Ms. Berglind Ásgeirsdóttir

Ms. Berglind Ásgeirsdóttir, who took up her functions as Deputy Secretary-General on 2 September 2002, is an Icelandic national. Within the OECD, she is, among other things, responsible for overseeing work on Education, Health, Labour and Social Policy and Public Communication as well as the multidisciplinary project on Health.  Prior to this, she had been Secretary-General in the Ministry of Social Affairs in Iceland since 1999 and between 1988 to 1996.  In this capacity, Ms. Ásgeirsdóttir was responsible for the leadership of the Ministry of Social Affairs in its responsibilities in the area of employment, state/municipalities relations, social services, housing, gender equality, child welfare, migration and refugee issues. Ms. Ásgeirsdóttir was Secretary-General of the Nordic Council in Copenhagen from 1996 to 1999. The Nordic Council is the co-operation body serving the respective parliaments of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden.

Ms. Ásgeirsdóttir started her career with the Icelandic Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1979 and has held a number of senior diplomatic posts with the Icelandic government and served at the Icelandic Embassies in Bonn and Stockholm. Ms. Ásgeirsdóttir was Deputy Permanent Representative to the Council of Europe and has been engaged in the Council's work on racism.

Ms. Ásgeirsdóttir was Vice-Chairman of the Icelandic Delegation to the Conference on Security and Confidence Building Measures in Europe (CSCE) during 1984-1986.

Ms. Ásgeirsdóttir was actively engaged in the negotiations with the EU on the European Economic Area in the field of free movement of persons.

Ms. Asgeirsdottir holds an advanced degree in International Relations from Boston University and a law degree from the University of Iceland with specialisation in tax law.