Jean Arnault (born in 1951 in France) currently serves as United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Georgia and Head of the United Nations Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG). He was appointed to the position by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan in July 2006.
He has gained much experience in working for international organizations, especially in the UN peace operations. In 1991, he was Political Adviser to the Special Representative for Western Sahara and Senior Political Affairs Officer in Namibia and Afghanistan. Between January 1994 and December 1996, he served as Observer and then Mediator in the Guatemala peace negotiations. From 1997 to 2000, he was Special Representative for Guatemala. In the following year, he was appointed Representative of the Secretary-General in Burundi.
From March 2004 to February 2006, he acted as the Special Representative for Afghanistan and Head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, where he was also Deputy since March 2002.
Arnault studied philosophy and graduated from the University of Sorbonne-Paris I. He holds postgraduate diploma in conference interpretation from the Polytechnic of Central London. In 2001, he was a visiting fellow at the Center for International Studies at Princeton University, and is currently a Visiting Fellow at the Center on International Cooperation.
He speaks English, French, Russian and Spanish.