Prior to his appointment by the Secretary General and UNDP Administrator, Mr. Buhne was Director of the UNDP Office in Geneva. Prior to that he joined UNDP’s Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery (BCPR) in February 2011, as Director of the BCPR Geneva Liaison Office.
He has served with the United Nations as Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in three countries for 12 years, since joining the United Nations 30 years ago. From 2007 until February 2011 he served as Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in Sri Lanka. From 2003 to 2007 he was RC/RR in Bulgaria, and before that, from 1999 to 2003, in Belarus.
In Sri Lanka, as senior UN official in the country, he led the response to the humanitarian crisis, and work on post-conflict recovery. In Bulgaria, he worked with Bulgarian government and municipalities in reducing inequalities and becoming better prepared to benefit from EU membership. In Belarus he led programming to reduce the continuing impact on people from the Chernobyl disaster, to preserve areas of unique biodiversity, and to reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS.
Prior to that he spent many years in Asia, as UNDP Deputy Representative in Malaysia (and acting RC/RR for 20 months) from 1995 to 1999, UNDP Assistant Resident Representative in Pakistan from 1990 to 1995 and Programme Officer in UNDP Bhutan. In 1985 and 1986 he served with UNDP and other agencies as Junior Professional Officer in Sudan on humanitarian and recovery issues.
He holds an M.A. from the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs, Carleton University Ottawa, Canada. @NeilBuhne
