United Nations

NEW YORK, 25 October (UN Headquarters) -- Secretary-General Kofi Annan today announced his nomination of Rudolphus (Ruud) Lubbers, former Prime Minister of the Netherlands, as United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

Established by the General Assembly in December 1950, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) assists more than 22 million refugees and displaced persons.  It has an annual budget of $1 billion, with  5,200 staff in more than 120 countries.

Mr. Lubbers will succeed Sadako Ogata of Japan, to whom the Secretary-General paid tribute for her "remarkable" 10 years as High Commissioner.

Mr. Lubbers was born in Rotterdam on 7 May 1939.  Currently Minister of State of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, he served as Prime Minister for 12 years, between 1982 and 1994.

He serves as Professor of Globalization at the Catholic University, Brabant, and Chair of the Institute for Globalization and Sustainable Development of Tilburg University.  He is visiting Professor at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.  

An active participant in the work of various private sector and non-governmental organizations, Mr. Lubbers chairs, among others, the Dutch Government's Advisory Council on International Affairs; the TNO Delft Applied Technology Research Institute; the Advisory Council of the Nexus Institute Tilburg University, and he co-chairs the EU-US Biotechnology Consultative Forum.

Mr. Lubbers is married and has three children.

The General Assembly is expected to consider Mr. Lubbers' nomination tomorrow (26 October).