OCHA's first Emergency Relief Coordinator (ERC) Jan Eliasson was appointed in early 1992. This post was created by the same resolution (A/Res/46/182) of the General Assembly, which established the Department of Humanitarian Affairs.  He assumed functions previously carried out by the United Nations Disaster Relief Coordinator, as well as for all emergency relief activities.

As the first ERC, Mr. Eliasson headed a Department which strengthened the old Office of the United Nations Disaster Relief Coordinator and consolidated existing offices which deal with complex emergencies.  The secretariat of the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction also became an integral part of the new Department.  Mr. Eliasson was also put in charge of the management of the Central Emergency Revolving Fund, which is a cash-flow mechanism to ensure the rapid and coordinated response of the organizations of the system. 

Mr. Eliasson's appointment was no surprise, having been the Chairman of the General Assembly's working group on emergency relief in 1991.  Previously, he was Sweden's Ambassador to the United Nations in New York.  He also served as the Secretary-General's Personal Representative on Iran/Iraq 1988-92. 

During his diplomatic career, Eliasson had postings in Paris, Bonn, Washington and Zimbabwe, where he opened the first Swedish Embassy in 1980.  He served as Diplomatic Adviser to the Swedish Prime Minister in 1982-83, and as Director General for Political Affairs in the Ministry for Foreign Affairs from 1983 to 1987. 

Since leaving the United Nations, Eliasson has been a visiting professor at Uppsala University in Sweden, lecturing and writing on topics such as mediation and conflict resolution. During this period he was also mediator in the Nagorno Karabakh conflict.

More recently, Eliasson returned to the diplomatic arena, serving as Deputy Secretary of State, a key position in formulating and implementing foreign policy, and returning to the United States as Sweden's Ambassador since 2000.

Mr. Eliasson was elected the President of the United Nations General Assembly for its 60th session, which commenced in September 2005.

Jan Eliasson has been awarded several honorary degrees and has been decorated by a number of governments.  He is the author or co-author of numerous books and articles, and is a frequent lecturer on foreign policy and diplomacy.

Jan Eliasson an exchange student in Indiana 1957-58 and graduated from the Swedish Naval Academy in 1962. He earned a Master's degree in Economics in 1965.

He is married and his wife Kerstin was named Deputy Minister of Education and Science in Sweden in February 2004. They have three grown children.