United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres today announced the appointment of Hans Grundberg of Sweden as his Special Envoy for Yemen. Mr. Grundberg succeeds Martin Griffiths (United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland) who has been appointed as Under‑Secretary‑General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and to whom the Secretary-General is grateful for his commitment and dedicated service. 

Serving since 2019 as Ambassador of the European Union to Yemen, Mr. Grundberg brings over 20 years of experience in international affairs, including over 15 years working in conflict resolution, negotiation, and mediation, with focus on the Middle East. He previously headed the Gulf Division at the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Stockholm during the time that Sweden hosted the United Nations-facilitated negotiations that culminated in the Stockholm Agreement in 2018.

Mr. Grundberg is a career diplomat, having served with both Swedish and European Union missions abroad, with postings in Cairo and Jerusalem, as well as Brussels, where he chaired the Middle East/Gulf Working Group of the European Council during the 2009 Swedish presidency of the European Union. 

He holds a Master of Science in business and economics from the Stockholm School of Economics.

New York, 6 August 2021