Secretary-General Appoints Adam Abdelmoula of Sudan United Nations Resident Coordinator in Syria

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres appointed Adam Abdelmoula of Sudan as the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Syria.  Mr. Abdelmoula will also serve as United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator.  He took up his post on 14 May.

Mr. Abdelmoula brings more than 35 years of experience in development, rule of law, human rights, humanitarian affairs and security, of which the last 24 have been with the United Nations.  Prior to his appointment, he served as Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia, where he led the Organization’s development and humanitarian activities amid the worst drought in generations, political instability, disease outbreaks and a looming famine.

Mr. Abdelmoula has also held other positions in the United Nations system, including Director of the Human Rights Council and Treaty Mechanisms Division at the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR); Country Director for Iraq at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP); Resident Coordinator and Resident Representative in Syria and Kuwait; Chief of the Middle East and North Africa Section of OHCHR; Deputy Chief of the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) Human Rights Division; Chief Human Rights Officer of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI); and Senior Rule of Law and Human Rights Adviser for Somalia.

Before joining the United Nations, Mr. Abdelmoula worked for several international and regional organizations, including Human Rights Watch, Lawyers Committee for Human Rights, Arab Lawyers Union and the Fund for Peace.

Mr. Abdelmoula holds a doctorate in public international law from Georgetown University and a Master of Laws degree from Harvard Law School, both in the United States, and a bachelor’s degree in law from Khartoum University.