Peter Launsky-Tieffenthal

Who is Peter Launsky-Tieffenthal?

Peter Launsky-Tieffenthal became the Under-Secretary-General for Public Information at the United Nations in August 2012, succeeding Kiyotaka Akasaka. He is also the United Nations Coordinator for Multilingualism, a position in which he coordinates the issue of multilingualism throughout the UN Secretariat.

Previously, as the spokesperson and head of the Department for Communication and Information of the Austrian Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs, he collaborated with approximately 100 national offices abroad to design, develop and implement an integrated and coherent message.

Prior to his appointment with the UN, Mr. Launsky-Tieffenthal held a variety of posts in which he oversaw the formulation of communications strategies with the application of various media tools. He was Head of Department for Press and Information, Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs from September 2007 to August 2012.

From 2005 to 2007, he was Head of Department for Crisis Management and Citizens Services, Federal Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Vienna, Austria. In this position, he was involved in crisis management and negotiating international agreements.

His posts with the Austrian Foreign Service included a stint as consul-general in Los Angeles, California, United States from 2000 to 2004. From 1996 to 2000, he was Deputy Chief of Mission of the Austrian Embassy in New Delhi, India.