UN appoints Imran Riza deputy special coordinator, resident coordinator for Lebanon

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has announced the appointment of Imran Riza of Pakistan as his Deputy Special Coordinator and Resident Coordinator for Lebanon. Riza will also serve as Humanitarian Coordinator, the UN said in a statement.

"Mr. Riza succeeds Najat Rochdi of Morocco, who recently completed her assignment and to whom the Secretary-General is grateful for her accomplishments and wishes her continued success in her new appointment as Deputy Special Envoy for Syria," the statement said.

It added that "Mr. Riza brings over 35 years of international experience across the United Nations System, mainly in field settings," and that "for the past three years, he was in Syria as United Nations Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator."

Prior to this, Riza served in Lebanon as Deputy Head of Mission and Director of the Division of Political Affairs, Civil Affairs and Strategic Communications of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). He previously served as the Regional Representative to the Gulf Cooperation Council Countries for the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the UNHCR Representative for Jordan. With UNHCR, he has also served in Geneva, Sudan, Hong Kong and Vietnam, and held positions with the World Food Program (WFP) in Rome and as Senior Adviser to the Personal Representative of the Secretary-General for Lebanon, as well as with UNSCOL.

Riza, who speaks English, French and Urdu, holds a master’s degree in Social-Cultural Anthropology from Johns Hopkins University and a bachelor’s degree in History and Political Science from McGill University.