Secretary-General appoints Ramiz Alakbarov of Azerbaijan Assistant Secretary-General for Safety and Security

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres announced today the appointment of Ramiz Alakbarov of Azerbaijan as his new Assistant Secretary-General for Safety and Security, in the UN Department of Safety and Security.  Dr. Alakbarov will assume his functions in January 2027, succeeding Unaisi Vuniwaqa of Fiji upon the completion of her term of office in December 2026.  The Secretary-General expressed his utmost gratitude to Ms. Vuniwaqa for her committed service to the Organization.

Dr. Alakbarov brings more than 30 years of international experience in executive leadership, strategic planning and policymaking, development management and humanitarian response.  Since 2025, he has been serving as the Deputy Special Coordinator and Resident Coordinator, Office of the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, also serving as Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

Prior to this, he held the positions of UN Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator in Ethiopia, from 2023 to 2025, and Deputy Special Representative for Afghanistan with the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), where he was also the UN Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator, from 2021 to 2023.

Dr. Alakbarov has served in several positions within the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), including as Deputy Executive Director for Management and United Nations Reforms (ad interim) and Director of the Policy and Strategy Division in New York, Country Representative in Haiti, Deputy Regional Director of the Regional Office for Arab States in Cairo and Head of the Office in South Sudan.  From 1992 to 1995, he was an Assistant Professor at Azerbaijan Medical University and a practicing physician.

Dr. Alakbarov holds MD and PhD degrees in internal medicine from Azerbaijan Medical University in Baku and a Master of Arts in international relations from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy in the United States.  In addition to his native Azerbaijani, Dr. Alakbarov is fluent in English, French, Russian and Turkish.

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* This supersedes Press Release SG/A/2356 of 13 June 2025.