Dr. Selva Ramachandran, a Malaysian national, is a seasoned development practitioner. Prior to his appointment as Resident Representative of UNDP Philippines, he served as the UNDP Resident Representative and Country Director of UNDP Sudan from July 2015 to September 2020.

 

Selva also served as the UNDP Country Director in Libya (2014-2015); Chief of North East Asia mand Mekong Division, Regional Bureau of Asia & Pacific, New York (2010-2014); and UNDP Country Director in Yemen (2007 -2010). He was the Chief of Regional Programme (2004-2007) and Deputy Chief of Southeast Asia and Pacific Division, Regional Bureau for Asia Pacific, New York (2003-2004); and UNDP Deputy Resident Representative in Kazakhstan (2000-2003). He started his career as a National Programme Officer with UNDP Malaysia (1995-2000). Before joining UNDP, he worked as the Manager of the Australian Aid Programme, Australian High Commission, Malaysia (1993-1995) and as a Lecturer of Population Studies in the Department of Geography, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at the University of Malaya (1984-1988).

 

With global experience spanning from South and East Asia, the Pacific, and Central Asia to the Arab states and North America, Selva brings expertise in the areas of poverty alleviation and sustainable development; governance and rule of law; social inclusion; gender equality; community security, stabilization and peace building; disarmament, demobilization and reintegration; climate change and renewable energy; disaster management; partnering against violent extremism; and innovation for development and New Ways of Working in the context of humanitarian-development peace nexus.

 

Selva holds a PhD in Asian and International Studies from Griffith University in Brisbane, Australia. He also holds a Master’s and Bachelor’s degree in Population Studies from the University of Malaya in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.