Secretary-General Appoints Bakhodir Burkhanov of Uzbekistan United Nations Resident Coordinator in Lao People’s Democratic Republic

The United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres, has appointed Bakhodir Burkhanov of Uzbekistan as the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Lao People’s Democratic Republic with the host Government’s approval.

Mr. Burkhanov has worked for the United Nations system organizations since 1998 in progressively responsible positions starting as National Officer with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO).

Prior to his appointment as UN Resident Coordinator for Lao People’s Democratic Republic, he headed the Resident Coordinator System Business Management Branch at the UN Development Coordination Office in New York, overseeing human resources, legal, financial and operational management support for the Resident Coordinator System globally.

In December 2018, he was designated as the UN Development Programme (UNDP) Resident Representative for 10 Pacific Island countries based in Fiji (Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Palau, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu).  From 2016 to 2018, he served as Country Director for the Pacific Office in Fiji, and Head of UNDP’s Pacific Regional Policy Programme (covering 10 Pacific Island countries, with support to Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Cook Islands, Niue and Tokelau).

Between 2011-2016, he was posted in Viet Nam as Deputy Country Director in a Delivering as One context.  From 2008 to 2011, he was Deputy Resident Representative in Bhutan, a self-starter Delivering as One country.  Prior to that, he served as a Donor Relations Adviser at UNDP Headquarters in New York (2004-2008), covering a donor portfolio including the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Australia, New Zealand and the Republic of Korea.  His other postings included Assistant Resident Representative in Papua New Guinea, and Programme Specialist at UNDP Headquarters in New York covering the Afghanistan desk.

Mr. Burkhanov holds a master’s degree in business administration and a bachelor’s degree with honours in political sciences and international relations.