Ashraf El Nour is the Permanent Observer of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to the United Nations. Mr El Nour began his career in 1988 at CARE International, serving as an Assistant Programme Coordinator for three years. In 1991, he went on to join IOM, first as Coordinator for Northern Iraq until 1993 and then as their Coordinator of Operations in Mozambique until 1995. Moving to the agency’s headquarters in Geneva, he worked as Programmes Coordinator for Migration for Development and Technical Cooperation until 1998, when he became Regional Adviser for Africa and the Middle East until 2001. After working as Senior Recovery Adviser at the United Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP) Geneva-based Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery, Mr El Nour returned to IOM as Special Assistant with the Office of the Director General from 2006 to 2007. He then served in Kenya as Regional Representative for East and Central Africa, from 2007 to 2012, and as Regional Director for East and Horn of Africa from 2013 until his current appointment. Born in Khartoum in 1963, Mr El Nour holds a master’s degree in political science from Aligarh Muslim University in India.