In 1983, Harlem Brundtland was invited by then
United Nations Secretary-General Javier Pérez de Cuéllar to establish and chair the
World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED), widely referred to as the
Brundtland Commission. She developed the broad political concept of
sustainable development in the course of extensive public hearings, that were distinguished by their inclusiveness. The commission, which published its report,
Our Common Future, in April 1987, provided the momentum for the 1992
Earth Summit/
UNCED, which was headed by
Maurice Strong, who had been a prominent member of the commission. The Brundtland Commission also provided momentum for
Agenda 21. During her third ministry, the Norwegian government in 1993 took the initiative to sponsor secret peace talks between the Government of Israel led by
Yitzchak Rabin – like Harlem Brundtland, leader of a Labour Party – and the PLO led by
Yasser Arafat. This culminated with the signing of the
Oslo Accords. For several years afterwards, Norway continued to have a high-profile involvement in promoting Israeli-Palestinian peace, though increasingly displaced by the United States from its role as the mediator. After the end of her term as PM, Harlem Brundtland was then elected Director-General of the
World Health Organization in May 1998. In this capacity, Harlem Brundtland adopted a far-reaching approach to public health, establishing a Commission on Macroeconomics and Health, chaired by
Jeffrey Sachs, and addressing
violence as a major public health issue. Harlem Brundtland spearheaded the movement, now worldwide, to achieve the abolition of
cigarette smoking by education, persuasion, and increased taxation. Under her leadership, the World Health Organization was one of the first major employers to make quitting smoking a condition of employment. Under Harlem Brundtland's leadership, the World Health Organization was criticized for increased drug-company influence on the agency. Harlem Brundtland was recognized in 2003 by
Scientific American as their 'Policy Leader of the Year' for coordinating a rapid worldwide response to stem outbreaks of
SARS. Harlem Brundtland was succeeded on 21 July 2003 by
Jong-Wook Lee. In 1994, Harlem Brundtland was awarded the
Charlemagne Prize of the city of
Aachen. In 2006 Harlem Brundtland was a member of the Panel of Eminent Persons who reviewed the work of the
United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). In May 2007, UN Secretary-General
Ban Ki-moon named Harlem Brundtland, as well as
Ricardo Lagos (the former
president of Chile), and
Han Seung-soo (the former foreign minister of
South Korea), to serve as UN Special Envoys for Climate Change. Harlem Brundtland's hallmark political activities have been chronicled by her husband, , in his two bestsellers,
Married to Gro () and
Still married to Gro (). In 2007, Harlem Brundtland was working for
Pepsi as a consultant. Harlem Brundtland is a member of the
Council of Women World Leaders, an international network of current and former women presidents and prime ministers whose mission is to mobilise collective action on issues of critical importance to women and equitable development. Harlem Brundtland is also a member of the
Club of Madrid, an independent organisation of former leaders of democratic states, which works to strengthen democratic governance and leadership. Harlem Brundtland is a founding member of
The Elders, a group of world leaders originally convened by
Nelson Mandela,
Graça Machel and
Desmond Tutu in order to tackle some of the world's toughest problems. Mandela announced the launch of the group on 18 July 2007 in
Johannesburg, South Africa. Harlem Brundtland has been active in The Elders' work, participating in a broad range of the group's initiatives. She has travelled with Elders delegations to
Cyprus, the
Korean Peninsula,
Ethiopia, India and the
Middle East. Harlem Brundtland has also been involved in The Elders' initiative on
child marriage, including the founding of
Girls Not Brides: The Global Partnership to End Child Marriage. She was appointed Deputy Chair of the group in 2013 and was succeeded in this role by
Ban Ki-moon and
Graça Machel in 2018. Harlem Brundtland attended the
Bilderberg meetings in 1982 and 1983. Her husband attended in 1991. In 2019, Harlem Brundtland served as co-chair with the
WHO Global Preparedness Monitoring Board. ==Assassination attempt==