Lander

Brian Lander has served as World Food Programme’s (WFP) Deputy Director of Emergencies since September 2020. In this role, Mr. Lander oversees and coordinates WFP’s response to complex global emergencies that emanate from conflict, climate change and/or economic shocks, and more recently the fall-out from the COVID19 pandemic, ensuring adequate steps are taken to save lives.

In his 12-year-long career at WFP, Mr. Lander took up Emergency Coordinator roles for Northwest Syria, Central Sahel (Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger), Ethiopia and Lebanon, and served as Deputy Emergency Coordinator for Ukraine.

He has also served as Deputy Director of WFP’s Office in Geneva, Switzerland during which he helped steer collaboration and advocacy for the implementation of UN Security Council resolution 2417 (2018) addressing the links between conflict and hunger.

In addition, he helped launch the Global Food Security Cluster in 2010. Prior to WFP, Mr Lander worked for nearly 20 years at the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), primarily in Asia and Africa, responding to refugee crises.

Mr. Lander holds two master’s degrees in Development Management and another in International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights Law as well as an bachelor’s degree in Chinese and International Relations.