Kishan Khoday

Resident Representative
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
Multi-Country Office in Jamaica
 

Kishan Khoday is Resident Representative at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Multi-Country Office in Jamaica, from where he represents UNDP in The Bahamas, Belize, Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Jamaica and Turks and Caicos Islands, leading UNDP’s portfolio of initiatives on poverty and inequality, governance and justice, climate and ecosystem resilience, and disaster risk reduction and recovery. He has served with the UN for 25 years including prior assignments in China, India, Indonesia, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan. 

Kishan started his career in India helping combat poverty and exclusion in remote rural areas, while in Indonesia he led landmark governance reform partnerships on access to justice and indigenous rights. In China, he led the UNs largest portfolio globally on climate action and the green transition, while in Saudi Arabia he oversaw UNDPs largest sustainable energy initiative globally, as well as the UNs first human rights partnership in the country. This was followed by tours of duty in UNDPs regional centres in Egypt and Jordan, where among other things he led resilient recovery solutions for crisis-affected communities in Palestine, Iraq, Lebanon, Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Yemen, Sudan and Somalia. 

Across his career, Kishan has coordinated over USD 1 billion in grant assistance for transformational change and local impact across the development agenda. Kishan is a Juris Doctor specialized in constitutional and international law, holds MSc and BSc degrees specialized in planetary systems and resource security, and post-graduate certificates in partnerships, management and leadership. He has been a thought leader across the development agenda, with over thirty publications in UN and academic journals on issues of governance reform, decolonial pathways and planetary change, including as a lead author in the Human Development Report. 

In addition to his current role as UNDP Resident Representative for The Bahamas, Belize, Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Jamaica and Turks and Caicos Islands, Kishan also serves as Representative in these countries for UNDP-hosted entities such as UN Volunteers (UNV) and the UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF).