United Nations Special Envoy for Syria Mr. Geir O. Pedersen appointed Mr. Tareq Talahma of Palestine as Head of Damascus Office for the United Nations Special Envoy for Syria. He started his work on 1 March 2024.

Mr. Talahma has a wealth of experience and expertise in political, humanitarian and development affairs with more than 20 years of service with the United Nations, including as OCHA Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa region, and acting Director for Operation and Advocacy based in New York.  Mr. Talahma was most recently OCHA Fiji Head of Office based in Suva. 

Throughout his career, Mr. Talahma has demonstrated his commitment to serving in complex and fragile operations in countries such as Afghanistan, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Pakistan, Palestine, Somalia, Syria, and Yemen.  He has extensive experience in crisis management, negotiations and mediation, programming and planning in turbulent contexts, as well as the humanitarian-development nexus.

Mr. Talahma holds a degree in Environmental Studies from York University in Canada.

He is fluent in Arabic and English.