Mr. Hans-Christof Von Sponeck
Former United Nations Assistant Secretary General

Mr Hans-Christof von Sponeck was born in 1939 in Germany. He was a Former UN Assistant Secretary General & United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq. He has a BA and MA Degrees in History, Demography and Physical Anthropology.

Hans von Sponeck joined the UN Development Program in 1968, and worked in Ghana, Turkey, Botswana, Pakistan and India, before becoming Director of European Affairs. Serving thirty six years with the organization, his last post succeeded Denis Halliday as UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq in October 1998, overseeing roughly 500 international staff and 1,000 Iraqi workers.

He was responsible for directing all UN operations in the country, managing the distribution of goods under the "Oil for Food" Programme and verifying Iraqi compliance with that programme. Hans von Sponeck resigned in February 2000, in protest of the international policy toward Iraq, including sanctions.

Hans von Sponeck has written numerous papers and articles in German and English in professional journals and magazines on subjects of environment, social change and methodological/conceptual alternatives in development, sanctions and humanitarian exemptions. He is also the author of Human Development – Is There An Alternative?, New Delhi, November 1997.

In 2005 he published a comprehensive account of his life with the United Nations and experience in Iraq before the invasion and occupation.