The UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, has chosen Kavilmadam Ramaswami Parvathy to be the resident coordinator in Tajikistan. Parvathy previously served as the leader of the World Food Programme's relief efforts in Turkey after the destructive earthquakes last month. According to a spokesperson for Guterres, the UN is committed to achieving gender parity in its 130 resident coordinators. During her 30-year career in humanitarian and development work, Parvathy has held various positions with the WFP in regions such as West Africa, the Asia Pacific, and Afghanistan, including country director in Liberia and deputy director in Afghanistan. Her expertise includes strategic planning, conflict analysis, risk management, and negotiations for humanitarian access. Parvathy has a master's degree in Organizational Performance Management from Cranfield University in the UK. As the highest-ranking representative of the UN Development System, resident coordinators report directly to the secretary-general and lead UN Country Teams.