UN names Swedish diplomat Hans Grundberg as Yemen envoy
Grundberg will replace Martin Griffiths, a veteran British diplomat who served as the UN's Special Envoy for Yemen since 2018.
The United Nations has appointed Swedish diplomat Hans Grundberg as the UN’s special envoy for Yemen. Grundberg will succeed Martin Griffiths, a veteran British diplomat who has taken on a new role as the UN’s humanitarian relief chief.
In announcing Grundberg’s appointment Friday, the UN noted he has more than 15 years' experience working in conflict resolution, negotiation and mediation and has focused his career on the Middle East. Since September 2019, Grundberg has served as the European Union’s ambassador to Yemen.
He has also held posts in Cairo and Jerusalem, and in 2009, chaired the European Council’s Gulf Working Group in Brussels.
If approved by the 15-member Security Council, Grundberg will oversee UN efforts to end a devastating war that has killed more than 230,000 people since the Iran-aligned Houthis expelled the internationally recognized government from the capital, Sanaa, in 2014. A military coalition led by Saudi Arabia intervened on behalf of the exiled government the next year.
