Oscar Fernandez-Taranco

Who is Oscar Fernandez-Taranco?

Oscar Fernandez-Taranco was appointed by the United Nations Secretary-General as Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs in the UN Department of Political Affairs on 1 July 2009.

A national of Argentina, Fernandez-Taranco has studied economics and urban-regional economic planning at Cornell University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Fernandez-Taranco has over 25 years of experience with the United Nations and has served in a variety of functions in various locations.

Before his appointment as ASG for Political Affairs, he was Resident Coordinator in the United Republic of Tanzania. Between 1998 and 2001, he served as Resident Representative, UN Resident Coordinator and Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General in Haiti.

From 1994 to 1998, he was Deputy Special Representative of the Administrator of the West Bank and Gaza Programme of Assistance to the Palestinian people. For five years, he also served as Deputy Assistant Administrator and Deputy Regional Director in the Regional Bureau of Arab States in the United Nations Development Programme.

He joined the UN as a volunteer in Benin. His effort to solve political crisis in Bangladesh is praiseworthy.