New United Nations special envoy to Syria, Norwegian diplomat Geir Pedersen will kick off his new duties on Monday after the end of the term of his predecessor Staffan de Mistura.
De Mistura stepped down in November after four years in his position in which he failed to reach to a political solution to Syria’s crisis.
Pederson has been his country’s ambassador to China since the beginning of 2018.
He has previously serviced as Permanent Representative of Norway to the United Nations for five years.
He has also served as the Secretary General Special Personal Representative and Special Coordinator for Lebanon at the level of Under-Secretary-General.
Before that, he was Director of Asia and Pacific Division in the UN’s Department of Political Affairs.
Between November 1998 and 2003, Pedersen served as the Norwegian Representative to the Palestinian Authority. From 1995 to 1998 he held different positions at the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Oslo.
In 1993, he was a member of the Norwegian team to the secret Oslo negotiations that led to the signing of the Declaration of Principles and the mutual recognition between the Palestine Liberation Organization and Israel.
