The UN Secretary-General has appointed Imran Riza of Pakistan as the UN Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator in Syria, with the host government’s approval.
Mr. Imran Riza brings over 30 years of international experience across the UN System, mainly in field settings. For the past five years, he was in Lebanon as UNIFIL’s Deputy Head of Mission and Director of the Division of Political Affairs, Civil Affairs and Strategic Communications. Prior to joining UNIFIL, he served as the office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Regional Representative to the Gulf Cooperation Council Countries, and the UNHCR Representative for Jordan. Mr. Riza has also held positions with the World Food Programme (WFP) in Rome and as Senior Advisor to the Personal Representative of the Secretary-General, and later to the Office of the UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon. With UNHCR, He has also served at Geneva HQ and in Sudan, Hong Kong, and Vietnam.
He holds a Masters’ degree in Social-Cultural Anthropology from Johns Hopkins University, and a Bachelors’ degree in History and Political Science from McGill University.