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Mark Bowden

Senior Research Associate

  • Humanitarian Policy Group
Portrait of Mark Bowden

Mark is a Senior Research Associate who has worked in the humanitarian sector for over 30 years in a career spanning work with INGOs, the UK Government and the United Nations. In the UN he served as the Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary General for Afghanistan and as the United Nations Resident Coordinator, Humanitarian Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in charge of coordination of the United Nations System activities, humanitarian disaster management and development coordination. He served in Afghanistan between N2012 and 2017. From April 2008 to November 2012, Mark was the United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator, Designated Official and UNDP Resident Representative for Somalia, and was previously assigned as the Director of Civil Affairs in the United Nations Mission in Sudan. From 2001 to 2005 he was extensively involved in the design of humanitarian reforms as the Chief of the Policy Development and Studies Branch in the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

From 1999 to 2001 he was the Conflict Management Adviser for Africa in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office of United Kingdom. Earlier in his career, Mr. Bowden worked for the Save the Children Fund as the Head of Regional Office for East Africa, Africa Director and Country Director in Bangladesh.

Mark is a distinguished expert in the humanitarian field and served for over 20 years in the United Kingdom and European voluntary sector as the Vice President of VOICE, the European NGO body addressing emergencies and has held several board memberships in other consortia and NGOs. He is currently a trustee of the British NGO – Afghan Aid.

His areas of expertise include humanitarian policy, humanitarian diplomacy and negotiations, aid coordination, protection of civilians, conflict analysis, Afghanistan, Somalia, and South Sudan.