Press Release

Statement by Muhannad Hadi, Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory

20 January 2025

Within the humanitarian system, we have ramped up our readiness ahead of the ceasefire. The United Nations and our partners now stand ready to leverage this opportunity for large-scale relief, as every second counts.

I acknowledge the constructive discussions held with the mediators in Cairo and the agreements reached on implementing humanitarian components of the first phase, including the provision of supplies as essential as water, food, health and shelter to people across Gaza and the long-awaited release of hostages.

I extend my gratitude to the mediators and all parties involved for entrusting the United Nations and our partners with contributing to the delivery of humanitarian assistance outlined in the agreement.

Achieving the targets that have been set will require a collective effort. As the Humanitarian Coordinator, I reaffirm our commitment to successful implementation. We remain equally dedicated to supporting efforts that pave the way for a second phase and a peaceful resolution of the conflict.

I call upon the mediators, the parties involved, our partners, community leaders, and the international community, including donors, to work together for effective and timely implementation, guided by the shared goal of saving lives and addressing people’s needs efficiently, meaningfully and in line with humanitarian principles.

Ramiz Alakbarov

Ramiz Alakbarov

RCO
Deputy Special Coordinator, Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator, Officer-in Charge for the Office of the United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process (UNSCO)
Dr. Alakbarov brings more than 30 years of extensive international experience in executive leadership, strategic planning and policy-making, development programming and management, and humanitarian response. He has been serving as the United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Ethiopia since 2023. Prior to this, he held the position of Deputy Special Representative for Afghanistan with the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), where he was also the United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator, from 2021 to 2023. In Afghanistan, he also served as UN Resident Coordinator ad interim in 2020.

Dr. Alakbarov has served in several positions within the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), including as Deputy Executive Director for Management and United Nations Reforms (ad interim) and Director of the Policy and Strategy Division in New York, Country Representative in Haiti, Deputy Regional Director of the Regional Office for Arab States in Cairo and Head of the Office in South Sudan. Prior to these positions, he served in various roles at UNFPA supporting country programmes in Arab States, Eastern Europe, and Central Asia. His roles included Programme Officer covering Sudan, Somalia, and Iraq and Humanitarian Response Officer for Operations, in Afghanistan, Palestine and the Great Lakes Region. From 1992 to 1995, he was an Assistant Professor at Azerbaijan Medical University and a practicing physician.

Dr. Alakbarov holds M.D. and Ph.D. degrees in internal medicine from Azerbaijan Medical University and a Master of Arts in international relations from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. He is fluent in Azerbaijani, English, French, Russian and Turkish.

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