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 30 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.
