Michael O’Neill (United Kingdom) joined UNDP in February 2014, as Assistant Administrator and Director of the Bureau of External Relations and Advocacy, with the rank of UN Assistant Secretary-General.
Prior to this appointment, Mr. O’Neill was a British diplomat, serving most recently in London as Chair of the Prime Minister’s Gulf Strategy Group in the UK Cabinet Office.
Mr. O’Neill previously served as British Ambassador to Qatar (2012-2013); Head of Mission, Helmand Provincial Reconstruction Team, and ISAF Senior Civilian Representative in South-West Afghanistan (2010-2012); UK Special Representative for Sudan, Foreign & Commonwealth Office, London (2007-2010); External Relations Counsellor, UK Representation to the European Union, Brussels (2006-2007); Economic & Social Counsellor, UK Mission to the United Nations, New York (2002-2006); First Secretary Politico-Military Affairs, British Embassy and Institute for National Security Studies, Washington, D.C. (1998-2002); First Secretary, Foreign & Commonwealth Office, London (1994-1998),including as the Foreign Secretary’s Speechwriter and as Private Secretary to Lord Owen as Co-Chair of the International Conference on the Former Yugoslavia; Second Secretary (Defence), UK Delegation to NATO, Brussels (1991-1994), and Administrative Trainee, Ministry of Defence, London (1988-1991).
Mr. O’Neill holds a MA in Classics & Modern History from Brasenose College, Oxford University, and a MSc in West European Politics from the London School of Economics.