Shombi Sharp

On March 1, 2018, Sharp was appointed by the UN Secretary-General as both UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in Armenia.[3] Within the context of global UN reform, Sharp was re-appointed on January 1, 2019 to the new consolidated position of UN Resident Coordinator (UNRC) and Designated Official for Security of the UN system. As UNRC, Sharp is the direct representative of the UN Secretary-General and highest ranking UN official based in the country, carrying a diplomatic rank equivalent to Ambassador of a foreign state.

Prior to taking up his appointment in Armenia as UNRC in March 2018, Sharp served in a number of capacities in various parts of the world, including Southern Africa, New York, Eastern Europe, Central Asia, the Middle East and the South Caucasus. He is both a published author of works in the health economics field and a seasoned manager of technical assistance portfolios at the country and regional levels for over 20 years, with graduate training in economics and public health management. Sharp has served in a number of advisory positions, including as member of the World Health Organization’s Knowledge Hub Advisory Board in Zagreb, Croatia, and as a World Bank Expert Panel member for Europe and Central Asia in Washington, DC. He was designated a USAID “Policy Champion” and nominated for the UNDP Administrator’s Award, while having also spoken at numerous international fora, including the European Health Forum, Central European University, the Council on Foreign Relations, the Goldman Sachs Global Leaders Programmeme, and the Social Science Research Council in NY, USA.

Following several years in advertising, Sharp began his international development career in 1997 as Project Manager and Crisis Response Coordinator for CARE International in Harare, Zimbabwe. From 2001 to 2002 he served as the Moscow-based Assistant Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Russia,[4] and from 2002-2005, as a Programme Manager in the Western Balkans cluster of the UNDP Regional Bureau for Europe and CIS (RBEC) in New York, USA.[5] From 2006-2010, Sharp led the Regional HIV/AIDS Practice for RBEC, covering over 20 countries[6] and from[7] 2010-2014 he was posted in Beirut as Deputy Country Director for UNDP Lebanon. There Sharp also served as Lead Coordinator for the Social Cohesion and Livelihoods sector of the international community’s Regional Response Plan to the Syrian refugee crisis, coordinating a sectoral work plan of nearly USD 100 million annually across 27 implementing organisations.[8] Immediately prior to his current posting, Sharp was the UNDP Deputy Resident Representative in Georgia from 2014-2018.[9][10]

Sharp graduated from the University of Colorado at Boulder with a Master's Degree in Economics and the University of Kansas with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree. He has also completed the Executive Programme at the University of Chicago, Booth School of Business, and received a Postgraduate Diploma in HIV/AIDS Management from the National Medical University of South Africa and Stellenbosch University in South Africa.

A US citizen, Sharp was born in Los Angeles, California and raised in Kansas City, where he attended the Pembroke Hill School. He and his wife, the artist Sarah Watterson, have two children.

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