UN Secretary-General António Guterres has appointed Ramiz Alakbarov of Azerbaijan as Assistant Secretary-General for Safety and Security in the UN Department of Safety and Security, according to a UN press release dated 2 October 2026. Dr Alakbarov will assume his functions in January 2027, succeeding Unaisi Vuniwaqa of Fiji when her term of office ends in December 2026. The release said the Secretary-General expressed his utmost gratitude to Ms Vuniwaqa for her committed service to the Organization.
A Career Across UN Postings
The UN said Dr Alakbarov brings more than 30 years of international experience in executive leadership, strategic planning and policymaking, development management and humanitarian response. Since 2025 he has served as Deputy Special Coordinator and Resident Coordinator in the Office of the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, and as Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
Before that, according to the release, he was UN Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator in Ethiopia from 2023 to 2025, and Deputy Special Representative for Afghanistan with the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) from 2021 to 2023, where he was also Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator.
He has also held several positions within the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the UN said, including Deputy Executive Director for Management and United Nations Reforms (ad interim), 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.
Training and Languages
The release states that from 1992 to 1995 Dr Alakbarov was an Assistant Professor at Azerbaijan Medical University and a practising physician. He holds MD and PhD degrees in internal medicine from the same university in Baku, and a master’s degree in international relations from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy in the United States. Besides his native Azerbaijani, he is fluent in English, French, Russian and Turkish, according to the UN.
Why It Matters
The appointment is announced about three months before Dr Alakbarov takes up his functions, and Ms Vuniwaqa’s term runs until December, so the dates as announced leave an interval for handover. The UN’s own description of his record combines humanitarian and coordination roles in several regions with senior management posts at UNFPA. How that experience shapes the department’s priorities will only become clear once he takes office in January 2027.
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