Secretary-General Appoints Alexander Zuev of Russian Federation Assistant Secretary-General, Rule of Law, Department of Peacekeeping Operations

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres today announced the appointment of Alexander Zuev of the Russian Federation as Assistant Secretary-General for Rule of Law and Security Institutions in the Department of Peacekeeping Operations.  He succeeds Dmitry Titov, also of the Russian Federation, to whom the Secretary-General is grateful for his dedicated service with the United Nations in peacekeeping since 1991, and for his role in leading the Office for Rule of Law and Security Institutions since 2007.

Mr. Zuev joined the United Nations in 1990 and has served with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS).  Since June 2016, he has been the Global Programme Manager and Special Adviser on Prevention of Violent Extremism (PVE) with UNDP.  Before that, he was the United Nations Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in Tajikistan between 2011 and 2016.  With UNICEF, Mr. Zuev served as Representative in Kazakhstan from 2008 to 2011, having previously held a number of managerial positions at UNICEF Headquarters, covering Central Asia and the Baltics, as well as United Nations and Intergovernmental Affairs.

During his time as Principal Adviser to the Executive Director of UNOPS (2003-2004), Mr. Zuev also served as United Nations Senior Coordinator leading development of the Interagency Post-Crisis Needs Assessment for Haiti, in Port-au-Prince.

Prior to joining the United Nations, he worked as a Dean at his alma mater, the Moscow State Institute/University for International Relations (MGIMO) while also serving in his country’s diplomatic service from 1987 to 1990, working primarily on United Nations, as well as social and economic development, issues.

Mr. Zuev graduated cum laude in 1980, also earning a Ph.D. in development economics from MGIMO in 1983.  He has authored numerous books and articles on social and economic aspects of development.

Born in 1958, he is married and has three children and four grandchildren.