East Jerusalem - The United Nations Development Programme/Programme of Assistance to the Palestinian People (UNDP/PAPP) is pleased to announce the appointment of Ms. Sarah Poole as the new Special Representative of the Administrator. Ms. Poole's appointment came into effect on 16 August 2023, succeeding Ms. Yvonne Helle, who served as the Special Representative from September 2019 to August 2023.

Preceding her current appointment, Ms. Poole served as UNDP’s Deputy Regional Director for the Arab States region since 2018, including her tenure as Regional Director ad interim from February 2020 to 2021.

Ms. Poole brings 30 years of experience working globally in development and humanitarian contexts.  Since 1999, she has served in numerous leadership position in UNDP. Ms. Poole served as the Deputy Director of the Bureau for Programme and Policy Support; Senior Advisor for the Europe and CIS Region; Resident Representative a.i. and Deputy Resident Representative in Turkey; Team Leader for the Western Balkans, Turkey and Cyprus; Senior Advisor in the Bureau for External Relations and Advocacy; and the global team leader for post-crisis socio-economic recovery. 

Before joining UNDP, Ms. Poole served as the Regional Refugee Coordinator/Deputy with the US Department of State’s Bureau for Population, Refugees and Migration in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, and Serbia-Montenegro between 1996 and1999; and with USAID’s Office of US Foreign Disaster Assistance in Rwanda, Burundi, and Bosnia-Herzegovina from 1994 to 1996.

“Having served the region and visited the occupied Palestinian territory previously, I am honored to serve as the new Special Representative for UNDP/PAPP. I am deeply committed to contributing to the improvement of the social and economic conditions of the Palestinian people, in close collaboration with our partners.” Said Ms. Poole.

A national of the United States, Ms. Poole holds a MSc in Government from the London School of Economics and Political Science; a BA in Political Science from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor; and has served as an Adjunct Professor at Columbia University’s School for International and Public Affairs.

For further information, please contact:

Musa Khalil, Head of Communication Unit, E-mail: musa.khalil@undp.org. Tel: +972 6268200, Mobile: +972 5748761.  For more information about UNDP/PAPP visit www.ps.undp.org