Representative
A UNICEF Representative leads the implementation of a country office's work
Dr. Mohamed El-Munir A. Safieldin
Dr. M. Munir A. Safieldin is UNICEF Representative to the Maldives since August 2017. He is a public policy analyst, economist, and strategist. A results-driven professional with background in advocacy, management of development programs, and coordination of humanitarian operations.
Dr. Safieldin has around 30 years of work experience with international development and humanitarian organizations as well as academia. Dr. Safieldin worked with UNICEF, OCHA, and Oxfam in Sudan, Yemen, Egypt, Oman, Pakistan, Jordan, Tanzania, Iran, Turkey (for a Syria cross-border operation), and Nigeria. He served as UNICEF’s Regional Chief of Program & Planning for the Middle East and North Africa, where he provided technical support and guidance to 20 UNICEF country offices and partners in the areas of social policy analysis and design, program design, planning, monitoring and evaluation.
Prior to his arrival in the Maldives, Dr. Safieldin served as the UN Deputy Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria, where he oversaw and facilitated the international humanitarian response to over five million civilians affected by the violence triggered by Boko Haram.
Between 2011-2014 he served as UNICEF Representative to the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Earlier in his career, Dr. Safieldin served the Deputy Representative for Oxfam (UK & Ireland) and the founding Executive Director of Sabah for the Assistance and Rehabilitation of Street Children and Youth, a leading non-governmental organization in Sudan.
A national of Sudan, Dr. Safieldin holds a doctorate’s degree in Public Policy Analysis from Walden University (USA), a master’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Hull (UK), a bachelor’s degree in Economics and Social Studies from the University of Khartoum (Sudan). He completed a fellowship in Public Administration at the Woodrow Wilson School of International Affairs of Princeton University (USA), and post graduate courses at Maastricht University (Holland) and the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) of Sussex University (UK).