Ingibjörg Sólrún Gísladóttir (; born 31 December 1954) is an Icelandic politician from the

Social Democratic Alliance The Social Democratic Alliance ( is, Samfylkingin - jafnaðarflokkur Íslands), officially The Alliance – Iceland's Social Democratic Party, is a social democratic, and pro-European political party in Iceland. The Social Democratic Alliance w ...

who has served as

Minister for Foreign Affairs A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between cou ...

(2007–2009) and leader of the Alliance (2005–2009). She served as representative of

UN Women The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, also known as UN Women, is a United Nations entity working for gender equality and the empowerment of women. UN Women advocates for the rights of women and girls, and focu ...

in Afghanistan from 2012-2014 and later in Turkey as designated Regional Director for Europe and Central Asia.

Education

Sólrún received her

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

in history and literature from the

University of Iceland The University of Iceland ( is, Háskóli Íslands ) is a public research university in Reykjavík, Iceland and the country's oldest and largest institution of higher education. Founded in 1911, it has grown steadily from a small civil servants' s ...

in 1979. Then she went to

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

to study as a guest student of the post -graduate studies in history at the

University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen ( da, Københavns Universitet, KU) is a prestigious public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in ...

(1979-1981). In 1981 she came back to Iceland where she graduated as a

cand.mag. Candidatus magisterii (male), or candidata magisterii (female), abbreviated as cand.mag., is an academic degree currently awarded in Denmark. The degree is officially translated into English as Master of Arts and currently requires 5 years of stud ...

in history from

in 1983. In addition to her Icelandic, Sólrún speaks English, French and Danish.

Political career

Sólrún started her political career in the

Women's List The Women's List or Women's Alliance ( is, Samtök um kvennalista), also called Kvennalistinn and abbreviated KL, was a feminist political party in Iceland that took part in national politics from 1983 to 1999. The party held three seats in the ...

(''Samtök um kvennalista''), a party she had co-founded in 1982 and later represented in Reykjavík's City Council from 1982 to 1988. She also represented the party in Parliament from 1991 to 1994. Sólrún became Mayor of

Reykjavík Reykjavík ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland, on the southern shore of Faxaflói bay. Its latitude is 64°08' N, making it the world's northernmost capital of a sovereign state. With a po ...

in 1994 when she led a coalition of four political parties called ''Reykjavíkurlistinn'', winning the elections. She was the city's Mayor until 2003. In 2004 Sólrún took a brief leave from politics and instead attended the European Institute, London School of Economics (LSE) as a visiting scholar. In 2005 Sólrún became the leader of the

(''Samfylkingin''), then the second largest political party in the

Althing The Alþingi (''general meeting'' in Icelandic, , anglicised as ' or ') is the supreme national parliament of Iceland. It is one of the oldest surviving parliaments in the world. The Althing was founded in 930 at ("thing fields" or "assembly ...

(Iceland's parliament), after a sharply contested election between her and the previous party leader

Össur Skarphéðinsson Össur Skarphéðinsson (pronounced ; born 19 June 1953) is an Icelandic politician who served as Minister for Foreign Affairs from February 2009 to May 2013. Össur matriculated from the Reykjavík Grammar School in 1973, and gained a BS in b ...

. She has served in this position until 2009. On 24 May 2007, Sólrún was appointed

foreign minister A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between cou ...

and served in the office until 1 February 2009.

Later career

On 19 July 2017, Sólrún began her mandate as the Director of

OSCE The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is the world's largest regional security-oriented intergovernmental organization with observer status at the United Nations. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, prom ...

Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights The Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) is the principal institution of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) dealing with the " human dimension" of security. The Office, originally named Office for ...

, where she succeeded Michael Georg Link. In June 2020, the governments of Tajikistan and Turkey blocked the renewal of Ingibjörg Sólrún's mandate. She subsequently led the OSCE's Observation Mission in the 2020 Ukrainian local elections. In 2021, Sólrún was appointed by

United Nations Secretary-General The secretary-general of the United Nations (UNSG or SG) is the chief administrative officer of the United Nations and head of the United Nations Secretariat, one of the six principal organs of the United Nations. The role of the secretary-ge ...

António Guterres António Manuel de Oliveira Guterres ( , ; born 30 April 1949) is a Portuguese politician and diplomat. Since 2017, he has served as secretary-general of the United Nations, the ninth person to hold this title. A member of the Portuguese Socia ...

as his new Deputy Special Representative for Political Affairs and Electoral Assistance of the

United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq The United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) was formed on 14 August 2003 by United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Resolution 1500 at the request of the Iraqi government to support national development efforts. UNAMI's mandate includes ...

(UNAMI), under the leadership of Special Representative

Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert Jeanine Antoinette Hennis-Plasschaert (born 7 April 1973) is a Dutch politician and diplomat serving as Special Representative of the Secretary-General for the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq since 1 November 2018. She is a member of t ...

. In August 2022, Guterres appointed Sólrún to the

United Nations fact-finding mission A United Nations fact-finding mission, also called a United Nations commission of inquiry, is a United Nations mission carried out with the intention to discover facts. They are often sent to troubled areas. Fact-finding missions have been sent b ...

regarding the

Olenivka prison massacre On 29 July 2022, during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, a building housing Ukrainian prisoners of war in a Russian-operated prison in Molodizhne near Olenivka, Donetsk Oblast, was destroyed, killing 53 Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) and ...

, led by

Carlos Alberto dos Santos Cruz Divisional general Carlos Alberto dos Santos Cruz (born 1 June 1952) is a Brazilian military officer who previously held the post of Force Commander of the United Nations' peacekeeping force in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (known by its ...

Other activities

* Center for International Peace Operations (ZIF), Member of the International Advisory Board * Nordic Women Mediators (NWM), MemberSecretary-General Appoints Ingibjörg Sólrún Gísladóttir of Iceland Deputy Special Representative for Iraq
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United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

, press release of January 15, 2021.

Personal life

Sólrún was born in Reykjavík on 31 December 1954. She is married to Hjörleifur Sveinbjörnsson, lecturer and translator of Chinese language. They have two sons.

References

External links