| Mr. Pronk has led a distinguished career, both as a prominent European politician and as a senior United Nations official. Prior to this appointment, Mr. Pronk served as the Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for the World Summit on Sustainable Development held in Johannesburg in 2002, and was formerly Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) from 1980 to 1985, and Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations from 1985 to 1986.
Throughout his career, Mr. Pronk has played a prominent role in promoting sustainable economic and environmental development. He served three times as Minister for Development Cooperation in the Government of the Netherlands (1973-1978; 1989-1998), and, more recently, as Minister of the Environment (1998-2002). He was President of the United Nations Conference of Parties of the Convention on Climate Change (CoP 6) held in The Hague in November 2000 and Bonn in July 2001. In November 2002 he became the Chair of the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) and, in December 2003, he became Chair of the Geneva-based Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC).
Mr. Pronk served for ten years as a member of the Dutch Parliament. He is a member of the Labour Party of the Netherlands and he was the Deputy Chairperson of the Party from 1986 to 1989.
Mr. Pronk has also been Treasurer of the Brandt Commission. Since 2002 till he took upon his new assignment as a Special Representative of the Secretary-General, he was a Professor in Theory and Practice of International Development at the Institute of Social Studies, The Hague.
Upon his nomination by the Secretary-General as his Special Representative for the Sudan, Mr. Jan Pronk laid down all the above positions to dedicate himself completely to the responsibilities and duties entrusted to him by the United Nations’ Secretary-General.
Mr. Pronk was born on 16 March 1940. He is married and has a son and a daughter. |
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