Atul Khare (born in 1959) is a career international diplomat and civil servant who currently serves as

Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations An under-secretary-general of the United Nations (USG) is a senior official within the United Nations System, normally appointed by the General Assembly on the recommendation of the secretary-general for a renewable term of four years. Under ...

in UN Department of Operational Support and previously as Under Secretary General in United Nations Department of Field Support and Assistant Secretary General for

UN Peacekeeping Operations Peacekeeping by the United Nations is a role of the United Nations's Department of Peace Operations and an "instrument developed by the organization as a way to help countries torn by conflict to create the conditions for lasting peace". It is ...

. He also previously served as Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Timor-Leste and Head of the United Nations Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste (UNMIT) at the level of Under-Secretary-General (2006–2009), working earlier as Chief of Staff and Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General with the

United Nations Mission of Support to East Timor The United Nations Mission of Support to East Timor (UNMISET) lasted from 20 May 2002 to 20 May 2005, when it was replaced by United Nations Office in Timor Leste (UNOTIL). It was established when East Timor became an internationally recognised ind ...

(UNMISET).

Early life and education

He was born in a religious Chitraguptvanshi Kayastha family and did his schooling from Kendriya Vidyalaya, Doranda, Ranchi. Passed out in 1975, with an all India rank in Higher Secondary Board Exam. He obtained a master's degrees in business administration and in leadership from the

University of Southern Queensland The University of Southern Queensland is a public research university based in Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia, the sixth largest city in the Australian state of Queensland Founded in 1967 after a successful campaign by the local Darling Down ...

, an advanced diploma (with distinction) in French from the Indian Defence School of Languages, a Bachelor of Medicine and a Bachelor of Surgery (with honours) from the

All India Institute of Medical Sciences The All India Institutes of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) is a group of autonomous government public medical universities of higher education under the jurisdiction of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India. These institutes ha ...

. He has a younger brother

Amit Khare Amit Khare (born 14 September 1961) is a retired Indian Administrative Service officer (1985 batch) from Bihar/Jharkhand cadre and is currently serving as the advisor to Prime Minister of India. He is noted for his role in bringing to light t ...

, who is a retired

Indian Administrative Service The Indian Administrative Service (IAS) is the Public administration, administrative arm of the All India Services of Government of India. The IAS is one of the three All India Services along with the Indian Police Service (IPS) and the Indian ...

(IAS).

Diplomatic career

Khare started his career as an Indian diplomat in 1984. He has served in various capacities in the

Indian Foreign Service The Indian Foreign Service (IFS) is a diplomatic service and a Central Civil Services, central civil service of the Government of India, Government of the Republic of India under the Ministry of External Affairs (India), Ministry of External A ...

, including as Deputy High Commissioner of India to

Mauritius Mauritius, officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island country in the Indian Ocean, about off the southeastern coast of East Africa, east of Madagascar. It includes the main island (also called Mauritius), as well as Rodrigues, Ag ...

, Counsellor at the Permanent Mission of India to the United Nations in New York and

Chargé d'affaires A (), plural ''chargés d'affaires'', often shortened to ''chargé'' (French) and sometimes in colloquial English to ''charge-D'', is a diplomat who serves as an embassy's chief of mission in the absence of the ambassador. The term is Frenc ...

of the Indian Embassy in

Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...

with concurrent accreditation to

Mali Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the List of African countries by area, eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over . The country is bordered to the north by Algeria, to the east b ...

Mauritania Mauritania, officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, is a sovereign country in Maghreb, Northwest Africa. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Western Sahara to Mauritania–Western Sahara border, the north and northwest, ...

Gambia The Gambia, officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. Geographically, The Gambia is the List of African countries by area, smallest country in continental Africa; it is surrounded by Senegal on all sides except for ...

Guinea Bissau Guinea-Bissau, officially the Republic of Guinea-Bissau, is a country in West Africa that covers with an estimated population of 2,026,778. It borders Senegal to its north and Guinea to its southeast. Guinea-Bissau was once part of the kin ...

and

Cape Verde Cape Verde or Cabo Verde, officially the Republic of Cabo Verde, is an island country and archipelagic state of West Africa in the central Atlantic Ocean, consisting of ten volcanic islands with a combined land area of about . These islands ...

. He was Chef de Cabinet of the Foreign Secretary of India and of Director of the United Nations Division in the Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi and served as Director of the Nehru Centre and Minister (Culture) of the High Commission of India to the United Kingdom from 2005.

Career at the United Nations

Khare has served the United Nations in various capacities. He served as Chief of Staff and Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General with the

(UNMISET) from June 2002 until its completion in May 2005. In December 2006, Khare was appointed as the Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste (UNMIT), serving until December 2009. From 2010 to 2011, Khare served as the Deputy Head of the Department of Peacekeeping Operations in New York. On 1 June 2011 UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appointed Khare to spearhead efforts to implement a reform agenda aimed at streamlining and improving the efficiency of the world body. Khare, led the Change Management Team (CMT) at the UN, working with both departments and offices within the Secretariat and with other bodies in the UN system and the 193 member states. The CMT was tasked with guiding the implementation of a reform agenda at the UN that started with the devising of a wide-ranging plan to streamline activities, increase accountability and ensure the organization is more effective and efficient in delivering its many mandates. Atul Khare was appointed United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Field Support on 7 January 2015. In early 2017,

UN Secretary-General The secretary-general of the United Nations (UNSG or UNSECGEN) is the chief administrative officer of the United Nations and head of the United Nations Secretariat, one of the United Nations System#Six principal organs, six principal organs of ...

António Guterres António Manuel de Oliveira Guterres (born 30 April 1949) is a Portuguese politician and diplomat who is serving as the ninth and current secretary-general of the United Nations since 2017. A member of the Socialist Party (Portugal), ...

appointed Khare to the 9-member High-Level Task Force to Improve the United Nations Approach for Preventing and Addressing Sexual Abuse.

Other activities

International Gender Champions International Gender Champions (IGC) is a network of female and male leaders of member states, international organizations, and civil society working for gender equality. It is an initiative of Women@TheTable, and was founded in 2015 by Caitlin Kr ...

(IGC), MemberMembers

(IGC).

Honours

*: Grand Cross of the

Order of Prince Henry The Order of Prince Henry () is a Portuguese order of knighthood created on 2 June 1960, to commemorate the quincentenary of the death of the Portuguese ''infante'' Prince Henry the Navigator, one of the main initiators of the Age of Discovery. M ...

(21 December 2009)

References

External links

UN Biography Atul Khare

{{DEFAULTSORT:Khare, Atul Living people 1959 births Diplomats for India Indian civil servants Indian officials of the United Nations United Nations officials University of Southern Queensland alumni All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi alumni Indian Hindus