Giandomenico Picco
Lecture
Presented at Salisbury University:
Crossing
the Divide: Dialogue Among Civilizations" - delivered Dec.
11, 2001 |
 Under
Secretary General of the United Nations
CEO of GDP Associates & President of Peace Strategies Project
Giandomenico Picco, an Under Secretary General of the United
Nations, is the Personal Representative of the Secretary General
for the United Nations Year of Dialogue among Civilizations. He
is also the CEO of GDP Associates, Inc. in New York City, and
President of the non-governmental Peace Strategies Project in
Geneva, Switzerland.
He graduated from the University of Padua with a degree in
political science. He holds a Masters of Arts degree in
International Relations and Comparative Politics from the
University of California, Santa Barbara, and a diploma in
European Integration Studies from the University of Amsterdam.
During his career at the United Nations, Mr. Picco was
Assistant Secretary General for Political Affairs from 1973 to
1992. Notable achievements during this time included the United
Nations efforts leading to the release of the Western hostages
in Lebanon and the negotiations which led to the cease fire
between Iran and Iraq. He represented the Secretary General in
the negotiations of the Geneva Accords (1998) on Afghanistan and
in the Rainbow Warrior arbitration.
Mr. Picco has received numerous awards and honorary degrees,
including the President's Special Award for Exceptional Service
from the US, the Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the
Federal Republic of Germany, the Order of the Cedre du Liban
from the President of Lebanon, and others. His personal account
of the Lebanon hostage case was published as a book entitled
Man without a Gun. |
