Turhan Saleh

Biography

Turhan Saleh is currently the Deputy Director of the Crisis Bureau. Turhan was the UNDP Resident Representative in Ethiopia from May 2019 – November 2023. He joined UNDP in 1997, as a Policy Adviser in the Operations Support Group (OSG) within the Office of the Administrator (OA). Since then, Turhan has held multiple positions in UNDP, including Director of the MDGs Unit in the Bureau for Resources and Strategic Partnerships (BRSP); Deputy Director in the Division for UN Affairs in BRSP; Country Director and Resident Representative a.i. in Nigeria; Chief of the Country Support Team in RBA; and Strategic Plan Coordinator in ExO. He has also been a member of several corporate change management teams, including the Strategy and Implementation Group (SCIG) and Renovation Project Group, both in the Executive office (ExO). Turhan’s career began in 1989 when he joined UNICEF in Ghana as Project Officer/Economist after completing his graduate degree. Turhan moved to Eritrea in 1994, as Planning and Evaluation Officer to help kick-start UNICEF’s first country programme in the newly independent country. He also worked on UNICEF’s first country programme in post-apartheid South Africa. Turhan has interned at The World Bank and the UN World Food Council. Turhan has a bachelor’s degree in political economy (with honours) from Cornell University and a master’s degree in public affairs from Princeton University. In addition, he studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE) at Oxford University (Christ Church College).