A discussion with Gro Harlem Brundtland, former Director-General of WHO and Norway’s first woman Prime Minister

Gro Harlem Brundtland, a medical doctor, was Norway’s first woman Prime Minister, serving a total of ten years as head of government between 1981 and 1996. She chaired the World Commission on Environment and Development – known as the Brundtland Commission – which articulated the principle of sustainable development for the first time at a global level. She was Director-General of the World Health Organization from 1998 to 2003, UN Special Envoy for Climate Change from 2007 to 2010, and, from 2011 to 2012, was a member of the United Nations Secretary-General’s Global Sustainability Panel. Gro Harlem Brundtland is the co-chair of the Global Preparedness Monitoring Board, an independent monitoring and accountability body set up in 2018 to ensure preparedness for global health crises. She is a member of The Elders, an independent group of global leaders founded by Nelson Mandela in 2007, who work together for peace, justice, and human rights.