A senior Indian official, Kamal Kishore, has been appointed as Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General (SRSG) for Disaster Risk Reduction and the Head of UNDRR.
Kishore noted that UNDRR plays an important role in drawing together global efforts to reduce disaster risks in the face of increasing vulnerabilities, and said he was looking forward to building on the progress made to date.
“UNDRR’s ambition matches the scale of the problem,” he said.
He commended the leadership of the previous SRSG, Mami Mizutori, and thanked UNDRR Director, Paola Albrito, for serving as the Acting SRSG prior to his arrival.
Experience at international and national levels
Kishore brings to the position nearly three decades of experience in disaster risk reduction at the global, regional, national and local levels, having worked in government, the United Nations and civil society organisations.
He served as Head of Department of India’s National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) since 2015, leading the Group of 20 (G20) Working Group on Disaster Risk Reduction under India’s G20 presidency.
Before joining NDMA, Kishore spent nearly thirteen years with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Geneva, New Delhi and New York.
During this time, he led global advocacy to integrate disaster resilience concerns in the Sustainable Development Goals and a global team of disaster risk reduction advisers to support UNDP programme countries.