Zena Ali-Ahmad is currently the Resident Representative for the United Nations Development Programme in Iraq. Before joining UNDP-Iraq, Zena was the Regional Director for UN-HABITAT Regional Office for Arab States. Zena has been working with the United Nations for the last twenty years, where she assumed key technical and management positions, including UNDP Deputy Director for the Regional Hub for Arab States in Amman (2016-
2017), UNDP Country Director in Jordan (2013-2016) and Syria (2008-2012), UNDP Regional Advisor on Local Governance for Arab States (2005-2008), and Assistant Representative in Lebanon (1997-2004).
Before working with the United Nations, Zena worked as a consultant for the UN, World Bank, USAID, and NGOs on issues related to poverty reduction, local development, and local governance.
Zena holds a Post Graduate degree in Management of Social Change from the University of London and a Masters Degree in Agricultural Economics and Development from the American University of Beirut. She is a co-author of several studies on poverty, gender, socio economic rehabilitation, and post-conflict reconstruction and recovery.
