Before assuming duties of the Assistant Director-General for Communication and Information of UNESCO in July 2010, Mr Jānis Kārkliņš served as Latvian Ambassador to France, Andorra, Monaco and UNESCO, as well as the Permanent Representative of Latvia to the United Nations in Geneva.

Prior to the post in Geneva, he served as the Undersecretary of State in Latvia. Previously, he served as Counselor in the Latvian Embassies in both France and Finland. He has an Engineering degree from the Riga Technical University in Latvia and attended an executive education programme for Eastern European diplomats at Hoover Institute at Stanford University, USA.

He has also served as Chairman of the Governmental Advisory Committee of ICANN, Former President of the Preparatory Committee of the Tunis Phase of the World Summit on the Information Society.