Mr. Yuri Afanasiev, UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative Assumes Office

31 July 2015,New Delhi –

Mr. Yuri Afanasiev, presented his credentials to the Honourable Minister of State for External Affairs, Gen. (Dr.) V.K. Singh (Retd.) today and assumed charge as the UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in India.

Welcoming Mr. Afanasiev to India, the Honourable Minister of State for External Affairs Gen. (Dr.) V.K. Singh (Retd.) noted the close partnership between India and the United Nations. The Honourable Minister and Mr. Afanasiev discussed several areas of collaboration.

Thanking the Honourable Minister, Mr. Afanasiev said, “I am thrilled and honoured to be serving in India at this particular moment in history. I firmly believe that the next decade or two are “India’s decades” and while the challenges are formidable, so is the momentum. I trust the UN will continue being a strong and trusted partner to the Government of India and the diverse Indian nation, as it has in the past.”

Speaking at the meeting, the Minister said, “India looks forward to a progressive, fruitful and positive partnership with the United Nations.”

Prior to his current position, Mr. Afanasiev served for 10 years as the UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina and in Croatia. Before that he served in Headquarters in New York as Senior Advisor at the Regional Bureau for Europe and the CIS covering 24 countries in the region including Central Asia.

As a standing member of the crisis response team, Mr. Afanasiev was fielded as UNDP Coordinator for the Response to the Asian Tsunami in 2004-5, Somalia in 2012 and as the Typhoon Yolanda Response Coordinator in the Philippines in 2013. In 2014 he coordinated the UN response to the Balkan floods. He has spent over 14 years in various disaster and conflict duty stations.

Mr. Afanasiev has also served in a variety of other field positions at the United Nations. He started his development career in Cuba, where he served from 1988 to 1990. He came to the UN from private business.

Mr. Afanasiev holds an MA in International Economics and Finance from the Moscow State Institute of International Relations. He is married with 3 children.

For media requests, please contact:
Nandita Surendran; UNDP: Nandita.surendran@undp.org; 9810084776