UN chief taps Hans Grundberg as new Yemen envoy

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) – UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday selected Swedish diplomat Hans Grundberg to replace his outgoing envoy for the Yemen conflict, Martin Griffiths.

Griffiths has been appointed as the new under‑secretary‑general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator in the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, and Guterres thanked him for his service.

Grundberg served as the EU envoy to Yemen since 2019, and has over 15 years of "conflict resolution, negotiation, and mediation, with focus on the Middle East," the UN said.

"Mr. Grundberg is a career diplomat, having served with both Swedish and European Union missions abroad, with postings in Cairo and Jerusalem, as well as Brussels, where he chaired the Middle East/Gulf Working Group of the European Council during the 2009 Swedish presidency of the European Union," it said in a statement.

Yemen has been beset by violence and chaos since 2014, when the Houthi rebel group overran much of the country, including the capital, Sanaa. The crisis escalated in 2015 when a Saudi-led coalition launched a devastating air campaign aimed at rolling back Houthi territorial gains.