Secretary-General Appoints Ola Almgren of Sweden United Nations Resident Coordinator in Myanmar

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has appointed Ola Almgren of Sweden as the UN Resident Coordinator in Myanmar, with the host Government’s approval.  Mr. Almgren will also serve as UN Humanitarian Coordinator.

Bringing 29 years of experience to the United Nations, Mr. Almgren held several leadership positions in the coordination of humanitarian assistance, development cooperation, and peace and security.  His most recent position was Resident Coordinator in the Philippines, prior to which he served as Director of Political Affairs and Head of the New York Office of the Joint Mission of the United Nations and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) for the elimination of the chemical weapons programme of the Syrian Arab Republic.

Mr. Almgren was previously Chief of Staff of the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO) from 2010 to 2013, and Head of the Integrated Office of the Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary‑General for that Mission, from 2009 until 2010.  He also served in the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and its Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery (2006-2009).

Prior to that, the Government of Sweden seconded Mr. Almgren to the Council of the European Union, where he assisted in the development of civilian crisis‑management doctrine and capacities.  He has served in various functions with the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (1990-1998) and other United Nations disaster and humanitarian coordination entities.  He served with the Municipal Government of the City of Stockholm in 1998 and resumed his United Nations career in 2003.

Mr. Almgren holds an Executive Master of Business Administration from the Stockholm School of Economics.