Jan Egeland, the outspoken former U.N. under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, has landed himself a new job with Human Rights Watch, joining the organisation as a deputy executive director and its first Europe director.
"Egeland's mission is to strengthen Human Rights Watch's work in Europe, promoting human rights and reporting on abuse in the region and the world at large to European governments and institutions," the rights group said in a statement.
Egeland, a Norwegian, was in charge of coordinating the U.N.'s humanitarian and emergency relief work from 2003 to 2006, gaining a reputation for blunt appeals for money and action.
He memorably chided rich nations for being "stingy" with their aid to poor nations in the aftermath of the devastating 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. The gamble appeared to pay off when within days of the comments, the U.S. president at the time, George W. Bush, increased aid to survivors by tenfold.
A former Norwegian deputy foreign minister, Egeland has also been involved in various peace processes including between Israelis and Palestinians which led to the 1993 Oslo Accord. He took up a position as the director of the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs thinktank in Oslo in 2007.
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