United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres today announced the appointment of Toily Kurbanov of the Russian Federation as his new Deputy Special Representative for the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) and Resident Coordinator in South Sudan. Mr. Kurbanov will also serve as Humanitarian Coordinator. Mr. Kurbanov succeeds Anita Kiki Gbeho of Ghana, to whom the Secretary-General is grateful for her contributions and accomplishments.
Mr. Kurbanov brings close to 30 years of experience in international diplomacy, humanitarian action, sustainable development and public policy, including extensive experience working on complex issues and leading United Nations partnerships and operations.
He is currently serving as Executive Coordinator of the United Nations Volunteers programme (UNV) since 2021, following his tenure as Deputy Executive Coordinator from 2016 to 2020. In this role, he has provided strategic leadership to UNV and strengthened its contribution across the United Nations system, with particular focus on peacebuilding, sustainable development and humanitarian action. Prior to that, he was Country Director of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Myanmar from 2012 to 2016, where he led the re-establishment of UNDP’s presence and conflict-sensitive programming. From 2007 to 2012, he served as Deputy Resident Representative of UNDP in Fiji and the Pacific Island Countries, managing programmes across 10 Pacific small island developing States and leading initiatives in climate adaptation and United Nations coordination. He also served, from 2004 to 2006, at UNDP Headquarters in New York, contributing to strategic resource management, planning and budgeting.
Earlier in his career, Mr. Kurbanov served as Ambassador and held ministerial and other senior positions in the Government and State institutions of Turkmenistan.
Mr. Kurbanov holds a master’s degree in public administration from Harvard University in the United States and a master’s degree in economics from the Plekhanov Russian University of Economics in Moscow. In addition to his native Russian language, Mr. Kurbanov is fluent in English.