Robert Piper recently left the UN after 35 years of leading UN country teams across four continents and serving in various leadership roles at headquarters. He is currently writing and advising on UN reform, protracted emergencies, and crisis prevention as a senior fellow at NYU's Centre on International Cooperation and at the Geneva Centre for Security Policy. He is also a member of the WEF's Global Council on Reimagining Aid.
Robert’s most recent role at the UN was as the Secretary-General’s Special Adviser on Solutions to Internal Displacement (2022–2024). He previously established and led the new UN Development Coordination Office introduced under the 2018 reforms (2019–2022).
Robert’s operational roles within the UN have included extended assignments in the Sahel, Nepal, the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Kosovo, Cambodia, Thailand, and the South Pacific. He also served as Chief of Staff when former President Bill Clinton was the UN’s Special Envoy for the recovery effort following the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.
