Staffan de Mistura facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Staffan de Mistura
Staffan de Mistura in 2016
United Nations Personal Envoy for Western Sahara
Incumbent
Assumed office 6 October 2021
Secretary-General	António Guterres
Preceded by	Horst Köhler
United Nations Special Envoy for Syria
In office 31 May 2014 – 31 October 2018
Secretary General	Ban Ki-moon (UN) (2014–2016) António Guterres (UN) (since 2017)
Preceded by	Lakhdar Brahimi
Succeeded by	Geir Otto Pedersen
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Italy
In office 27 March 2013 – 28 April 2013
Prime Minister	Mario Monti
Minister	Mario Monti (acting)
Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Italy
In office 29 November 2011 – 27 March 2013
Prime Minister	Mario Monti
Minister	Giulio Terzi di Sant'Agata
Special Representative for the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq
In office 2007–2009
Secretary-General	Ban Ki-moon
Preceded by	Ashraf Qazi
Succeeded by	Ad Melkert
Personal details
Born	(1947-01-25) 25 January 1947 (age 78) Stockholm, Sweden
Nationality	Italian-Swedish
Occupation	Diplomat

Staffan de Mistura (born 25 January 1947) is a diplomat from Italy and Sweden. He has worked for the United Nations for many years. He was also part of the Italian government.

He spent 40 years working for different United Nations groups. Later, he became a top official in the Italian government. This was under Prime Minister Mario Monti. In 2013, he worked at a foundation called Villa San Michele. From 2014 to 2019, he was the UN's Special Envoy for Syria.

Before that, de Mistura had important UN jobs. He was a Special Representative in Iraq (2007–2009) and Afghanistan (2010–2011). He also worked in Southern Lebanon (2001–2004). His work took him to many difficult places. These included Afghanistan, Iraq, Rwanda, Somalia, Sudan, and the former Yugoslavia.

Since 2019, he teaches at Sciences Po in Paris. He is also a visiting expert at Yale University.

Early life

Staffan de Mistura was born in 1947 in Stockholm, Sweden. His mother was Swedish and his father was Italian. His father's family was noble and came from Šibenik in Croatia. They left after World War II. Many Dalmatian Italians fled when Communists took over.

He studied political sciences at Sapienza University of Rome.

In the 1970s, he was an intern for the UN World Food Programme (WFP) in Cyprus. He saw a child die, shot by a sniper. The child had crossed a dividing line in Cyprus. This event deeply shocked him. But it also made him feel a "constructive outrage." He wanted to help people in emergencies. He decided to work for peaceful solutions to conflicts.

Working for the UN (1970s–1990s)

In 1971, de Mistura started his UN career in Sudan. He worked for the WFP. In 1973, he helped with emergency relief in Chad. There, he led the first UN airdrop of supplies. By 1976, he was a deputy leader for the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). He stayed in this role until 1985. He also took on special humanitarian tasks. These were in places like Dubrovnik, Sarajevo, Sudan, Ethiopia, Vietnam, and Laos.

In 1987, de Mistura went back to Sudan. He became the WFP Director of Operations. From 1988 to 1991, he helped raise money for the UN in Afghanistan. Later, he became a director for United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). He was also UNICEF's representative for Somalia.

In 1992, he was in Nagorno-Karabakh with a UN team.

He was briefly the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq in 1997.

In 1999, de Mistura was on a UN Security Council team for Iraq. He also advised the High Commissioner for Refugees in Kosovo for a short time. Then, he became the Regional Administrator for the Mitrovica Region in Kosovo.

Working for the UN (2000–2013)

In 2000, de Mistura was a Special Rapporteur at a forum in Fribourg. Until 2001, he directed the United Nations Information Centre in Rome.

From 2001 to 2004, de Mistura was the personal representative of UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan in Southern Lebanon. He successfully set up a de-mining operation there. This means he helped clear landmines. Then, he became a Deputy Special Representative for Iraq. He held this role for 15 months, starting in 2005. He tried to show a hopeful view of Iraq. He highlighted the UN's hard work to improve life for Iraqis.

After that, he led the UN Staff College in Turin, Italy. In 2007, Ban Ki-moon appointed him as his Special Representative for Iraq. He took over from Ashraf Qazi.

In 2009, de Mistura left Iraq. He became a deputy executive director for the World Food Programme in Rome.

In 2010, he was offered the job as the UN special representative in Afghanistan. He took on this role in March 2010. He became the Chief of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA).

In 2011, he became an Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs in Italy. This was in the government led by Mario Monti.

In 2013, the Italian government made him a Special Envoy. His job was to help solve a case involving two Italian Navy marines. They were held in India. They were accused of accidentally killing two Indian fishermen. This event caused problems between Italy and India. De Mistura's task was to find a "fair" solution. He aimed to get a quick trial and help the marines return to Italy.

UN Special Envoy for Syria

On 10 July 2014, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced a new role for de Mistura. He was appointed as the special envoy for Syria. His task was to find a peaceful solution to the Syrian civil war.

One of his ideas was to create local "freezes" in fighting. These would be copied elsewhere. He hoped this, along with aid and political talks, would change the conflict. It would also help start a new peace process.

In October 2016, de Mistura offered to personally guide rebel fighters. He wanted them to leave Aleppo. This was to stop the bombing of Eastern Aleppo. About 200,000 civilians were stuck in the fighting. He warned that Aleppo would be destroyed in two months if they did not leave. Thousands of civilians would die. The Al-Nusra Front group refused his offer. They later left Aleppo in December.

De Mistura holding a map of Syria during the 2018 Munich Security Conference

By 2018, de Mistura had been the UN mediator for Syria for the longest time. He followed Kofi Annan and Lakhdar Brahimi. In October 2018, he said he would step down. He left at the end of November for personal reasons.

In his last report to the Security Council in December 2018, he talked about his work. He highlighted attempts to move the peace process forward. He said the UN's work was not a replacement for countries talking. But he believed they "made some difference – but not enough." He listed key points from his time:

• "We saved lives with some ceasefires. We also helped humanitarian aid reach places that needed it."
• "We brought the government and opposition together. But they have not truly started to negotiate."
• "We worked on principles for Syria's future. But we haven't put them into action yet."
• "We promoted Syrian women's involvement in peace talks. This is still a challenge."
• "We also pushed for civil society to be included. This is also still a challenge."
• "We almost finished setting up a committee for a new constitution. There is still more to do."
• "We know what is needed for a safe Syria and UN-supervised elections. But we haven't started that work."

In his final speech, de Mistura asked the Security Council to stay united. He urged them to support his successor, Geir Pedersen. He said, "It is this Council - and this Council alone - which is responsible for the maintenance of international peace and security."

UN Personal Envoy for Western Sahara

In late 2021, de Mistura was appointed to a new role. He became the UN personal envoy for Western Sahara.

Honours and awards

Honours

Knight Grand Cross Order of Merit of the Italian Republic (2014)

Commander French Legion of Honour (2012)

Grand Officer Order of Merit of the Italian Republic (2007)

Commander Order of Merit of the Italian Republic (2004)

Awards

• 2017 : Prince Carl Medal
• 2016 : Dag Hammarskjöld Medal of Honor
• 2016 : Honorary Polish Prize of Sérgio Vieira de Mello
• 2016 : International Swede of the Year
• 1991 : Premio Airone d'oro for the Protection of Nature and Human Rights

Honorary degrees

• John Cabot University, honoris causa (2021)
• UCLouvain, honoris causa (2013)
• University of Turin, honoris causa (2007)

Academic activities

• Associate Professor at Sciences Po Paris - Course on International Negotiations (2019)
• Senior Visiting Fellow at the Jackson Institute for Global Affairs, Yale University (2019)
• Joseph S. Nye, Jr. International Affairs lecturer at the Woodrow Wilson School, Princeton University (2019)
• Visiting Professor at Luiss University, Roma (2000)

Other activities

• Peace and Sport, Advisor to the President (since 2021)
• Trilateral Commission, Member of the European Group (since 2020)
• Interpeace, Member of the Governing Board (since 2019)
• Paris School of International Affairs (PSIA), Member of the Strategic Committee (since 2019)
• Berghof Foundation, Member of the Advisory Council
• European Institute of Peace (EIP), President of the Board of Governors (2014-2016)

Personal life

Staffan de Mistura is a citizen of both Italy and Sweden. He has an Italian noble title, marchese (marquess). He speaks many languages. These include Swedish, Italian, English, French, German, Spanish, and some Arabic. He is married and has two daughters from a previous marriage.

See also

In Spanish: Staffan de Mistura para niños