Mr. Tareq Talahma currently serves as the Head of the Office of the United Nations Special Envoy in Damascus, having assumed his duties on 1 March 2024.

Mr. Talahma brings over 20 years of extensive experience in political, humanitarian, and development affairs through his work with the United Nations. He has held several key positions, including Deputy Head of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) for the Middle East and North Africa, and Acting Director of the Operations and Advocacy Division in New York.

Throughout his career, Mr. Talahma has demonstrated a strong commitment to serving in complex and sensitive contexts across Afghanistan, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Pakistan, Palestine, Somalia, Syria, and Yemen. He possesses substantial expertise in crisis management, negotiation and mediation, programming, and planning in conflict-affected environments, in addition to a solid understanding of the n humanitarian and -development nexus. Before joining the United Nations, Mr. Talahma worked as a specialist in institutional reform and community engagement on a project implemented by Environmental Resources Management (ERM-London), where he contributed to developing poverty-reduction strategies.

Mr. Talahma is a Palestinian national. He holds a master’s degree in Community Development and Planning in Turbulent Environments from York University in Canada, and a bachelor’s degree in Biology from Birzeit University in Palestine. He is fluent in both Arabic and English.