Resident Representative

Mr. Yakup Beris has been appointed as UNDP Resident Representative in the Republic of Serbia in August 2022. Before the Republic of Serbia, he was the Resident Representative in Kazakhstan, leading UNDP country programme focusing on public institutions, social policy, economic diversification and green transition, with a forward-looking development agenda on digitalization, innovation, and green finance.

Mr. Beris has 25 years of work experience in various international organizations at headquarters, regional, and country levels.

Prior to his assignments in Serbia and Kazakhstan, Mr. Beris led UNDP’s Regional Programme for Arab States based in Amman, Jordan and served as Regional Programme Adviser for the UNDP Regional Bureau for Arab States in New York. He led a team delivering various regional projects in a diverse development setting across the region, including on economic integration, social cohesion, anti-corruption, gender, climate resilience, and crisis response.

Mr. Beris also worked in senior positions in UNDP country offices in Khartoum, Sudan, during the finalization of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement as well as in Amman, Jordan, leading a programme focusing on policy advise and capacity support.

Prior to UNDP, Mr. Beris worked for the World Bank in its several departments in Washington, DC, focusing on social development, governance, and decentralization in Africa and Middle East. He also worked for Turkish Business Association (TUSIAD), an NGO/think tank, established by business leaders in Turkey, both in its Istanbul and Washington, DC offices.

Mr. Beris co-authored book chapters and articles on governance and decentralization and wrote on political and economic reforms in Turkey.

He holds an MA in public management from Maryland University, College Park in USA, and a BA (double major in political science/international relations and sociology) from Bogazici University in Turkey. He is married and is a proud father of two kids.