Amjad Abbasha
Mr. Abbashar was appointed as the Chief of the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), Regional Office for Africa in 2016. From 2010 to 2015, he was the Chief of the UNDRR Regional Office for Arab States in Cairo, Egypt. Mr. Abbashar began his United Nations career in the early 1990’s serving as Programme Officer with the UNDP Emergency Unit in Sudan dealing with Operation Lifeline Sudan. From 1995 - 1997 he served as Field Coordinator in the Department of Humanitarian Affairs in Monrovia during the Liberian civil war, and from 1998 to 1999 he was assigned as Deputy Head office in OCHA Sierra Leone.
He joined the Policy Development and Studies Branch at OCHA Headquarters in New York in 1999, serving as a Humanitarian Affairs Officer focusing on inter- governmental matters related to the Security Council, the General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council. From 2004 - 2005, Mr. Abbashar served as the Chief of Staff of OCHA. Later- in 2006, he was Chief of the Policy Planning and Analyses Section where he focused on developing policies related to humanitarian affairs and their interface with the UN’s development, political and peacekeeping agendas. In 2006 he helped establish the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF). Later he was part of the small team that established United Nations Peace-building Support office and the Human Security Trust Fund. Mr. Abbashar graduated from Khartoum University and obtained an MA in Development Studies from the University of East Anglia.
