Halle Jorn Hanssen, 66, Norwegian. He is a member of the IPS International Board of Directors and the chairman of the Executive Committee. He has a long-standing relationship with IPS, dating back to 1983 when he was part of the launch of IPS in Norway. He has been a member of the Core Group representing Norway from 1984 to 1992 and also a member of other governing bodies within the IPS organisational structure.

History, Sociology and Political Science make up his educational background. From 1966 to 1968 he was a researcher of international relations. In 1969 he was appointed senior reporter, later correspondent and editor on international affairs, with Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. He left the service in 1982 to become the Director of Information and Communication with NORAD and the Norwegian Ministry of Development Cooperation. He left those institutions in 1992 as he was appointed the Chief Administrator of Norwegian People's Aid, a major Norwegian NGO, a position he held until the contract expired in the spring of 2001. He then retired and is now working as a freelance journalist and consultant. He is presently the president of the FORUM, the Norwegian National Network of NGOs in Development.