The UN Resident Coordinator Office

Under the leadership of the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator (RC/HC), who leads the UN Country Team (UNCT) in Ethiopia and coordinates all UN operations at the country level, the UN Resident Coordinator Office (RCO) provides strategic coordination support to the UNCT.

Ethiopia hosts one of the largest UN country teams in the world with 26 specialized agencies, funds and programmes working in a harmonised manner through the joint UN and Government Strategy, the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework. It is framed around the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and is in line with the national priorities.

The UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Ethiopia

Dr. Ramiz Alakbarov is the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Ethiopia. Dr. Alakbarov has 28 years of experience in executive leadership, strategic planning and policy making, development programming and management, and humanitarian response.

Prior to his current assignment, Dr. 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.

Dr. 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.