Anders B. Johnsson: Secretary General of the IPU

Anders B. Johnsson, Secretary General of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), has been involved in international law issues for most of his adult life.

Mr. Johnsson worked for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), where he held senior positions in Honduras, Pakistan, Sudan and Viet Nam, as well as at UNHCR Headquarters in Geneva, where he was a Senior Legal Adviser to the High Commissioner.

He later joined the IPU, becoming Assistant Secretary General in 1991. He held that post until 1994, when he was appointed Deputy Secretary General and Legal Adviser. In 1998, he was elected Secretary General and took on an additional four-year term in 2001.

Mr. Johnsson, who has directed the development of IPU's activities to promote and strengthen parliamentary democracy, is an expert on international law and organization, refugee law, human rights, and parliamentary diplomacy and co-operation -- subjects on which he has spoken throughout the world and authored several papers and articles.

Born in 1948 in Lund, Sweden, Mr. Johnsson earned a Bachelor of Law degree at Lund University, studied European law and integration in Bruges, Belgium, and took a Master's of Comparative Law degree at New York University.