Samer Abdeljaber takes up UN coordinator roles in Yemen

Samer Abdeljaber has taken up his new role as the UN’s Resident Coordinator in Yemen, where he will also serve as Humanitarian Coordinator, the United Nations said. The Jordanian began the assignment on 1 November following approval from Yemen’s government.

Abdeljaber joins the post after more than 20 years in humanitarian action and emergency response, according to the UN. Most recently, he was the World Food Programme’s regional director for the Middle East, North Africa and Eastern Europe.

From 2021 to 2024, he led WFP operations in Palestine as its representative and country director. He also served as emergency coordinator for the Gaza response from October 2023 to February 2024, leading the agency’s emergency operations and, on several occasions, acting as Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator. The UN says he also led negotiations to facilitate humanitarian access into Gaza.

Earlier roles included leading WFP operations in Libya and holding posts in Jordan, Iraq, Sudan and Egypt. In Egypt, he was deputy country director and chief of digital solutions delivery, and oversaw WFP’s Syria emergency response from there, the UN said.