On 6 April 2022, Mr. Jan Egeland, Secretary General of the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), had a meeting with H.E. Ms. Vimolbajra Ruksakiati, Ambassador of Thailand to Norway, to discuss NRC’s plan to set up a regional office in Thailand.  Mr. Monsak Jangariyawong, Minister Counsellor and Mr. Adam Combs, Regional Director, Asia, Europe and Latin America Region (AELA) also participated in the meeting.

NRC is an independent humanitarian organization, helping people forced to flee, in areas such as food, water, shelter, education, and legal assistance.  About 16,000 humanitarians is working with NRC in 36 countries.  In Asia, NRC is working in Myanmar, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan.  During the meeting, Mr. Egeland expressed his appreciation for the Thai Government’s continued assistance in providing shelters and humanitarian assistance to the displaced from neighboring countries.

In 2021, NRC assisted about 12 million people in need in 34 countries.  Top donors in 2020 are Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (20%), European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operation (12%), UN High Commissioner for Refugees (10%), Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (8%) and USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (7%).

Prior to assuming the present position, Mr. Egeland has entrusted with many important assignments, such as State Secretary of the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator from 2003 to 2006, and Secretary General of the Norwegian Red Cross.