Crisis Prevention and Recovery

Our Leadership

Jordan Ryan, Assistant Administrator and Director

Jordan Ryan was appointed by the United Nations Secretary-General as Assistant Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Director of the Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery in February 2009.

Mr. Ryan has had a long and distinguished career with the United Nations and brings a wealth of development experience, including in post-crisis settings. From 2006 to 2009, Mr. Ryan served as Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General (Recovery and Governance) and UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Liberia. From 2001 to 2005, he was UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in Viet Nam, where he was one of the key inspirations for Delivering as One. Prior to that assignment, Mr. Ryan served as Deputy Director, then Director of the Office of the UNDP Administrator in New York between 1996 and 2001.

Earlier in his career, Mr. Ryan held the positions of UNDP Deputy Resident Representative and Senior Assistant Resident Representative in Viet Nam. He was also the UNDP Assistant Resident Representative in China. Before joining the United Nations, Mr. Ryan worked as an attorney in New York and California and an international legal consultant in Asia and in the Middle East.

Mr. Ryan, who is a US national, holds an M.A. in international affairs from Columbia University, a J.D. from the National Law Center at George Washington University, and a B.A. in anthropology from Yale University. He was a visiting fellow at the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University in 2001.

Miguel Bermeo, Senior Deputy Director

Miguel  Bermeo  brings 32 years of experience working with UNDP  at  both headquarters and country level.Throughout his career he has performed a variety of high-level functions in the areas of policy, programming, operations, human and resource management.  Mr. Bermeo combines vision with a strong country office perspective and in-depth knowledge of UNDP.

He joined UNDP in Sudan as a UN Volunteer in 1974. From 1976-1980, he served as Regional Project Officer at the Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific, after which he was assigned as Assistant Resident Representative to UNDP Islamabad from 1980-1982.  He served as Deputy Resident Representative in UNDP Panama from 1982-1986, as Policy Officer in the Division of Personnel from 1986-1988, and as Chief of Operations for UNV in Geneva in 1989. From 1993-1995,  Mr. Bermeo served as Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in the Dominican Republic and was then assigned to the Regional Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean as Chief, Division for Regional Programmes in 1995.  From July 1997 to April 2002, he served as the Director, Programme and Policy with UNV in Bonn.

In 2002,  Mr. Bermeo was appointed UNDP Resident Representative and UN Resident Coordinator in Sri Lanka. He played a critical role in coordinating the UN system and broader international response to the tsunami in 2005, as well as in supporting conflict resolution initiatives throughout his tenure in Sri Lanka.

Mr. Bermeo  is a national of Ecuador and holds a Master’s degree in Economics from the New School of Social Research in New York and Bachelor’s degrees in International Relations and Law from Beloit College and from the Catholic University in Quito. He is fluent in English and Spanish and speaks some French.