The UN Resident Coordinator's Office

The Resident Coordinator is the designated representative of the United Nations Secretary-General to Myanmar and is responsible for the coordination of UN activities in the country. Recognizing that the three global pillars of the UN, development, peace and security and human rights, are interlinked and mutually reinforcing, the UN System in Myanmar works under the leadership of the Resident Coordinator to ensure a harmonized approach to support Myanmar to achieve its priorities, in line with the 2030 Global Development Agenda – The Sustainable Development Goals – and internationally agreed treaties and standards.

The UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Myanmar

The UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator a.i. for Myanmar is Ramanathan Balakrishnan.

Ramanathan Balakrishnan (Rama) assumed his charge as UNFPA Representative in Myanmar starting Dec 05, 2018. Mr. Balakrishnan has more than 20 years of development coordination experience in varied political contexts including the Asia-Pacific and the Middle-East North Africa (MENA) Region. Prior to arriving in Myanmar, Mr. Balakrishnan served as the UNFPA Representative in Iraq, between 2015-2018, where he managed the largest UNFPA programme globally.

More recently he was attached to UNFPA HQ on a special assignment supporting the transition of the UNFPA Humanitarian and Fragile Context Branch (HFCB) to the Humanitarian Office architecture. His earlier assignments include, Deputy Regional Director, UN Women Asia Pacific Regional Office (2012-2015); UNDP Deputy Resident Representative, Libya (2007-2012); UNDP (UNV Volunteers, Bonn) Management Specialist (2003-2007). Mr. Balakrishnan is an Indian national and holds twin masters in Natural Resources Management and Population Studies.