The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Board of Governors has elected by acclamation Ambassador Mikaela Kumlin Granit of Sweden as the new chairperson of its Board of Governors for 2019–2020. She replaces Ambassador Leena Al Hadid of Jordan.
Headquartered in Vienna, IAEA is an international organization that seeks to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy, and to inhibit its use for any military purpose, including nuclear weapons.
According to an official statement issued by the agency, Ambassador Kumlin Granit is Sweden’s Resident Representative to IAEA and Permanent Representative to the United Nations and other international organizations in Vienna, as well as Ambassador to Austria, Slovakia and Slovenia. Her one-year term began on 23 September.
Granit is a career diplomat who joined the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs in 1994. Prior to taking up her current assignment, she was Deputy Director-General and Head of the Department for European Affairs at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs (2012–2018).
She has held a number of important posts including that of Foreign Policy Adviser in the Cabinet of the President of the European Council (2010–2012) in Brussels and Director and Foreign Policy Adviser in the Office of the Prime Minister of Sweden (2007–2010).
During the one-day session, the Board of Governors also elected by acclamation the two Vice-Chairs, Governor of Azerbaijan Galib Israfilov and Governor of Egypt Omar Amer Youssef.
Eleven countries have been newly elected to serve on the 35-member board for the period 2019–2020. The election took place last week at the plenary session of the IAEA General Conference.
The newly elected board members are Estonia, Ghana, Greece, Hungary, Kuwait, Mongolia, Nigeria, Norway, Panama, Paraguay and Saudi Arabia.
