Contents
Gro Harlem Brundtland
Leading Norway and putting sustainable development at the centre of international policy.
A more balanced cabinet · Our Common Future
- Born
- 20 April 1939
- Birthplace
- Bærum, Norway
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Gro Harlem Brundtland is a Norwegian physician and politician who served three terms as prime minister, chaired the commission behind Our Common Future and later led the World Health Organization.
Early life
Political family
Grew up in a Labour Party household; her father was a doctor and government minister.
Medical education
Qualified at the University of Oslo in 1963 and earned a public-health degree at Harvard in 1965.
Career
- 1974–1979
Environment minister
Moved from public-health work into national government.
- 1981–1996
Three terms as prime minister
Led Norway in 1981, 1986–1989 and 1990–1996, becoming its first woman prime minister.
- 1998–2003
World Health Organization
Served as director-general, bringing political leadership to international public health.
Selected contributions
A more balanced cabinet
Appointed eight women to an eighteen-member government.
Our Common Future
Her commission linked economic development with environmental protection and future generations’ needs.
Tobacco control treaty
The World Health Assembly adopted the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control during her WHO leadership.
Beyond work
Family life
Married Arne Olav Brundtland in 1960; they had four children.
The Elders
Became a founding member of the independent group of former leaders in 2007.
Sources & photo credit
Life, career and references ↗Institutional biography and research ↗Additional institutional record ↗Additional institutional record ↗Photo: Christophe Licoppe. CC BY 4.0 · Original image. Cropped and displayed in monochrome.
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