UNOCHA Pre-Conference Workshop – 2021

Mr. Muktar Farah

Head of United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) – UAE | United Arab Emirates

Muktar Farah, has 29 years of experience working for the United Nations. He worked with UNOCHA, WFP and ILO with experience in East Africa, Great Lakes, West Africa, Middle East and Asia Pacific spanning 10 countries. He has significant experience in Conflict, Natural Disaster and Complex emergencies settings. Before joining OCHA UAE as the Head of Office he served in the Regional Office for Asia Pacific covering 42 countries as Head of Operations. He is currently based in Abu Dhabi, UAE.

Mr. Muktar Farah

Head of United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) – UAE | United Arab Emirates

Muktar Farah, has 29 years of experience working for the United Nations. He worked with UNOCHA, WFP and ILO with experience in East Africa, Great Lakes, West Africa, Middle East and Asia Pacific spanning 10 countries. He has significant experience in Conflict, Natural Disaster and Complex emergencies settings. Before joining OCHA UAE as the Head of Office he served in the Regional Office for Asia Pacific covering 42 countries as Head of Operations. He is currently based in Abu Dhabi, UAE.

Ms. Fairuz Taqi-eddin

Chief of Resource Mobilization and Partnerships– Gulf Area Office - UNICEF | United Arab Emirates

In summer 2020, Ms. Fairuz Taqi -Eddin joined UNICEF Gulf Area Office as the Chief of Partnerships and Resource Mobilization based in Dubai. In her capacity , Fairuz heads the UNICEF Dubai office and overseas UNICEF’s Gulf Area partnerships and resource mobilization operations for both private and public sectors. Prior to joining UNICEF, Fairuz served as UNRWA’s Sr. External Relations Officer and managed government relations for UNRWA in the Gulf region. She also served as the Director of Fundraising and Partnerships at Jordan River Foundation, a leading Jordanian NGO founded by HM Queen Rania Bin Abdullah. Fairuz spent 11 years of her career working for CARE USA. During her time with CARE, she held various senior roles in the USA, Egypt and Jordan. In her last five years with CARE, Fairuz was the Regional Director of Partnerships in the Gulf region where she established CARE’s presence in the Arab Gulf countries. As a volunteer for several philanthropic organizations, Fairuz served as a Chairwoman of Capoeira for Refugees, a UK Charity that teaches capoeira to children and youth who are the victims of conflict in the Middle East region. She also served as an advisory board member of Spark, a San Francisco based organization that supports women global issues. Fairuz holds an MA in International Relations.

Ms. Jedda Constantine

Programme Advisor, United Nations World Food Programme | United Arab Emirates

Ms. Jedda Constantine currently serves as Programme Advisor with the United Nations World Programme (WFP) in Dubai. In this capacity, she provides expert programmatic and other operational guidance to WFP staff and public and private sector partners within the UAE and across the GCC region.

Dr. Fawzi Amin

IFRC Head of GCC Cluster Office, Dubai | United Arab Emirates

Dr. Fawzi is a Bahraini Family Physician. He studied medicine and graduated in 1977 from Cairo University, obtained his specialty certificate in Family Medicine from the American University of Beirut in 1982, got his Master Degree in Public Health from Johns Hopkins University - Maryland USA, and finished his PhD in 1998 from Leeds University UK. Dr. Fawzi joined the Ministry of Health in 1979, worked in different sections and department of both Health Center and Salmanyah Medical Center for over 32 years; appointed in leadership positions; and in 2004, he was appointed by Royal Decree as the Assistant Undersecretary for Training, Planning and Information. Retired from the Ministry of Health on October 2011, Dr. Fawzi continued working in his private Comprehensive Medical Clinic and was teaching Family Medicine including Elderly Health in the Arabian Gulf University. At present, Dr. Fawzi is the Head of the Diplomatic Mission representing The International Federation of Red Cross and Crescent for GCC at the Dubai office in United Arab Emirates. In addition, Professor Fawzi Amin was recently appointed as the Director for the New Humanitarian Education Centre in the Gulf Medical University in UAE.

Dr. Markos Tibbo Dambi

Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Senior Livestock Development Officer Sub-regional Office for the Gulf Cooperation Council States and Yemen | United Arab Emirates

Dr. Markos Tibbo has a PhD in Animal Science (especially Genetics and Breeding) from Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) (2016, Uppsala, Sweden) on top of his forerunner degree in Veterinary Medicine (DVM) earned from Addis Ababa University (1993, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia). He has also attended short courses in Agenda 2030 and FAO – the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, leadership, management, managing for results, outcome mapping, project cycle, participatory appraisal, managing performance and giving effective feedback, and statistics. He has 25 years of experience in animal production and health (research, development, policies, and practices) in Africa, Europe, Middle East and South Asia.

Dr. Luay Shabaneh

UNFPA Regional Director for the Arab States and North Africa | Egypt

Luay Shabaneh is the current Arab States Regional Director of UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, assuming his duties since May 2016. A native of Palestine, he held a number of high-profile national and international public service positions over the last two decades - within the UN System, in government and in the multilateral arena - in the areas of official statistics, population census, population and development, monitoring and evaluation, programme management and advocacy.Luay Shabaneh is the current Arab States Regional Director of UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, assuming his duties since May 2016. A native of Palestine, he held a number of high-profile national and international public service positions over the last two decades - within the UN System, in government and in the multilateral arena - in the areas of official statistics, population census, population and development, monitoring and evaluation, programme management and advocacy.