by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in November 2013 and was reappointed by Secretary-General António Guterres in February 2017 for another year. Møller has over 40 years of experience as an international civil servant in the United Nations System, serving in different roles in New York, Iran, Mexico, Haiti and Geneva. Prior to his tenure as director-general, he was the executive director of the Kofi Annan Foundation from 2008 to 2011.
Janos Pasztor is a Hungarian diplomat. His current role is Senior Fellow at the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs and Executive Director of the Carnegie Climate Geoengineering Governance Initiative. He was Assistant Secretary-General in the Executive Office of the Secretary-General of the United Nations in New York City and Senior Adviser to the Secretary-General on Climate Change between January 2015 and December 2016. Previously he has held positions at the World Wide Fund for Nature International where he was Policy and Science Director and acting Director for Conservation.
Mirjana Spoljaric Egger is a Swiss-Croatian diplomat. Since October 2022, she has served as the President of the International Committee of the Red Cross.
