United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres appointed Edward Kallon of Sierra Leone as the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Zimbabwe, with the host Government’s approval.  He will also serve as Humanitarian Coordinator and take up his post on 6 January.

Mr. Kallon has devoted more than 30 years of his career to public service, working — both at the United Nations and externally — in complex emergency, transition and development context in conflict and non-conflict settings across lower- and middle-income countries.  At the United Nations, he most recently served as the Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria, following an assignment as Resident Coordinator in Jordan.  He also held senior positions with the World Food Programme (WFP) in Bangladesh, India, Iraq, Somalia and Uganda after starting his United Nations career as a United Nations Volunteer assigned to WFP in Afghanistan.

Prior to joining the United Nations, Mr. Kallon worked in his home country as a socioeconomist and community development coordinator for GTZMANR, a bilateral technical cooperation project, as well as an income generation project coordinator with global non-profit Plan International.

He holds a master’s degree in development studies with a specialization in agriculture and rural development from the Institute of Social Studies in the Netherlands and a bachelor’s degree in agricultural education from Njala University College of the University of Sierra Leone.