United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has appointed Hanaa Singer-Hamdy of Egypt as the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Nepal. She took up her post on January 1, 2023.

Singer-Hamdy has worked for nearly 30 years in the fields of development and humanitarian works with leadership roles at various senior management and strategic levels. She served as the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Sri Lanka from 2018 to 2022, according to a statement issued by the UN on Thursday.

Under her leadership, the UN in Sri Lanka continued its partnership with the government in responding to complex economic and political challenges including the 2019 Easter Bombings, COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent deterioration in macroeconomic stability and debt sustainability.

When Sri Lanka faced a significant rise in food insecurity and other humanitarian concerns, she led a response targeting 3.4 million people in need that raised over $100 million for vital aid, added the UN statement.

“To advance inclusive and rights-based development, she led the design of the United Nations Strategic Development Cooperation Framework 2023-2027 in consultation with the government and other stakeholders. Since 2019, she also mobilized over $36 million for peacebuilding and resilience programming through the UN Sri Lanka SDG Multi-Partner Trust Fund.”

According to the statement, Hanaa Singer-Hamdy held several senior management positions in UNICEF offices across the world, including as the Associate Regional Director in Geneva and as Country Representative for Syria, Nepal, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan prior to her appointment as the UN Resident Coordinator in Sri Lanka.  

Singer-Hamdy holds a Master’s degree in Political Sociology and a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the American University in Cairo, Egypt. She obtained a diploma in “Planning and Management of Decentralized Development Projects” from Bradford University in the United Kingdom. She has engaged in academia and research in political sociology and international relations at the American University of Cairo and at the Sadat’s Academy for Management Sciences, Faculty of Political Science of Cairo University. She is the author and co-author of two publications on social change in the Middle East.

-Agencies