OSCAR FERNÁNDEZ-TARANCO

Mr. Fernández-Taranco has over 30 years of experience in the United Nations. Prior to this position, he held roles such as Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on Strengthening Programmatic Integration, Assistant Secretary-General for Peacebuilding Support in the Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs (PBSO), and Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs (DPPA). He also served in various field positions, including as UN Resident Coordinator and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Resident Representative in the United Republic of Tanzania, and Deputy Special Representative of the Administrator in the West Bank and Gaza Programme of Assistance to the Palestinian People. 

Mr. Fernández-Taranco was also the Deputy Assistant Administrator and Deputy Regional Director in the Regional Bureau for Arab States (UNDP), and Resident Representative, UN Resident Coordinator and Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General in Haiti.  He also worked as Country Programme Officer with the United Nations Capital Development Fund and World Food Programme, covering countries in Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean.  He started his career in the United Nations as a United Nations Volunteer in Benin. 

Mr. Fernández-Taranco was educated at Cornell University, where he studied economics, and at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, studying urban regional economic planning.  He is fluent in English, Spanish, and French.