Sérgio Vieira de Mello
Encyclopedia
Sérgio Vieira de Mello was a Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

ian United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...

  employee who worked for the UN for more than 34 years, earning respect and praise around the world for his efforts in the humanitarian and political programs of the UN. He was posthumously awarded a United Nations Prize in the Field of Human Rights
United Nations Prize in the Field of Human Rights
The United Nations Prizes in the Field of Human Rights were instituted by United Nations General Assembly in 1966.They are intended to "honour and commend people and organizations which have made an outstanding contribution to the promotion and protection of the human rights embodied in the...

 in 2003.

He was killed in the Canal Hotel Bombing
Canal Hotel Bombing
The Canal Hotel Bombing in Baghdad, Iraq, in the afternoon of August 19, 2003, killed at least 22 people, including the United Nations' Special Representative in Iraq Sérgio Vieira de Mello, and wounded over 100. The blast targeted the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq created just 5 days...

 in Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....

 along with 20 other members of his staff on 19 August 2003 while working as the Secretary-General's Special Representative in Iraq
United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq
The United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq is an entity that was formed by the United Nations in Security Council Resolution 1500 on 14 August 2003.-Mandate:...

. Before his death, he was considered a likely candidate for UN Secretary-General.

Biography

Vieira de Mello was born in Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...

 to the diplomat Arnaldo Vieira de Mello and his wife Gilda, on 15 March 1948. He had an older sister, Sônia. The family followed Arnaldo's diplomatic postings, such that Sérgio spent his early years in Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...

, Genoa
Genoa
Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....

, Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...

, Beirut
Beirut
Beirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon, with a population ranging from 1 million to more than 2 million . Located on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's Mediterranean coastline, it serves as the country's largest and main seaport, and also forms the Beirut Metropolitan...

 and Rome. In 1965, he enrolled to study philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...

 at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, but as classes were frequently disrupted by strikes, he opted to continue his education in Europe. He studied for a year at the University of Fribourg
University of Fribourg
The University of Fribourg is a university in the city of Fribourg, Switzerland.The roots of the University can be traced back to 1582, when the notable Jesuit Peter Canisius founded the Collège Saint-Michel in the City of Fribourg. In 1763, an Academy of law was founded by the state of Frobourg...

 in Switzerland, before enrolling at the Sorbonne University in Paris, where he studied philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...

 under Vladimir Jankélévitch
Vladimir Jankélévitch
Vladimir Jankélévitch was a French philosopher and musicologist.- Biography :Jankélévitch was the son of Russian Jewish parents, who had emigrated to France....

 He participated in the 1968 student riots in Paris against the Charles de Gaulle
Charles de Gaulle
Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle was a French general and statesman who led the Free French Forces during World War II. He later founded the French Fifth Republic in 1958 and served as its first President from 1959 to 1969....

 government, and was hit in the head by a police baton, causing a permanent disfigurement above his right eye. He also wrote a letter published in the French leftist journal Combat in support of the riots, which made returning to Brazil, at this stage a military dictatorship
Military dictatorship
A military dictatorship is a form of government where in the political power resides with the military. It is similar but not identical to a stratocracy, a state ruled directly by the military....

, potentially dangerous. Thus, after graduating from the Sorbonne in 1969, he moved to Geneva
Geneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...

 to stay with a family friend, and found his first job as an editor at the offices of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees , also known as The UN Refugee Agency is a United Nations agency mandated to protect and support refugees at the request of a government or the UN itself and assists in their voluntary repatriation, local integration or resettlement to...

.

At UNHCR, Vieira de Mello participated in field work assignments in Bangladesh
Bangladesh
Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...

 during its war of independence in 1971 and Cyprus
Cyprus
Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...

 after the Turkish invasion in 1974. In 1973, he married Annie, a French assistant at UNHCR, with whom he had two sons, Laurent and Adrien. During his early years at UNHCR, he also completed an MA
Master of Arts (postgraduate)
A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...

 in moral philosophy and a PhD
PHD
PHD may refer to:*Ph.D., a doctorate of philosophy*Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*PHD finger, a protein sequence*PHD Mountain Software, an outdoor clothing and equipment company*PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...

 by correspondence from the Sorbonne. His doctorate thesis, submitted in 1974, was entitled The Role of Philosophy in Contemporary Society. In 1985, he submitted a second "state" doctorate, the highest degree in the French education system, entitled Civitas Maxima: Origins, Foundations and Philosophical and Political Significance of the Supranationality Concept. In addition to his native Portuguese, Vieira de Mello was fluent in English, Spanish, Italian and French, as well as some conversational Arabic and Tetum
Tetum language
Tetum is an Austronesian language, a national language and one of the two official languages of East Timor. It is also used in parts of West Timor that adjoin East Timor, particularly in Belu Regency...

.

Vieira de Mello spent three years in charge of UNHCR operations in Mozambique
Mozambique
Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique , is a country in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west and Swaziland and South Africa to the southwest...

 during the civil war
Mozambican Civil War
The Mozambican Civil War began in 1977, two years after the end of the war of independence. The ruling party, Front for Liberation of Mozambique , was violently opposed from 1977 by the Rhodesian- and South African-funded Mozambique Resistance Movement...

 that followed its independence from Portugal in 1975, and three more in Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....

. Vieira de Mello also served as Special Envoy for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees for Cambodia
Cambodia
Cambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...

, being the first and only UN Representative to hold talks with the Khmer Rouge
Khmer Rouge
The Khmer Rouge literally translated as Red Cambodians was the name given to the followers of the Communist Party of Kampuchea, who were the ruling party in Cambodia from 1975 to 1979, led by Pol Pot, Nuon Chea, Ieng Sary, Son Sen and Khieu Samphan...

. He became senior political adviser to the UN Interim Force in Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...

 between 1981 and 1983.

The early 1990s found him involved in the clearing of land mine
Land mine
A land mine is usually a weight-triggered explosive device which is intended to damage a target—either human or inanimate—by means of a blast and/or fragment impact....

s in Cambodia, and then in Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....

. After working on the refugee problem in central Africa, he was made Assistant High Commissioner for Refugees in 1996 and he became UN Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator
Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator
The Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator is a high level position in the United Nations that heads the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs....

 two years later. He would hold this position simultaneously with others until January 2001. He was a special UN envoy in Kosovo
Kosovo
Kosovo is a region in southeastern Europe. Part of the Ottoman Empire for more than five centuries, later the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija within Serbia...

 after the end of Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...

n control of the former Yugoslav province in 1999. Vieira de Mello was instrumental in dealing with the issue of boat people
Boat people
Boat people is a term that usually refers to refugees, illegal immigrants or asylum seekers who emigrate in numbers in boats that are sometimes old and crudely made...

 in Hong Kong.
In mid-2000, he visited Fiji
Fiji
Fiji , officially the Republic of Fiji , is an island nation in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean about northeast of New Zealand's North Island...

 together with Don McKinnon
Don McKinnon
Sir Donald Charles "Don" McKinnon, ONZ, GCVO is a former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of New Zealand. He was the Secretary-General of the Commonwealth of Nations from 2000 until 2008.-Early life:...

, the Commonwealth of Nations
Commonwealth of Nations
The Commonwealth of Nations, normally referred to as the Commonwealth and formerly known as the British Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental organisation of fifty-four independent member states...

' Secretary-General, in an attempt to assist in finding a negotiated settlement to the hostage situation, in which Fiji's Prime Minister
Prime Minister of Fiji
The Prime Minister of the Republic of Fiji is the head of government of Fiji. The Prime Minister was appointed by the President under the terms of the now-suspended 1997 constitution....

 and other members of Parliament
Parliament of Fiji
Fiji's Parliament is bicameral. The House of Representatives has 71 members. 25 of these are elected by universal suffrage. The remaining 46 are reserved for Fiji's ethnic communities and are elected from communal electoral rolls: 23 Fijians, 19 Indo-Fijians, 1 Rotuman, and 3 "General electors"...

 were kidnapped and held as hostages during the 2000 Fijian coup d'état.

Before becoming the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in 2002, he was the UN Transitional Administrator in East Timor
East Timor
The Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, commonly known as East Timor , is a state in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the nearby islands of Atauro and Jaco, and Oecusse, an exclave on the northwestern side of the island, within Indonesian West Timor...

 from December 1999 to May 2002, guiding that former Portuguese colony occupied by Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...

 to independence. He was also special representative in Kosovo for an initial period of two months and was the coordinator of humanitarian operations at UN Headquarters.

In May 2003 Vieira de Mello was appointed as the Special Representative of the UN Secretary General
United Nations Secretary-General
The Secretary-General of the United Nations is the head of the Secretariat of the United Nations, one of the principal organs of the United Nations. The Secretary-General also acts as the de facto spokesperson and leader of the United Nations....

 to Iraq, an appointment initially intended to last for four months. According to The New York Times Magazine
The New York Times Magazine
The New York Times Magazine is a Sunday magazine supplement included with the Sunday edition of The New York Times. It is host to feature articles longer than those typically in the newspaper and has attracted many notable contributors...

 journalist James Traub
James Traub
James Traub, born in 1954, is a contributing writer for The New York Times Magazine, where he has worked since 1998. From 1994 to 1997, he was a staff writer for The New Yorker. He has also written for The New York Review of Books, The Atlantic Monthly, National Review and Foreign Affairs...

 in his book The Best Intentions, Vieira de Mello had originally turned down the appointment before being persuaded by US President George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....

 and Condoleezza Rice
Condoleezza Rice
Condoleezza Rice is an American political scientist and diplomat. She served as the 66th United States Secretary of State, and was the second person to hold that office in the administration of President George W. Bush...

. He had been working in this position when he was killed in the Canal Hotel bombing
Canal Hotel Bombing
The Canal Hotel Bombing in Baghdad, Iraq, in the afternoon of August 19, 2003, killed at least 22 people, including the United Nations' Special Representative in Iraq Sérgio Vieira de Mello, and wounded over 100. The blast targeted the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq created just 5 days...

. Abu Musab Zarqawi, a leader of the al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda is a global broad-based militant Islamist terrorist organization founded by Osama bin Laden sometime between August 1988 and late 1989. It operates as a network comprising both a multinational, stateless army and a radical Sunni Muslim movement calling for global Jihad...

 terrorist organization, claimed responsibility for the blast. A communiqué from al-Qaida said that de Mello was assasinated because he was a crusader that extracted a part of the Islamic land (East Timor).

He was mentioned in some circles as a suitable candidate for UN Secretary-General. His death was widely mourned, largely on account of his reputation for effective work to promote peace. Vieira de Mello was buried at the Cimetière des Rois
Cimetière des Rois
The Cimetière des Rois or Cimetière de Plainpalais, is a cemetery in Geneva, Switzerland, where John Calvin, the Protestant reformer, Jorge Luis Borges, the Argentine author, Sérgio Vieira de Mello, the former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, and Jean Piaget, the noted child psychologist are...

 in Geneva
Geneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...

, Switzerland.

Awards and recognition

Vieira de Mello received a number of posthumous awards and honours, including a United Nations Prize in the Field of Human Rights
United Nations Prize in the Field of Human Rights
The United Nations Prizes in the Field of Human Rights were instituted by United Nations General Assembly in 1966.They are intended to "honour and commend people and organizations which have made an outstanding contribution to the promotion and protection of the human rights embodied in the...

 in 2003. In April 2004, Sérgio Vieira de Mello was posthumously awarded the 'Statesman of the Year Award' by the EastWest Institute
EastWest Institute
The EastWest Institute , originally known as the Institute for East West Security Studies, is an international not-for-profit, non-partisan "think and do" tank focusing on international conflict resolution through a variety of means, including track 2 diplomacy and track 1.5 diplomacy , hosting...

.

Following the initiative of the Villa Decius Association, the Prize of Sergio Vieira de Mello - the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in the years 2002-2003 was established in the year 2003 with an aim to promote human rights, democracy and tolerance and had its First Edition already in 2004. The permission to establish the award was granted by Sergio’s mother, Gilda Vieira de Mello.

The Sergio Vieira de Mello Foundation has been created in 2007 to honor his memory, pursue his ideals and continue his unfinished mission. The Foundation has been established in Geneva (Switzerland), at the initiative of his two sons and his wife with some friends and colleagues. In 2008, Mr Kofi Annan
Kofi Annan
Kofi Atta Annan is a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh Secretary-General of the UN from 1 January 1997 to 31 December 2006...

 launched the first annual lecture, followed by Ms Sadako Ogata
Sadako Ogata
, is a Japanese academic, diplomat, author, administrator and professor emeritus at Sophia University.-Early life:Sadako Nakamura was born in 1927...

 in 2009, by Mr.Bernard Kouchner
Bernard Kouchner
Bernard Kouchner is a French politician, diplomat, and doctor. He is co-founder of Médecins Sans Frontières and Médecins du Monde...

 in 2010, and by Mr. José Manuel Durão Barroso
José Manuel Durão Barroso
José Manuel Durão Barroso is a Portuguese politician. He is President of the European Commission, since 23 November 2004. He served as Prime Minister of Portugal from 6 April 2002 to 17 July 2004.-Academic career:...

 in 2011. Lectures take place at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies
Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies
The Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies is a highly selective postgraduate educational and research institute situated in Geneva, Switzerland...

, in Geneva.

On 11 December 2008, the United Nations General Assembly
United Nations General Assembly
For two articles dealing with membership in the General Assembly, see:* General Assembly members* General Assembly observersThe United Nations General Assembly is one of the five principal organs of the United Nations and the only one in which all member nations have equal representation...

 made history when it adopted Swedish-sponsored GA Resolution A/63/L.49 on the Strengthening of the Coordination of Emergency Assistance of the United Nations, that amongst other important humanitarian decisions, decided to designate 19 August as the World Humanitarian Day
World Humanitarian Day
World Humanitarian Day is a day dedicated to recognize humanitarian personnel and those who have lost their lives working for humanitarian causes. It was designated by the United Nations General Assembly as part of a Swedish-sponsored GA Resolution A/63/L.49 on the Strengthening of the...

 (WHD). The Resolution gives for the first time, a special recognition to all humanitarian and United Nations and associated personnel who have worked in the promotion of the humanitarian cause and those who have lost their lives in the cause of duty and urges all Member States, entities of the United Nations within existing resources, as well as the other International Organizations
International organization
An intergovernmental organization, sometimes rendered as an international governmental organization and both abbreviated as IGO, is an organization composed primarily of sovereign states , or of other intergovernmental organizations...

 and Non-Governmental Organizations
Non-governmental organization
A non-governmental organization is a legally constituted organization created by natural or legal persons that operates independently from any government. The term originated from the United Nations , and is normally used to refer to organizations that do not form part of the government and are...

 to observe it annually in an appropriate way. As a background to this landmark resolution, the family of Sérgio Vieira de Mello resolved to work towards having the 19th of August recognized as a befitting tribute to all humanitarian personnel. Early April 2008 the Board of the Sérgio Vieira de Mello Foundation prepared a draft Resolution to be sponsored and adopted by the General Assembly designating 19 August as World Humanitarian Day. France, Switzerland, Japan and Brazil, contacted with the draft Resolution, agreed to co-sponsor it.

Sergio Vieira de Mello founded two Human Rights Agencies: the United Nations Housing Rights Programme and United Nations Human Rights Educational Project
United Nations Human Rights Educational Project
The United Nations Human Rights Educational Project is a United NationsIt was founded in 2002 by the late United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Sergio Vieira de Mello. Between years 2002 and 2004 UNHREP was headquartered in Hamilton, New Zealand...

 (UNHREP). The former, currently a part of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme
United Nations Human Settlements Programme
The United Nations Human Settlements Programme is the United Nations agency for human settlements. It was established in 1978 and has its headquarters at the United Nations Office at Nairobi, Kenya...

, aims to "assist States and other stakeholders with the implementation of their commitments in the Habitat Agenda". UNHREP aims to be "an educational facility for teaching Human Rights from a variety of angles. ... [as well as, eventually] international relations, conflict resolution, diplomacy and diplomatic etiquette".
After his death, the Italian city of Bologna has dedicated to Sergio Vieira de Mello a new square ('Piazza Sérgio Vieria de Mello') situated in a modern part of the central quartiere Navile.

Career chronology

  • 1969-1971: French Editor, UNHCR, Geneva
    Geneva
    Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...

    , Switzerland
  • 1971-1972: Project Officer, UNHCR, Dhaka
    Dhaka
    Dhaka is the capital of Bangladesh and the principal city of Dhaka Division. Dhaka is a megacity and one of the major cities of South Asia. Located on the banks of the Buriganga River, Dhaka, along with its metropolitan area, had a population of over 15 million in 2010, making it the largest city...

    , East Pakistan
    East Pakistan
    East Pakistan was a provincial state of Pakistan established in 14 August 1947. The provincial state existed until its declaration of independence on 26 March 1971 as the independent nation of Bangladesh. Pakistan recognized the new nation on 16 December 1971. East Pakistan was created from Bengal...

  • 1972-1973: Programme Officer, UNHCR, Juba
    Juba, Sudan
    Juba is the capital and largest city of the Republic of South Sudan. It also serves as the capital of Central Equatoria, the smallest of the ten states of South Sudan. The city is situated on the White Nile and functions as the seat and metropolis of Juba County.- Population :In 2005, Juba's...

    , Sudan
    Sudan
    Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...

  • 1974-1975: Programme Officer, UNHCR, Nicosia
    Nicosia
    Nicosia from , known locally as Lefkosia , is the capital and largest city in Cyprus, as well as its main business center. Nicosia is the only divided capital in the world, with the southern and the northern portions divided by a Green Line...

    , Cyprus
    Cyprus
    Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...

  • 1975-1977: Deputy Representative and Representative, UNHCR, Maputo
    Maputo
    Maputo, also known as Lourenço Marques, is the capital and largest city of Mozambique. It is known as the City of Acacias in reference to acacia trees commonly found along its avenues and the Pearl of the Indian Ocean. It was famous for the inscription "This is Portugal" on the walkway of its...

    , Mozambique
    Mozambique
    Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique , is a country in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west and Swaziland and South Africa to the southwest...

  • 1978-1980: Representative, UNHCR, Lima
    Lima
    Lima is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín rivers, in the central part of the country, on a desert coast overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Together with the seaport of Callao, it forms a contiguous urban area known as the Lima...

    , Peru
    Peru
    Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....

  • 1980-1981: Head of Career Development and Training Unit of Personnel Section, UNHCR, Geneva
    Geneva
    Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...

    , Switzerland
  • 1981-1983: Senior Political Officer, UNIFIL, DPKO
    Department of Peacekeeping Operations
    The Department of Peacekeeping Operations is a department of the United Nations which is charged with the planning, preparation, management and direction of UN peacekeeping operations.-History of the DPKO:...

    , Lebanon
    Lebanon
    Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...

  • 1983-1985: Deputy Head of Personnel, UNHCR, Geneva, Switzerland
  • 1986-1988: Chef de Cabinet
    Chef de Cabinet
    Chef de Cabinet is the head of an office in the United Nations Secretariat, appointed by the Secretary-General, or in the European Commission, appointed by an individual European Commissioner for his personal cabinet. The position's rank and responsibilities are equivalent to a chief of staff....

     and Secretary to the Executive Committee, UNHCR, Geneva, Switzerland
  • 1988-1990: Director of Asia Bureau, UNHCR, Geneva, Switzerland
  • 1990-1991: Director of External Affairs, UNHCR, Geneva, Switzerland
  • 1991-1993: Director for Repatriation and Resettlement Operations, UNTAC, DPKO
    Department of Peacekeeping Operations
    The Department of Peacekeeping Operations is a department of the United Nations which is charged with the planning, preparation, management and direction of UN peacekeeping operations.-History of the DPKO:...

    , and Special Envoy of High Commissioner Sadako Ogata
    Sadako Ogata
    , is a Japanese academic, diplomat, author, administrator and professor emeritus at Sophia University.-Early life:Sadako Nakamura was born in 1927...

    , UNHCR, Phnom Penh
    Phnom Penh
    Phnom Penh is the capital and largest city of Cambodia. Located on the banks of the Mekong River, Phnom Penh has been the national capital since the French colonized Cambodia, and has grown to become the nation's center of economic and industrial activities, as well as the center of security,...

    , Cambodia
    Cambodia
    Cambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...

  • 1993-1994: Director of Political Affairs, UNPROFOR, DPKO, Sarajevo
    Sarajevo
    Sarajevo |Bosnia]], surrounded by the Dinaric Alps and situated along the Miljacka River in the heart of Southeastern Europe and the Balkans....

    , Bosnia-Herzegovina
  • 1994-1996: Director of Operations and Planning, UNHCR, Geneva, Switzerland
  • October–December 1996: Special Envoy of Secretary-General to the Great Lakes Region
    African Great Lakes
    The African Great Lakes are a series of lakes and the Rift Valley lakes in and around the geographic Great Rift Valley formed by the action of the tectonic East African Rift on the continent of Africa...

  • 1996-1998: Assistant High Commissioner for Refugees, UNHCR, Geneva, Switzerland
  • 1998-2002: Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, UN, New York, US
  • June–July 1999: Special Representative of Secretary-General to Kosovo
    Kosovo
    Kosovo is a region in southeastern Europe. Part of the Ottoman Empire for more than five centuries, later the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija within Serbia...

  • 1999-2002: Transitional Administrator, UNTAET, DPKO, and Special Representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Dili
    Dili
    Dili, spelled Díli in Portuguese, is the capital, largest city, chief port and commercial centre of East Timor.-Geography and Administration:Dili lies on the northern coast of Timor island, the easternmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands....

    , East Timor
    East Timor
    The Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, commonly known as East Timor , is a state in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the nearby islands of Atauro and Jaco, and Oecusse, an exclave on the northwestern side of the island, within Indonesian West Timor...

  • 2002-2003: High Commissioner for Human Rights, Geneva, Switzerland
  • May–August 2003: Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General to Iraq
    Iraq
    Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....


Books

  • Jean-Claude Buhrer et Claude B. Levenson, Sergio Vieira de Mello, un espoir foudroyé. – Paris : Mille et une nuits, 2004. – 199 p., 20 cm. – ISBN 2-84205-826-7 .
  • George Gordon-Lennox et Annick Stevenson, Sergio Vieira de Mello : un homme exceptionnel. – Genève : Éditions du Tricorne, 2004. – 143 p., 25 cm. – ISBN 2-8293-0266-4. – En appendice, choix de textes de Sergio Vieira de Mello.
  • Jacques Marcovitch - USP - Sergio Vieira de Mello - pensamento e memória. 1 Edição | 2004 | Brochura 344p. | Cód.: 167075 | ISBN 853140867 (pt
    PT
    PT, Pt, or pt may stand for:* Pacific Time zone* Pro tempore, a Latin phrase "for the time being"/temporary* Physical Training, an abbreviation in the United States military- Units :...

    )
  • Samantha Power
    Samantha Power
    Samantha Power is an Irish American academic, governmental official and writer. She is currently a Special Assistant to President Barack Obama and runs the Office of Multilateral Affairs and Human Rights as Senior Director of Multilateral Affairs on the Staff of the National Security Council...

    , Chasing the Flame: One Man's Fight to Save the World, (Hardcover - Pub. Date: 2/14/2008).

External links


Interviews

  • Interview with Human Rights Features
  • Interview on Democracy Now!
    Democracy Now!
    Democracy Now! and its staff have received several journalism awards, including the Gracie Award from American Women in Radio & Television; the George Polk Award for its 1998 radio documentary Drilling and Killing: Chevron and Nigeria's Oil Dictatorship, on the Chevron Corporation and the deaths of...

  • Interview on BBC News
    BBC News
    BBC News is the department of the British Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs. The department is the world's largest broadcast news organisation and generates about 120 hours of radio and television output each day, as well as online...

  • Can Kosovo recover? - Interview on PBS

Films

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