UN Chief Appoints new Resident Coordinator in Ethiopia

Addis Ababa, August 9, 2023 (FBC) –United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has appointed Ramiz Alakbarov of Azerbaijan as the UN Resident Coordinator in Ethiopia, with the host Government’s approval.

He will also serve as the UN Humanitarian Coordinator in the country.

Alakbarov has 28 years of experience in executive leadership, strategic planning and policymaking, development programming and management, and humanitarian response.

Prior to his current assignment, Alakbarov served as Deputy Special Representative for Afghanistan with the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) where he was also the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator.

Alakbarov has also served in several positions within the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), including as Deputy Executive Director for Management and UN Reforms (ad interim) and Director of the Policy and Strategy Division in New York, Country Representative in Haiti, Deputy Regional Director of the Regional Office for Arab States and Head of the Office in South Sudan.

Prior to these positions, he served in various roles at UNFPA supporting country programmes in Arab States, Eastern Europe, and Central Asia, including as Programme Officer covering Sudan, Somalia, and Iraq and as Humanitarian Response Officer for Operations, in Afghanistan, Palestine and the Great Lakes Region.

From 1992 to 1995 he was an Assistant Professor at Azerbaijan Medical University and a practicing physician.

He carries M.D. and Ph.D. degrees in internal medicine from Azerbaijan Medical University and a Master of Arts in international relations from Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy in Boston, Massachusetts, United States.