Biographical Note

Secretary-General Appoints David Nabarro of United Kingdom

 

as Special Representative on Food Security and Nutrition

 

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has appointed Dr. David Nabarro of the United Kingdom as his Special Representative on Food Security and Nutrition.

To address the pressing challenge of the suffering of children, women and men affected by chronic hunger, and to develop a more coherent international response, the Secretary-General has chaired, since April 2008, a High-Level Task Force on the Global Food Security Crisis (HLTF).  The HLTF includes agencies, funds and programmes of the United Nations system, international financial institutions and the World Trade Organization.  The Task Force responds to the plight of hundreds of millions of people affected by food insecurity, and to the need for longer-term investment in agricultural development, fair trade, social protection and nutrition.  Dr. Nabarro coordinates the Task Force.  As Special Representative, Dr. Nabarro’s additional role will be to assist the Secretary-General as he encourages and supports country-led actions for food security and nutrition through comprehensive approaches, coordinated strategies, a strong role for multilateral agencies and increased international assistance.

Dr. Nabarro has more than 30 years experience of public health, nutrition and development work at country, regional and global levels, and has held positions in non-governmental organizations, universities, national Governments and the United Nations system.

Dr. Nabarro, born in London, qualified as a physician in 1973.  After a short period in the United Kingdom National Health Service, he worked for six years in child health and nutrition programmes in Iraq, South Asia and East Africa.  He also taught for six years at the London and Liverpool Schools of Tropical Medicine, served as Chief Health and Population Adviser to the British Government’s Overseas Development Administration.  In 1997, he became Director for Human Development in the United Kingdom Department for International Development (DFID).

In 1999, Dr. Nabarro was selected to lead the Roll Back Malaria initiative at the World Health Organization (WHO).  Within two years, he was appointed Executive Director and two years later was asked to lead WHO’s Department for Health Action in Crises, coordinating worldwide support for health aspects of crises preparedness, response and recovery.  In September 2005, Dr. Nabarro joined the office of the United Nations Secretary-General as Senior Coordinator for Avian and Pandemic Influenza.  In January 2009 he was given the additional responsibility of coordinating the United Nations system’s High-Level Task Force on the Global Food Security Crisis.

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For information media • not an official record