EuropaWorld 1/12/2000 Dr Gro Harlem Brundtland

Dr Gro Harlem Brundtland was born in Oslo, Norway, on 20 April 1939. Forty one years later, after a notable political career, she became the Prime Minister of Norway; the youngest person, and the first woman, to hold this office. However, the world of politics was not Gro Harlem Brundland's first choice of career. Her vocation was to follow in her father's footsteps and become a doctor, a fitting background for the position she currently holds; the Director-General of the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Dr Brundlandt grew up in a family environment from which she inherited not only a medical vocation but a passion for political activism and a strong sense of global awareness. Her father was a prominent member of Norway's Labour Party. At the age of seven, Gro Harlem was enrolled in the Norwegian Labour Movement's children's section and has been a member ever since, leading the Labour Party to election victory three times throughout her political career. Her father was by profession a specialist in rehabilitative medicine, spending time both in the United States, as a recipient of a Rockefeller Scholarship, and in Eygpt as a United Nations Expert on Rehabilitation. When he left Norway, the family would accompany him, and the seeds of internationalism were sown early in the young Gro.

These seeds were developed when Gro Harlem Brundtland qualified as a doctor in 1963 and was soon after awarded a scholarship to the Harvard School of Public Health. Here, working alongside distinguished public health experts, Dr Brundtland's vision of health - extending beyond the confines of the medical world into inter-related environmental and development issues - began to take shape.

Returning to Oslo in 1965, Dr Brundtland served as a medical officer at the Norwegian Directorate of Health, later becoming Assistant-Director and then Director of Health Services for Oslo's schoolchildren. This was at the same time as bringing up her own family. Dr Bruntland married Arne Olav Bruntland - a prominent member of the opposing Conservative party - a marriage that ensured that the dynamic political discussions of her childhood were sure to continue.

An unexpected change of career came in 1974 when Dr Brundtland was offered the job of Minister of the Environment. Her conviction of the link between health and the environment persuaded her to accept the post. She entered the Norwegian government and her subsequent work gained her both domestic and international recognition. She became leader of Norway's Labour Party and in 1981 she was elected as Prime Minister. Two subsequent election victories were to follow in 1986 and 1990.

Perhaps the most notable of several international positions she was to hold came in 1983, when she was invited to chair the World Commission on Environment and Development. The Commission is best known for developing the broad political concept of sustainable development and producing the recommendations that led to the Earth Summit - the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro in 1992.

Dr Brundtland left the office of Prime Minister in October 1996 but it was not long before her commitment to health and development had earned her another position. Dr Brundtland was nominated for the position of Director-General by the Executive Board of WHO in January 1998. She was elected by the World Health Assembly four months later. Again, she was the first woman to be elected for this post.

In her acceptance speech, Dr Brundtland spoke of her commitment to global development and her visions for WHO " The burden of disease is the burden of unfulfilled human development," she said, "I see WHO's role as being the moral voice and the technical leader in improving the health of the people of the world."

Dr Gro Harlem Brundtland took office on 21 July the same year - a position she will hold until 2003.

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