Abdullah A. Fadil, the new Representative of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Pakistan, presented his credentials to Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, Additional Secretary (United Nations) at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs here on Friday.
Mr. Fadil has recently arrived in the country, where he will be leading the new multi-sectoral UNICEF Country Programme of Cooperation (2023-2027) in partnership with the Government, in support of the National Development Plan.
Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad appreciated UNICEF’s continued support for Pakistan’s national development priorities and its partnership with the Government in pursuance of UNICEF’s mandate for children.
UNICEF works to help every girl and boy realize their right to health, including immunization; nutrition; education; child protection; water, sanitation and hygiene; and social protection – with a focus on children and adolescents living in the most deprived families and hardest-to-reach communities.
Commending Pakistan’s efforts to improve indicators for children, Abdullah A. Fadil assured the Government of UNICEF’s commitment to continue supporting federal and provincial authorities in achieving the best results for every child.
Fadil brings with him over 25 years of experience in international development and humanitarian relief, strategic management, peace-making and peace-building, public policy and administration and advocacy work in Africa, Europe and the Middle East.
Prior to this assignment, Fadil served as UNICEF’s Representative in Sudan from 2016 to 2021. He also served as the Director of the United Nations Humanitarian Monitoring Mechanism for Syria, where he worked on the delivery of humanitarian assistance to Syrians from Jordan, Turkey and Iraq (2014-2016). And between 2013 to 2014, was the Deputy Head of Mission and Chief of Staff the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (POCW), as part of the UN joint mission in Syria on elimination of Syrian chemical weapons.
Mr. Fadil also served with the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO) in the Middle East, the UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS), the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the United Nations African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID), the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) in New York, the United Nations Interim Administration mission in Kosovo, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and McGill University in Canada.
Fadil holds two Master of Science degrees: one in Public Policy and Management from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), and one in Industrial Relations and Personnel Management from the London School of Economics (LSE).
