“We live now in an interdependent world, where almost no problem can be perceived as that of one nation or even one region alone.”
Thorvald Stoltenberg was Norwegian foreign minister before his appointment as High Commissioner. His short term in office marked the beginning of UNHCR’s increased involvement in large-scale United Nations peacebuilding operations.
At UNHCR, he oversaw several ongoing repatriation operations, particularly in Central America. He resigned in November 1990 to return to his previous position as Norwegian foreign minister. In May 1993, at the height of the Bosnian war, he returned to the United Nations as the Secretary-General’s Special Representative to the Former Yugoslavia.