It is only the Somalis themselves - and I don't hide that fact when I meet the political leaders here - they themselves have to stop their old practices of fighting each other every time they have a problem. They have to learn how to do peaceful conflict resolution.

On 28 July 2006 he proposed a 72-hour cease fire between Israel and Hezbollah in order for emergency relief to move the wounded and get food and medical supplies into the war zone. Initial response by the White House to Egeland's quote taken out of context by the press as a direct attack on the United States (which at the time had only donated $15 million) was very negative. In March 2008 TV2 aired another documentary entitled Sultbløffen (The famine scam) about the 2005–06 Niger food crisis.

Egeland was the United Nations Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator from June 2003 to December 2006. He served as State Secretary in the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1990–1997) and was Chair of Amnesty International Norway.