The Resident Coordinator's Office
In the Islamic Republic of Iran, the United Nations is represented by 20 resident and non-resident entities that carry out their respective activities. The UN Country Team (UNCT) is made up of representatives of the agencies, funds and specialized programmes. As the head of the country team (UNCT), the UN Resident Coordinator (RC) guides and supports the work of the UNCT, ensuring effective coordination and cooperation within the mandates of each UN entity.
The UN Resident Coordinator's Office (RCO) is the main support structure for the activities of the RC and the UNCT, to help strengthen the joint activities of the United Nations system in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Its mission is to maximize, in a coordinated manner, the work of the United Nations to ensure that the system provides a collective, coherent and integrated assistance to national priorities and needs, within the framework of the Global Goals and other international commitments.
The UN Resident Coordinator in the I.R. Iran
Mr. Stefan Priesner is the UN Resident Coordinator for the Islamic Republic of Iran as of mid-August 2021.
He has extensive experience in international development and management issues and has been working with the United Nations since 1996. He has provided policy advice to Governments and overseen the formulation and delivery of a range of complex, multi-disciplinary development programmes in close partnership with government, bilateral, multi-lateral, and other partners in various countries in the Asia/Pacific and Eastern Europe. Before his current post, Mr. Priesner was the UN Resident Coordinator (UNRC) for Malaysia, Singapore, and Brunei Darussalam from May 2017 to July 2021. Prior to UN Reform in January 2019, he was also UNDP Resident Representative for Malaysia, Singapore, and Brunei Darussalam.
Before this assignment, he was the UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative for the Republic of Uzbekistan from January 2013 through April 2017.
He also served the United Nations as UNDP Country Director in Bangladesh from September 2008-December 2012. In this function, Mr. Priesner was responsible for leading one of UNDP’s largest development operations globally in terms of oversight of programming, accountability as well as building relations with the government and other key partners.
Prior to joining UNDP Bangladesh, Mr. Priesner was the Deputy Resident Representative in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina (2004-2008). He also worked as Deputy Chief of UNDP’s Sub-regional Resource Facility (SURF) for the Caribbean in Trinidad/Tobago (2001) as well as for South and West Asia in Nepal (2001-2004). During these three years, he led advisory missions to more than a dozen countries in the Asia/Pacific. In his early days with UNDP, Mr. Priesner served in Bhutan as the Head of the Governance Unit, during which he contributed substantively in consolidating UNDP’s governance programme. Before joining UNDP, Mr. Priesner worked in the private sector.
Mr. Priesner holds a Master of Arts in International Relations from the Johns Hopkins University and a Master of Law from the University of Vienna.
He is married and has two children.
