Stephen O'Brien | |
|---|---|
 O'Brien in 2012 | |
| United Nations Under-Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator | |
| In office 29 May 2015 – 1 September 2017 | |
| Secretary-General | Ban Ki-moon |
| Preceded by | Valerie Amos |
| Succeeded by | Mark Lowcock |
| Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Development | |
| In office 6 May 2010 – 4 September 2012 | |
| Prime Minister | David Cameron |
| Preceded by | Mike Foster |
| Succeeded by | Lynne Featherstone |
| Shadow Secretary of State for Industry | |
| In office 11 November 2003 – 6 May 2005 | |
| Leader | Michael Howard |
| Preceded by | Tim Yeo(Trade and Industry) |
| Succeeded by | David Willetts(Trade and Industry) |
| Member of Parliament forEddisbury | |
| In office 22 July 1999 – 30 March 2015 | |
| Preceded by | Alastair Goodlad |
| Succeeded by | Antoinette Sandbach |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Stephen Rothwell O'Brien (1957-04-01)1 April 1957 (age 68) |
| Party | Social Democratic Party(Before 1988) Conservative(1988–present) |
| Spouse | Gemma Townshend |
| Residence(s) | Tarporley,Cheshire, England |
| Alma mater | Emmanuel College, Cambridge University of Law |
Sir Stephen Rothwell O'Brien,KBE (born 1 April 1957) is a British politician and diplomat who was the United NationsUnder-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator. O'Brien assumed office on 29 May 2015, succeedingValerie Amos.[1][2]
He was formerly a Member of the United Kingdom Parliament (MP), representingEddisbury. He was first elected in aby-election in July 1999, afterAlastair Goodlad was made British High Commissioner in Australia byTony Blair and thus had to leave Parliament. A member of theConservative Party, within the Conservative-Liberal Democrat Coalition he was appointed as the Parliamentary Undersecretary of State in the Department for International Development. In September 2013 he became the Prime Minister's Envoy to the Sahel, encompassing nine countries across North and West Africa.
He was born inMtwara,Tanganyika Territory, and educated at Loretto School inMombasa, at the Handbridge School (Chester), the Heronwater School (Abergele),Sedbergh School andEmmanuel College, Cambridge. At Cambridge, he gained anMA in Law in 1979, then obtained anMA from theCollege of Law in Chester in 1980. After two years, he qualified as a solicitor in 1983 and practised until 1988 at solicitorsFreshfields (City of London). From 1988 to 1998, he was Group secretary and Director of Strategic and Corporate Affairs atRedland plc. He was the Executive Director of Redland Clay Tile in Mexico from 1994 to 1998.[citation needed] O'Brien is a former member of theSocial Democratic Party (SDP).[3]
He was Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Development from May 2010 to September 2012. Prior to the May 2010 elections he was aShadow Minister for Health. From May to December 2005, he served as the Shadow Minister for Skills. From November 2003 to 2005, he wasShadow Secretary of State for Industry. Previously, he held the post of Shadow Paymaster General and prior to that Shadow Financial Secretary. Before that, he was appointed an Opposition Whip in September 2001. From September 2000 to September 2001, he was Parliamentary Private Secretary to theChairman of the Conservative Party, the Rt HonMichael Ancram QC MP. From February to September 2000, he was Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Rt HonFrancis Maude MP.
O'Brien has also served as a member of the House of CommonsSelect Committee onEducation and Employment and on the Education sub-Committee.In addition, he has served as Secretary of the Conservative Northern Ireland Committee and Secretary of the Conservative Trade & Industry Committee.
In 2001, he was appointed an Associate of the British-Irish Inter-Parliamentary Body. Prior to joining the Government, he was Chairman of the All Party Group on Malaria, also of Tanzania and Vice-Chairman of the All Party Aid Trade & Debt Group.
In 2000, he introduced a Private Member's Bill for Honesty in Food Labelling (country of origin and standards of production). From 1999, O'Brien has served on the Conservative Party's National Membership Committee. Between 1995 and 1999, O'Brien was Chairman of the Public and Parliamentary Affairs Committee of BMP (National Council of Building Materials Producers, latterly the Construction Products Association)[4] and sat on BMP's Committee of Management and Strategy sub-committee. He was a trade member of the 1994 mission to Argentina and Brazil with the Rt Hon SirRichard Needham MP (Minister for Trade). O'Brien was elected a member of the South East Regional Council of theCBI, serving between 1995 and 1998, and sat on the CBI's International Investment Committee and Working Parties on Anti-Corruption (pan-European) and Corporate Governance (UK).
On 7 March 2013 O'Brien was appointed to thePrivy Council of the United Kingdom.[5]
O'Brien was appointedUndersecretary General for Humanitarian Affairs, the top position atOCHA, on 9 March 2015.[6]
In January 2016, 112 doctors, humanitarian workers, and civil society members inSyria addressed anopen letter to O'Brien criticizing OCHA for failing to meet urgent humanitarian needs created by theSyrian Civil War,[7] citing a report by UNSecretary GeneralBan Ki-moon which stated that the combined food, medical aid (insulin), and non-food items to successfully delivered to besieged areas in Syria in 2015 was enough for only 0.7% of the UN's estimated 212,000 people living under siege.[8]
O'Brien said in a note to correspondents that his office pledged to engage besieged populations and would continue to work tirelessly to bring lifesaving aid to those in need in Syria.[9]
In March 2016, O'Brien assumed management of the upcomingWorld Humanitarian Summit, an initiative of the Secretary-General. In an op-ed about the summit, O'Brien wrote: "To end need, we must stop thinking about relief and development as a sequence. Instead, we must find new ways to comprehensively reduce vulnerability and risk while in tandem meeting pressing humanitarian needs in line with humanitarian principles."[10]
O'Brien was appointedKnight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE) in the2017 Birthday Honours for services to the United Nations and humanitarian affairs.[11]
He married Gemma Townshend, a nurse, on 30 August 1986 inBromley, Kent. They have two sons (born July 1988 and August 1990) and a daughter (born January 1993). They live nearTarporley.
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| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forEddisbury 1999–2015 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded byas Shadow Secretary of State for Trade and Industry | Shadow Secretary of State for Industry 2003–2005 | Succeeded byas Shadow Secretary of State for Trade and Industry |
| Positions in intergovernmental organisations | ||
| Preceded by Valerie Amos (  ) | Undersecretary General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator 2015–2017 | Succeeded by Mark Lowcock ( ) |
