Rabab Fatima
Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Afghanistan and Head of UNAMARabab Fatima serves as Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for Afghanistan and Head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA).
Ms. Fatima brings more than 30 years of experience in national and international public service to the position, including expertise in bilateral and multilateral diplomacy, policymaking, advocacy, and programme planning and implementation.
Prior to her appointment, she served as Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States (UN-OHRLLS).
Previously, she was Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the United Nations in New York (2019–2022). In that capacity, she served as President of the Executive Boards of UNICEF (2020) and UN Women (2022), as well as Vice-President of the UNDP/UNFPA/UNOPS Executive Board (2021). In 2022, she became the first woman elected Chair of the Peacebuilding Commission. She also served as Vice-President of the seventy-seventh session of the United Nations General Assembly.
A career diplomat, Ms. Fatima served as Ambassador of Bangladesh to Japan (2016–2019), Director-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bangladesh (2015–2016), and in various capacities at Bangladesh's missions in New York, Geneva, Beijing and Kolkata, as well as at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Ms. Fatima also served with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) as Regional Adviser for South and South-West Asia and Regional Adviser for Climate Change and Migration (2012–2015), and as Regional Representative for South Asia (2007–2011). Earlier, she served as Head of Human Rights at the Commonwealth Secretariat in London (2006–2007).
Ms. Fatima holds a master's degree in International Relations and Diplomacy from The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University in the United States, and a bachelor's degree in Social Science from the University of Canberra, Australia. In addition to her native Bangla, she speaks English and has a working knowledge of Hindi and Urdu.
Ms. Fatima assumed her functions as Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Afghanistan and Head of UNAMA in October 2026.
Georgette Gagnon
Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General (Political)Georgette Gagnon serves as the Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General (Political) for Afghanistan.
With more than 28 years of experience supporting peacebuilding processes and leading strategic initiatives on human rights, humanitarian action and development in conflict and post-conflict settings, Ms. Gagnon brings extensive leadership across the United Nations system.
Before assuming her current role, Ms. Gagnon served from 2021 to 2024 as Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Libya with the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), where she also held the roles of Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Libya.
Previously, she was Director of Field Operations and Technical Cooperation at the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), leading the Office's global network of field presences. From 2010 to 2015, she served as Director of Human Rights at the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), based in Kabul.
Throughout her career, Ms. Gagnon has also held senior leadership and advisory positions focused on the protection of civilians, human rights and the rule of law with the United Nations, national governments and non-governmental organizations, working across Africa, Syria and the Balkans.
She holds a Bachelor of Laws from Osgoode Hall Law School-York University in Toronto, Canada, and a Master of Laws in International Human Rights Law from the University of Essex in the United Kingdom.
Ms. Gagnon assumed her functions as Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General in September 2024.
Bruno Georges Lemarquis
Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General (Development), Resident and Humanitarian CoordinatorBruno Georges Lemarquis serves as the Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General (Development), Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator (DSRSG/RC/HC) for Afghanistan.
Mr. Lemarquis has held several senior leadership positions across the United Nations system. Before assuming his current role, he served from 2022 to 2026 as Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator with the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO). Previously, he served as Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General in the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH) and as Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Haiti from 2020 to 2021.
He also served as Deputy Assistant Administrator and Deputy Director of the Crisis Bureau at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), following a range of leadership roles in UNDP's Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery.
Over the course of his career, Mr. Lemarquis has undertaken field assignments with UNDP in Somalia, Haiti, the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Cambodia. Before joining the United Nations in 1992, he worked with an international non-governmental organization in Haiti and Ethiopia.
Mr. Lemarquis holds an engineering degree in tropical agriculture from the Centre National d'Études des Régions Chaudes in Montpellier, France. He is a native French speaker and is fluent in English.
Mr. Lemarquis assumed his functions as Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in June 2026.