UN chief appoints Sarmad of India to top climate job

The United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has appointed Ovais Sarmad of India as Deputy Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), at the Assistant Secretary-General level. The appointment has been made after consultation with the Conference of Parties through its Bureau.  Mr. Sarmad will succeed Richard Kinley of Canada, to whom the Secretary-General and the Executive Secretary are grateful for his dedicated service to United Nations climate change efforts over the past 20 years.

Sarmad, who currently serves as Chief of Staff to the Director General of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), brings to the position nearly 27 years of experience with IOM, where he worked in several policy and management areas to strengthen the Organization’s operational effectiveness in close consultation with IOM Member States. He was instrumental in the establishment of the organization’s Ethics and Conduct Office and was a key team member negotiating the agreement which brought the IOM into the United Nations System.

Following an early career in financial management, both in public and private sectors in the United Kingdom, Mr. Sarmad joined IOM in 1990, in Geneva, where he served notably as Chief of Budget, Director of Resource Management, Director of the Global Administrative Centre and Chief of Mission to the Philippines.

Born in 1960, Mr. Sarmad holds a Bachelor of Commerce from Osmania University in Hyderabad, India and professional certification in management accountancy from the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants in London.