UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 24 – United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has appointed Toily Kurbanov of the Russian Federation as the new Deputy Special Representative for the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), as well as the UN Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator in the country.
Toily Kurbanov succeeds Anita Kiki Gbeho of Ghana, whom Guterres thanked for her contributions and accomplishments in South Sudan.
The appointment places a veteran UN official at the center of humanitarian coordination efforts in South Sudan, where aid agencies continue to grapple with displacement, food insecurity, and development challenges.
Kurbanov has nearly three decades of experience in international diplomacy, humanitarian affairs, sustainable development and public policy. Since 2021, he has served as Executive Coordinator of the United Nations Volunteers (UNV), having previously worked as the agency’s Deputy Executive Coordinator from 2016 to 2020.
Before joining UNV, Kurbanov served as the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Country Director in Myanmar from 2012 to 2016, where he oversaw the re-establishment of the agency’s presence and conflict-sensitive programmes. He also held senior UNDP roles in Fiji and the Pacific and worked at the agency’s headquarters in New York.
Earlier in his career, Kurbanov served as an ambassador and held senior government positions in Turkmenistan. He holds master’s degrees from Harvard University and the Plekhanov Russian University of Economics in Moscow and speaks Russian and English.
The appointment was announced by the United Nations on Thursday.
