UNAMI Leadership
Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Iraq and Head of UNAMI: Dr. Mohamed Al Hassan
Dr. Mohamed Al Hassan of the Sultanate of Oman arrived in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad on Thursday 10 October 2024 to assume his responsibilities after his appointment by the United Nations Secretary-General as his Special Representative and Head of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI).
Prior to his appointment As Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General and Head of UNAMI, Dr. Al Hassan served as the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary/Permanent Representative of the Sultanate of Oman to the United Nations since 21 August 2019. While Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary/Permanent Representative of the Sultanate of Oman to the United Nations, Dr. Al Hassan served as the Vice-President of the 74th Session of the United Nations General Assembly, Vice-President of the Thirty-first Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly, Chairman of the 4th Committee of the 77th Session of the United Nations General Assembly, Head of the Omani Delegation to the 67th Session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), Head of the Omani Delegation to the 61st Session of the Commission for Social Development, Co-Facilitator of the Summit of the Future on Our Common Agenda, Co-Facilitator of the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism, in addition to presiding over the delegation of the Sultanate of Oman to the 77th Session of the United Nations General Assembly.
Prior to representing the Sultanate of Oman at the United Nations, Dr. Al Hassan served as Acting Under-Secretary for Diplomatic Affairs at the Foreign Ministry of the Sultanate of Oman. He was also Chief of Staff to the Minister Responsible for Foreign Affairs of the Sultanate of Oman, from 2015 until 2019, and served as Head of the Minister’s Department at the Foreign Ministry of the Sultanate of Oman between 2012 and 2015, and as Head of the Political Analysis Unit at the Foreign Ministry of the Sultanate of Oman in 2012.
Dr. Al Hassan represented his country in a number of foreign diplomatic posts, including as Ambassador of the Sultanate of Oman to the Russian Federation from 2009 to 2012, concurrently holding the position of Non-Resident Ambassador to the Republic of Belarus, the Republic of Ukraine, the Republic of Armenia, and the Republic of Moldova. Between 1993-2005, he served at the Permanent Mission of the Sultanate of Oman to the United Nations in New York, and between 1990-1993 at the Permanent Mission of the Sultanate of Oman to the United Nations in Geneva. He also represented the Sultanate of Oman in the Conference on Disarmament, and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), in addition to holding the Vice-presidency of the Eighth Session of UNCTAD, held in Colombia in 1992.
Dr. Al Hassan participated in many regional and international forums, including the Islamic Summit Conference in Jeddah in 2005, the Manama Dialogue in Manama in 2005, the Forum for the Future Summit in the Dead Sea in 2006, the USA and the Islamic World Forum in Doha in 2006, and the Sixth International Conference of New and Restored Democracies in Doha in 2006, the Eighteenth Arab League Summit in Khartoum in 2006, the Fourteenth Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement in Havana in 2006, the Eighth Consultative Gulf Summit in Riyadh in 2006, the Nineteenth Gulf Summit in Riyadh in 2007, the Annapolis Peace Conference in Annapolis in 2007, the International Covenant with Iraq in Sharm Al Shaikh in 2007, the Seventeenth Gulf-European Joint Council and Ministerial Meeting in Riyadh in 2007, the Tenth Consultative Gulf Summit in Riyadh in 2008, the European-Arab Consultative Ministerial Conference in Malta in 2008, the Islamic Summit Conference in Dakar in 2008, the Second Summit of Arab and Latin American Countries in Doha in 2009, the Extraordinary Arab League Summit in Doha in 2009, the Ninth International Investment Forum in Sochi in 2010, the Arab League Summit in Cairo in 2012, the Arab Economic and Social Development Summits in Riyadh in 2013, the International Conference on Somalia in London in 2013, Facilitating the Negotiations Process between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the P5+1 Group of Countries in Muscat in 2014, the Twenty Fourth GCC-EU Joint Council and Ministerial Meeting in Doha in 2015, the Gulf-USA Summit at Camp David in 2015, the Clinton Global Initiative Meetings in Marrakesh in 2015, the International Syria Support Group in Vienna in 2015, the Gulf-US summit in Riyadh in 2016, the Ninth Bali Democracy Forum in Bali in 2016, the Gulf-US summit in Riyadh in 2017, the Eighteenth Extraordinary Session of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in Jeddah in 2018, the Extraordinary Islamic Summit in Istanbul in 2018, the Oslo Forum in 2018-2019, in addition to the Third Annual Security Symposium in Jeddah in 2023, the Omani-Switzerland Mediation Week in Muscat 2023, and the 19th Summit of the Non-Aligned (NAM) and the Third South Summit in Kampala 2024.
Dr. Al Hassan is a member of a number of regional and international councils and committees, including the Board of Trustees of the United Nations International School (UNIS), the International Advisory Council of the International Peace Institute (IPI), the Board of Directors of the Non-Governmental Organizations Sustainability Organization (NGO Sustainability Inc.), the Oman’s Diplomatic Club, in addition to his membership in the Network of International Gender Champions (IGC).
Dr. Al Hassan holds a PhD in Economics from Moscow State University in Statistics and Informatics (MESI) and enrolled for the Doctorate programme at the New School for Social Research in New York between 1997-2005. In addition, he holds a Master’s Degree in International Relations, as well as a Postgraduate degree in International Law from Saint John's University in New York, and a Bachelor's Degree in Political Science from the University of Washington in Seattle.
Dr. Al Hassan is an “Honorary Member and Academician of the International Academy of Philanthropy” of the Russian Federation and an “Honorary Doctorate in Diplomacy” at the Cugs University. Moreover, he is an “Honorary Professor” of the Belgorod State Institute of Arts and Culture. Dr. Al Hassan is also a member of the Foreign Policy Association in New York.
Throughout his career at the foreign service of the Sultanate of Oman, Dr. Al Hassan has published numerous papers and articles amongst which include “Approach to Disarmament in the Middle East”, “Myths and Realities of the International Criminal Court”, “Divergent Perspectives on Labor Localization in an Oil Rentier Society,” and “Peculiarities of Labor Market Transformation in Building up a Science-Intensive Economy”.
Dr. Al Hassan was born in Salalah, the Sultanate of Oman on 19 August 1963. He is married and has two daughters.
Deputy Special Representative for Political Affairs and Electoral Assistance: Claudio Cordone
Mr. Claudio Cordone of Italy assumed his responsibilities as Deputy Special Representative for Political Affairs and Electoral Assistance of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) on 14 August 2022.
Appointed by Secretary-General António Guterres on 11 July 2022, Mr. Cordone brings to this position more than 35 years of experience in international relations, international human rights and humanitarian law, including as Director of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) in Lebanon, where he has been serving since 2017. During this time, he also briefly served as the interim Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Lebanon. Previously, he served as Director of the Human Rights, Transitional Justice and Rule of Law Division with the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), as well as Representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in the country (2013-2017). He worked with the International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ) and spent over 25 years with Amnesty International in multiple capacities, including a six-month tenure as interim Secretary General in 2010. From 1997 to 1998, he served as Chief of the Human Rights Office with the United Nations Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina (UNMIBH).
Mr. Cordone holds a law degree from Sapienza University of Rome and completed a Master of Arts in Arab Studies at Georgetown University, Washington, D.C. Mr. Cordone speaks English, French, Italian and Arabic.
Deputy Special Representative, Resident Coordinator, Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq: Ghulam Mohammad Isaczai
Mr. Isaczai took up his role in Iraq as the Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary General, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in October 2022, after serving as UN Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator in Jordan.
Prior to that, he served as the Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan to the UN in New York.
Mr. Isaczai brings to the job over 25 years of work experience in the UN system covering complex humanitarian, development, recovery, and peace-building issues in different parts of the world, including serving as UN Resident Coordinator to the Republic of Azerbaijan (2016) and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (2013). He also served as the UNDP and UNFPA Resident Representative in both countries.
Mr. Isaczai served in other senior leadership and management positions within the UN system, including as Director of Program at the United Nations Volunteers in Bonn, Germany; UNDP Senior Advisor and Country Director a.i in Tajikistan, UNDP Deputy Resident Representative and Head of Program in Nepal, and Assistant Resident Representative in Yemen. He also served in Afghanistan, and Syria with the UN system.
Before joining the UN system, Mr. Isaczai held positions with the Swedish Committee for Afghanistan and Save the Children-US in Peshawar, Pakistan, and worked with the private sector in the United States.
Mr. Isaczai holds an M.A. in Public International Law from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University, a BSc in Business Administration from Midland University, a Diploma in Human Development from Jones International University, and courses on negotiations and conflict resolution from Harvard University.
He is fluent in Pashto, Dari/Farsi, and English and has a working knowledge of Arabic.