Johan Schölvinck, Ph.D. is currently Director of the Division for Social Policy and Development in the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, a function he assumed in February 2002. Since joining the United Nations in 1980 at UNCTAD in Geneva, he has held various positions in the Secretariat, including Chief of the Population and Development section in the Population Division, Chief of the Policy Coordination Branch in the Division for ECOSOC Support and Coordination, Special Assistant to the Assistant Secretary-General for Development Research and Policy Analysis as well as Information Officer in the Office for Emergency Operations in Africa.He was also a member of two Security Council Missions to Kuwait and Iran in 1991 concerning damage assessments. In his current function his main responsibilities consist of guiding the various activities of the Division including technical cooperation, issues pertaining to ageing, persons with disability, youth, and the family as well as providing substantive support to the Commission for Social Development, to the Economic and Social Council and the Third and Second Committees of the General Assembly. In this regard the World Summit for Social Development, its five year review, the Millennium Declaration and the recently concluded Second World Assembly on Ageing form important guide posts especially in connection with poverty eradication and social integration, two essential elements in the work of the Division. Mr. Schölvinck holds an engineering degree from the Agricultural University of Wageningen, the Netherlands, and M.S and Ph.D. degrees in Agricultural Economics from Cornell University, USA. Prior to joining the United Nations, he was Assistant Professor in Environmental Economics at Rutgers University, USA. Mr. Schölvinck is a national of the Netherlands.