Christophoros Politis, Resident Representative, UNDP Somalia

Christophoros Politis brings over 20 years of experience managing complex development, recovery, and governance portfolios in volatile, fragile, and transitional settings across various development contexts (LDC, LIC, and MIC).

Prior to this assignment, Christophoros served as the UNDP Deputy Resident Representative in Ukraine and Tajikistan, and as Chief Technical Advisor for Governance in Ethiopia, Myanmar, and Iraq. Throughout his career, he has been a staunch advocate for the Humanitarian-Development-Peace nexus, driving organizational transformation and public policy reforms that strengthen institutional resilience, democratic participation, human rights, anti-corruption, and inclusive service delivery.

Most recently in Ukraine, he led the strategic and programmatic expansion of UNDP’s largest Country Office amid a full-scale war, preserving socio-economic development and solidifying rights-based systems. As a seasoned practitioner, Christophoros has extensive experience managing large-scale recovery, peacebuilding, and social cohesion portfolios, including supporting countries transitioning from fragility toward stability and advancing LDC-to-MIC graduation pathways.

Christophoros is deeply committed to accountability, innovation, gender equality, and inclusive leadership, strengthening partnerships, and ensuring impact is both measurable and lasting.

Prior to joining UNDP, Christophoros was a Governance Officer at the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (UN ESCWA). In this role, he provided technical advisory services to member states to address the root causes of instability and conflict, while helping formulate cross-sectoral policies to enhancing development. Before his UN career, he was active in the non-profit sector, notably serving as Country Director for Mercy Corps in Lebanon.

Christophoros holds a Bachelor’s degree, a Master’s degree, and a Diplôme d'Études Approfondies (DEA) in Political Science. A Greek national, he is fluent in English, French, Greek, and Arabic.