Karin Landgren

Karin Landgren (born 1957) is a Non-Resident Fellow at the Center on International Cooperation, New York University. She was Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG) to Liberia and head of the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) 2012-2015, and is the first woman to have headed three UN peace operations. Previously, she served as SRSG to Burundi and Head of the United Nations Mission in Burundi (BNUB), and as Representative of the Secretary-General to Nepal and head of the United Nations Mission in Nepal (UNMIN). Prior to this, she worked as the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Representative in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Eritrea, and Singapore, among other postings, and served as the first head of child protection for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

Landgren, a Swedish national, was raised in Japan and Denmark before attending the London School of Economics, where she obtained a Bachelor of Science (Economics) in international relations and a Master of Laws in international law.

In the 1980s, Landgren worked with Afghan and Iranian asylum-seekers in India, and with Vietnamese asylum-seekers in the Philippines and Singapore. She led UNHCR offices in Singapore and Eritrea, as well as the Bosnia-Herzegovina office during the Bosnian war. After serving as UNHCR's Chief of Standards and Legal Advice in Geneva, Switzerland, Landgren became Chief of Child Protection for UNICEF.

In 2008, Landgren became Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General to Nepal, under Special Representative Ian Martin. Following the renewal of UNMIN's mandate in 2009, Landgren replaced Martin as the head of the UN mission.. From 2011 to 2012, she was head of the United Nations Mission in Burundi. From 2012 to 2015, she served as the Special Representative of the Secretary-General to Liberia and head of the United Nations Mission in Liberia. She led UNMIL's response to the 2014 Ebola outbreak in Liberia.

She left the United Nations in 2015 and now lectures and consults widely. She is a founding member of the Nordic Women's Mediation Network.