Jan Kellett was born in Northern Ireland and brought up in Wales. He has just completed eight years with the United Nations, working in Kosovo, Afghanistan, Iraq, Indian Kashmir, Macedonia, Bangladesh, South Sudan, almost always post-conflict or post-disaster, the long days waiting behind checkpoints on the way to Belfast airport finally proving an invaluable lesson in patience and reminding him always to pack the travel scrabble. The last three years were spent almost exclusively on coordination of the U.N. itself post-crisis.