Reena Ghelani, new Climate Crisis Coordinator for the El Niño / La Niña Response

Mr. Martin Griffiths, Under-Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator has designated Ms. Reena Ghelani as the Climate Crisis Coordinator for the El Niño / La Niña Response, effective as of 15 January 2024.

The Climate Crisis Coordinator will work closely with the members of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee, including UN agencies, non-governmental organizations, Red Cross and Red Crescent societies, and other partners and international financial institutions to coordinate an effective response to the humanitarian impacts of the climate crisis and El Niño in the countries most at risk. 

 Ms. Ghelani brings to the position more than 25 years of experience in international affairs, including in the fields of humanitarian, development and refugee assistance, as well as human rights. She has served with the United Nations in many countries, including Afghanistan, Kenya, Iran, Iraq, the occupied Palestinian territory, Pakistan, Somalia and Sri Lanka. Prior to taking up this position, she served as the United Nations Famine Prevention and Response Coordinator at the Assistant-Secretary-General level and as the Director of Operations and Advocacy for the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).  She previously worked with the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the United Nations Department of Peace Operations and the Australian Government. 

Ms. Ghelani is a graduate of Monash University and the University of Melbourne in Australia.