The United Nations superhero man

Senior U.N. officials may inspire awe, or perhaps fear, among the thousands of U.N. worker bees whose fate they control. But they would hardly be considered international rock stars. At least, that is, until now. Singing Norwegian brothers, Bard and Jegard Ylvisaker, who host the variety show Ylvis, have produced a highly polished music video ...

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Senior U.N. officials may inspire awe, or perhaps fear, among the thousands of U.N. worker bees whose fate they control.

Senior U.N. officials may inspire awe, or perhaps fear, among the thousands of U.N. worker bees whose fate they control.

But they would hardly be considered international rock stars.

At least, that is, until now.

Singing Norwegian brothers, Bard and Jegard Ylvisaker, who host the variety show Ylvis, have produced a highly polished music video that sings the praises of the U.N.’s former emergency relief coordinator, Jan Egeland of Norway, who is currently serving as Human Rights Watch’s European chief.

OK, actually, it makes fun of him.

"Gray Hair. Glasses. Suitcase. Humble. Clever. And constantly working for peace," Jegard sings in the parody homage. "Uganda. Congo. And the Oslo treaty plan. Oh my God, what a plan.’

"When hand grenades are flying there’s just one man you can trust," he wails. "When there’s war and all is hell; send in Jan Egeland. The United Nations superhero man."

Let’s have a look:

P.S. Ban Ki-moon, if you are reading this maybe you need to talk to Psy and bring a little Gangnam Style to Turtle Bay.

Follow me on Twitter @columlynch.

Colum Lynch was a staff writer at Foreign Policy between 2010 and 2022. Twitter: @columlynch

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