Secretary-General Appoints Rashid Khalikov of Russian Federation Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Partnerships with Middle East, Central Asia

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today announced the appointment of Rashid Khalikov of the Russian Federation as Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Partnerships with the Middle East and Central Asia, United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) Geneva.

Mr. Khalikov brings extensive experience in humanitarian affairs within the United Nations, most recently as Director of OCHA Geneva since 2010, leading in building stronger partnerships, resource mobilization and emergency preparedness.  He brings a wealth of experience in engaging with partners, including with regional organizations, in particular in the Middle East and Asia, as well as the private sector.  In 2011, he became the United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator in Libya at the request of the Emergency Relief Coordinator and co-led partnerships missions with the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the League of Arab States to Mauritania and Chad, in addition to visiting over 40 countries where OCHA maintains a field/regional presence.

Mr. Khalikov joined the United Nations in 1993, having worked as a Senior Humanitarian Affairs Officer, Chief of the Office of the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Inter-Agency Standing Committee/Executive Committee on Humanitarian Affairs secretariat, and Deputy Director of OCHA Geneva.  In 2005 he became Head of the OCHA Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific in Bangkok, and the Area Humanitarian Coordinator in the aftermath of the South Asia earthquake.

As Director of OCHA New York, he oversaw OCHA’s work on policy development, information management, external relations, the Central Emergency Response Fund and other humanitarian financing issues from 2006 to 2010.  In 2009 and 2010, at the request of the Emergency Relief Coordinator, Mr. Khalikov led missions to Pakistan, Yemen, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and Kyrgyzstan to evaluate in-country humanitarian conditions, developing recommendations on the United Nations humanitarian role in these crises.

Mr. Khalikov is a graduate of the Moscow State Institute of International Relations and holds a master’s in international law and international relations.