Stéphane Hessel (1917- ) started his UN career working with his compatriot Henri Laugier, the first assistant secretary-general for social affairs (1946-50). Later, he was UNDP’s deputy administrator for policy and evaluation (1970-72). Between these assignments, he worked for the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and was in charge of human rights and social affairs. From 1976 to 1981 he was French permanent representative in Geneva, the UN’s economic and social capital. He was a member of the Independent Working Group on the Future of the UN (1994-95) and the French representative to the 1993 World Conference on Human Rights in Vienna; and he presided the French delegation to the Human Rights Commission on other occasions. He was born in Germany and became a French citizen, who was educated at the Ecole Normale Superieure in Paris.

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