Neil Buhne is the 17th Representative of the United Nations since the UN first opened an office in 1952.  In July 2007, he took up his responsibilities as UN Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator, on his appointment by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon. He served a similar capacity from 1999 to 2007 in Belarus and Bulgaria. Mr. Buhne is also the Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Sri Lanka. As Resident / Humanitarian Coordinator, he is the designated representative of the UN Secretary-General and leads the UN Country Team of UN agencies and related bodies and is the most senior UN official in the country.

A national of Canada, Mr. Buhne, has had ties to Sri Lanka since he began his career with the United Nations as a Junior Professional Officer with UNDP in Colombo in 1984.  Subsequently he has served in Sudan, Bhutan, Pakistan and Malaysia – where he served as acting UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative during 2007 and 2008.

His most recent assignment was in Bulgaria where he led the largest programme for UNDP in Eastern Europe and Commonwealth of Independent States Region with more 70 partnership projects at a value of US $150 million.  During his term, the UN Team, played an important role in supporting Bulgaria to obtain membership in the European Union.  During those years, the UN agencies spearheaded human development initiatives in Bulgaria in a diverse range of areas, including employment generation, local government, good governance, environmental protection and information technology. 

From 1999 to 2003, Mr. Buhne led the UN team in Belarus.  He facilitated the development of a new joint approach to deal with the continuing human consequences of the 1986 Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster, by working together with the UN country teams in Russia and Ukraine, the Office of UN Coordinator for Humanitarian Affairs, and the respective governments. He helped develop a range of new projects to preserve and sustainably develop Belarus’ environment, and was the leader of efforts to support Belarus to stop the spread of HIV/AIDs.

Mr. Buhne holds a Master’s Degree in International Affairs from Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada. He speaks English and is conversant in French and Russian, with a working knowledge of German.

His vision is for a unified and coordinated UN System in Sri Lanka, which help Sri Lanka meet pressing humanitarian needs in a way that facilitates the transition from humanitarian assistance to development cooperation. “I am committed to lead a United Nations System that is cohesive, respected and effective.  By linking work on humanitarian assistance, recovery and development,  I hope our work can have a lasting impact in helping Sri Lankans build a peaceful and prosperous country.”

The United Nations in Sri Lanka has a long history of partnerships since the arrival of the first UN Resident Representative in 1952.  Today, the United Nations help support Sri Lanka in a range of development activities that including humanitarian assistance,  poverty alleviation, good governance, post tsunami reconstruction, human rights, health, education, human settlements, and environment, energy and disaster risk management.

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