Søren Jessen-Petersen

Who is Søren Jessen-Petersen?

Søren Jessen-Petersen is an international civil servant from Denmark. He was named Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for Kosovo and head of UNMIK on 16 June 2004 and held the position until the end of June 2006.

Jessen-Petersen now works for the diplomatic advisory group Independent Diplomat, founded by Carne Ross, and is currently the Director of its Washington office. He is also a lecturer at the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, and a Guest Scholar at the United States Institute of Peace.

Jessen-Petersen has had a long and distinguished career in the United Nations. A lawyer and journalist by training, he began his service in 1972 with the office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in Africa. He then held senior positions at UNHCR before opening the UNHCR regional office in Stockholm in 1986. In 1989, he served as Special Adviser to the Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, and as a member of the Secretary-General’s Task Force on Namibian independence. Between 1990 and 1993, Jessen-Petersen served as Chef de Cabinet of the High Commissioner for Refugees in Geneva while also serving as Director of External Relations. Between August 1994 and January 1998 he was Director of the UNHCR Liaison Office at the UN Headquarters in New York, while serving as the High Commissioner’s Special Envoy to the former Yugoslavia, based in Sarajevo. Jessen-Petersen served as Assistant UN High Commissioner for Refugees.