United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres today announced the appointment of Khalida Bouzar of Algeria as the next Assistant Secretary-General and Director of the Regional Bureau for Arab States, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Ms. Bouzar succeeds Mourad Wahba of Egypt, who is currently serving as the Associate Administrator (a.i.) at UNDP, and Sarah Poole of the United States, who is currently serving as Officer-in-Charge of the Regional Bureau for Arab States.
Ms. Bouzar has served as the Regional Director for Near East, North Africa and Europe, International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) since 2012, where she established and led large-scale programmes and operations.
She brings over thirty-five years of leadership experience at the international and national level, including 25 years in the United Nations system. Her academic background, technical expertise, career path and interests cover a wide spectrum of development issues including sustainable development, rural development, environment, climate change, migration, economics and industry, largely in fragile and conflict contexts.
Ms. Bouzar has extensive knowledge of the Arab States region, as well as the global, regional and country level workings of the United Nations and its specialized agencies, across policy, programmes, management and operations.
She holds a PhD in Science from the University of Sciences, Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris and speaks English, Arabic and French.
