The UN Resident Coordinator's Office
The UN Resident Coordinator leads the United Nations Country Team (UNCT) and is the representative of the Secretary-General for development operations in Sri Lanka.
In line with the reforms of the UN Development Coordination System adopted by Member States in 2019, the UN Resident Coordinator and the UNCT work closely with national authorities to promote its mandates and the achievement of national development goals in line with the Sustainable Development Goals while drawing on the support and guidance of the entire UN System.
The Office of the Resident Coordinator (RCO) supports and facilitates cooperation and coordination among programmes, funds and agencies in Sri Lanka for both resident and non-resident UN entities.
The UN Resident Coordinator’s Office, in support of the UN Country Team, integrates the core functions of the UN Development Coordination System as well as a Peace, Development and Human Rights Team, the Department for Safety and Security and the Information Centre in Colombo.
The UN Resident Coordinator in Sri Lanka
Mr. Marc-André Franche was appointed by the Secretary General, António Guterres, as the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Sri Lanka on 8 July 2023 and presented his Credentials to H.E. Ranil Wickremesinghe, President of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka on 25 July 2023.
As the UN Resident Coordinator, Mr. Franche leads the UN agencies, programmes and funds that operate under the UNCT to deliver the UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF), aimed at advancing the Sustainable Development Goals in collaboration with the government, private sector, civil society, and people of Sri Lanka.
Mr. Franche has served the United Nations for over 26 years. Prior to his appointment, he was the Resident Representative of the UN Development Programme (UNDP) in Libya promoting better governance, local peacebuilding and sustainable growth.
Between 2016 and 2021, he led the Secretary General’s Peacebuilding Fund in the Peacebuilding Support Office in the Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, investing in over 50 countries worldwide to sustain peace. Prior to this assignment he was Country Director for UNDP in Pakistan from 2013 to 2016, where he led a team working on governance, climate change adaptation and crisis prevention and recovery. He was Deputy Director of UNDP in Haiti from 2008 to 2012 where he oversaw the implementation of programs addressing governance, rule of law reform, improvement of livelihoods and environmental protection notably in the context of the post-earthquake recovery and reconstruction. Between 2004 and 2008, he worked for UNDP in New York as Program Adviser for Conflict Prevention in Latin America and the Caribbean. Before that he worked on applied research and policy dialogue for UNDP in Colombia from 2001 to 2004, and poverty reduction and local governance for UNDP and the Inter-American Development Bank in Bolivia from 1998 to 2001.
He obtained his Master’s degrees in Politics of Development from the London School of Economics and Political Science and in European Affairs from Lund University and a BSc in Political Science from Université de Montréal. With his partner, they have a son and a daughter.
