Speakers

Maher Nasser is one of the longest serving diplomats in the United Nations system, having served over 36 years with the United Nations. He was appointed as the as Director of the United Nations Department of Public Information’s Outreach Division in February 2011. Through his current position, Mr. Nasser leads various processes and initiatives including establishing partnerships and outreach to civil society and building relations with members of the UN Committee on Information, Member State delegates, the creative community, and academia, along with education outreach and youth engagement. 

With over three decades of career at the UN System, he has played a key role in promoting the role of the UN in the world and has worked in the fields of communications, advocacy, external relations, and partnerships, amongst other key strategic directions. 
 
Prior to his current post, Mr. Nasser worked in different high-level capacities with various UN departments and agencies in Gaza, Jerusalem, Amman, Cairo, Vienna, and New York City. 

From February 2019 to April 2022, Mr. Nasser served as the Commissioner-General of the United Nations at Expo 2020 in Dubai. From April to August 2012 and from August 2014 to February 2015, he was Acting Head of the Department of Public Information. 
Previously, Mr. Nasser was the Director of the United Nations Information Service (UNIS) in Vienna from July 2008, prior to which, he served as Director of the United Nations Information Centre (UNIC) in Cairo from January 2006.

Mr. Nasser also served as the Chief of the New York Liaison Office for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) from 2001 to 2005. Before joining UNRWA in New York, Mr. Nasser worked for UNRWA, based first in Vienna, from 1994 until 1996, and then at its Amman headquarters, where he was in charge of donor liaison, representation and media relations. Mr. Nasser also served as UNRWA's Public Information Officer and Spokesperson in Gaza and in Jerusalem from 1987 to 1991. 

From 1992 to 1994, Mr. Nasser worked as an Associate Information Officer for the United Nations Drug Control Programme in Vienna (now UNODC).

His portfolio also includes service at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) as a Visiting Scholar, and as an Adviser to AdWeek’s Sustainability Council.

He holds a B.Sc. in Civil Engineering from Bir Zeit University in the West Bank and a Postgraduate Diploma in Business Administration from the University of Warwick in the UK.