Acting Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction

Ms. Paola Albrito has served in the United Nations System since 1999, holding a position in the UN Resident Coordinator’s Office in Djibouti and having experience in the United Nations Staff System College in Turin and the International Labour Organisation.

Ms. Albrito joined the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) in 2004 for the Second UN World Conference on Disaster Reduction. While based in Geneva, Switzerland, she addressed policy issues (between 2005-2008) and served as UNDRR Regional Coordinator for Europe (between 2008-2010). She moved to Brussels, Belgium in 2010 to take up the post of Chief of the UNDRR Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia. During this period, she acted as Representative to the European Institutions and directed activities to support disaster resilience and partnership building actions within the region’s 55 countries.

In her subsequent role as Chief of UNDRR’s Intergovernmental Processes, Interagency Cooperation and Partnership Branch (from 2019), Ms. Albrito coordinated interagency efforts in supporting the implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction and partnership building initiatives related to risk informed investments and actions. She was appointed as UNDRR Director on 1 October 2022, then designated as Acting Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG) for Disaster Risk Reduction from 1 January 2024.

Ms. Albrito holds a Master’s Degree in International Relations and Political Science from the University of Turin, Italy and is a member of the International Institute of Strategic Studies (London, United Kingdom). She has widely published internationally on disaster risk reduction and governance issues, and is an Editorial Advisor at the Crisis Response Journal, London, United Kingdom. She speaks Italian, French, English and some Russian.