Annan names former WTO chief Peter Sutherland as special envoy on migration

Secretary-General Kofi Annan today appointed Peter Sutherland, an international businessman whose decades of experience include heading the global body governing trade, to serve as his Special Representative for Migration.

In his new role, Mr. Sutherland will help the Secretary-General prepare for the General Assembly’s high-level dialogue on international migration and development to be held in mid-September.

The new envoy will help the Secretary-General to prepare an overview of migration and development issues requested by the General Assembly that will cover a range of issues, including migration’s impact on development and the movements by highly skilled and educated migrant workers.

The overview will also draw on the report and recommendations of the Global Commission on International Migration, a 19-member expert body which was formed by the Secretary-General in 2003.

In a statement released by his spokesman, Mr. Annan said he will also rely on Mr. Sutherland to draw global attention to the overview during the run-up to the high-level dialogue.

Welcoming the new assignment, Mr. Sutherland spoke positively about recent trends. “Migration can be an enormous force for good: one of the great drivers of economic growth, individual liberty and personal prosperity,” said the 59-year-old Irish national. “The goal is to maximise the benefits of migration and minimise potentially negative impacts.”

Mr. Sutherland served as Director General of the World Trade Organization (WTO), formerly known as the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, between 1993 and 1995 and as the European Community Commissioner responsible for Competition Policy from 1985 and 1989. Before that, he was the Attorney General of Ireland in the early 1980s. He has served as chairman of BP plc since 1997 and as Chairman of Goldman Sachs International since 1995.

An honorary Ambassador for the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), Mr. Sutherland has previously been a member of the Commission on Human Security, the idea for which was launched at the UN Millennium Summit in 2000.