Jan Egeland (born 12 September 1957) is a Norwegian diplomat, political scientist, humanitarian leader and former Labour Party politician who has been Secretary General of the Norwegian Refugee Council since 2013. He served as State Secretary in the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 1990 to 1997 and as United Nations Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator from 2003 to 2006. Over the course of his career, Egeland has also served as Deputy Director of Human Rights Watch, Director of Human Rights Watch Europe, director of the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs, Secretary General of the Norwegian Red Cross and Chair of Amnesty International Norway. He also holds a post as Professor II at the University of Stavanger. Early life and education The son of Norwegian politician Kjølv Egeland, Egeland attended Stavanger Cathedral School. He holds a mag.art. in Political Science from the University of Oslo. He was a Fulbright Scholar at the University of California, Berkeley – where his thesis, contrasting American and Scandinavian diplomatic models, was published as a book – and a fellow at the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO) and The Harry S. Truman Research Institute for the Advancement of Peace, Jerusalem. Career Early beginnings Egeland began working with Amnesty International while in high school, campaigning for the disappeared in Chile in the 1970s, and at age 19 spent a month working for Catholic relief organization Minuto de Dios with the Motilon tribe in Colombia. Egeland later served as Chair of Amnesty International in Norway, and Vice-Chair of the International Executive Committee of Amnesty International, which he was elected on to at the age of 23, the youngest ever to hold the position. He also worked as Director for the International Department of the Norwegian Red Cross, Head of Development Studies at the Henry Dunant Institute in Geneva and a radio and television international news reporter for the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. Egeland first attracted attention as Secretary General of the Norwegian Red Cross when he pioneered the fight against the proliferation of small arms and joined the international campaign against landmines. With the onset of war in Iraq in 2003, Egeland alerted the international community to the worsening civilian conditions in Baghdad and Basra. Roles in government Egeland's career also includes service to his government as State Secretary in the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 1990 to 1997. In that capacity, he initiated