Secretary-General appoints Niels Scott of the United Kingdom United Nations Resident Coordinator in Liberia

On 1 January, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has appointed Niels Scott of the United Kingdom as the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Liberia, with the host Government’s approval.

Mr. Scott has more than 25 years of experience in international cooperation, development coordination, humanitarian assistance, crisis management and peacebuilding support, which he has acquired at the United Nations and externally. At the United Nations, he most recently served as Acting United Nations Resident Coordinator in Burundi, after occupying a similar position in Indonesia and serving as the United Nations Resident Coordinator and Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Georgia. He also held leadership positions with the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), including Head of Office in Libya and Côte d'Ivoire, Acting Head of Office in Haiti and Chief of the Humanitarian Coordination Support as well as the Disaster and Vulnerability Policy sections respectively. With the United Nations Mission in the Sudan (UNMIS), he served as Head of the Regional Office for Darfur and Head of the OCHA Darfur Cell.

Prior to joining the United Nations, Mr. Scott worked with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) for 15 years, including as Operations Coordinator, Representative for Haiti, Head of the Regional Delegation for Central Asia then West and Central Africa, Head of Delegation in Georgia, Relief Coordinator in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Logistics Officer in Croatia. He also served with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) as Programme Coordinator in Croatia and held other positions in the non-governmental and private sectors.

Mr. Scott has a degree in social science and politics from the University of Edinburgh in the United Kingdom.