The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has designated Dr. Selva Ramachandran as its new resident representative in the Philippines.
In a virtual courtesy call on Thursday, Ramachandran presented his letter of credence to Foreign Affairs (DFA) Secretary Teodoro Locsin, Jr. where the two discussed cooperation, particularly in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) and the response to the COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic.
Locsin recognized UNDP’s work in complementing the Philippine government’s response and recovery work in the Bangsamoro and expressed appreciation of the UN agency’s assistance to the government in the capture and analysis of data for well-informed policy and decision-making in response to the pandemic.
Ramachandran, for his part, reiterated UNDP’s commitment to support the government in effectively managing the COVID-19 crisis and lay the foundations for an inclusive recovery by building capacity for anticipatory governance and resilience especially in geographically-isolated and disadvantaged areas and regain momentum towards the attainment of the sustainable development goals (SDGs).
A Malaysian national, Ramachandran is a seasoned development practitioner with nearly three decades of experience in the development sector.
Prior to his appointment as head of the UNDP Philippines, he served as the UNDP Resident Representative and Country Director in Sudan from 2015 to 2020; UNDP Country Director in Libya from 2014 to June 2015; Chief of North-East Asia and Mekong Division, Regional Bureau of Asia & Pacific, New York in 2010 to 2014; and Country Director of UNDP Yemen (2007 to 2010).
Ramachandran holds a Ph.D. in Asian and International Studies from Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia, and a Master’s and bachelor’s degrees in Population Studies from the University of Malaya.