Paul Handley

UN Global Solutions Hub on Internal Displacement

Paul Handley assumed the role of Coordinator at the UN Global Solutions Hub on Internal Displacement in October 2025.

He brings over 26 years of leadership experience in the United Nations and non-governmental organizations. Most recently, he served as Head of Office for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Ethiopia.

Since joining the United Nations in 2003, Paul has held senior leadership positions across both field operations and headquarters. His experience includes leading OCHA’s regional offices for the Syria crisis and the Middle East and North Africa, as well as heading country offices in Nepal, Pakistan, and Tajikistan. His work has focused on coordinating responses to crises driven by conflict, climate change, and natural disasters - mobilizing resources, building partnerships with governments and development actors, forging diplomatic consensus, and advancing evidence-based policy and solutions.

Earlier in his career, at OCHA headquarters in Geneva, he contributed to the rollout of the humanitarian programme cycle, led inter-agency preparedness efforts, and managed global surge deployments.

Paul began his international career with an international NGO in Sierra Leone in the late 1990s, and has also worked with UNDP and UNICEF in Central Asia. He holds an academic background in physics and climatology, and is originally from Manchester, United Kingdom. He is married with two children.