Francis Martin O'Donnell - UN Career

UN Career

Since 1976, when he started as a United Nations Volunteer in Sudan, he has also served the UN in Lesotho, Mauritania, Niger, Switzerland, Turkey, the United States of America, and recently in Serbia & Montenegro. He also undertook missions in over 40 other countries in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Central and Eastern Europe, North America, and the Caribbean.

At the end of the Cold War, he was requested in late 1991 to launch a rapid response capability for deploying UN Volunteers (UNV) to UN emergency operations worldwide. He overhauled recruitment methods, and oversaw the rapid deployment of thousands of UN volunteers to crisis zones, where they became the front-line link between relief and aid delivery agencies such as UNICEF, UNHCR, WFP, UNDP, and WHO and suffering war victims, refugees and internal displacees. The effort saved lives during the years 1992-1994 in Afghanistan, Angola, Bosnia, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Kenya, Liberia, Rwanda, Somalia, Sudan and other war-torn countries during the inter-ethnic wars that succeeded the Cold War's proxy conflicts. True life stories from the field featured in Volunteers Against Conflict, a book praised by former Presidents Nelson Mandela, Mary Robinson, Jimmy Carter, and Nobel Peace Laureate Rigoberta Menchu Tum. This book was written by volunteers recruited under O'Donnell's leadership of the Humanitarian Relief Unit of UNV.

Later based in Turkey, he helped assure the humanitarian corridor through Turkey into northern Iraq after the first Gulf War from 1994–1996, and coordinated earthquake relief in Turkey itself. Subsequently he held a senior emergency management role in UNDP headquarters in New York, and later led a systemic governance team for crisis countries, developing a new policy approach to tackle root causes for preventing crisis in vulnerable countries.

In 2000, he led UN/UNDP missions that helped Sergio Vieira de Mello lay the foundations for public administration capacity in East Timor before independence. He organised a workshop with the Timorese leadership on 1 March 2000, that re-designed the UN administration in East Timor, leading to a reform of the UN mission by the Security Council. O'Donnell organised the joint workshop between UNTAET and the Timorese leadership, the National Congress for Timorese Reconstruction (CNRT), on 1 March 2000 to tease out a new strategy, and identify institutional needs. The Timorese delegation was led by Jose Ramos Horta. The outcome was an agreed blueprint for a joint administration with executive powers, including leaders of the CNRT. Further details were worked out in a conference in May 2000. The Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General in East Timor, Sérgio Vieira de Mello, presented the new blueprint to a donor conference in Lisbon, on 22 June 2000, and to the UN Security Council on 27 June 2000. On 12 July 2000, the NCC adopted a regulation establishing a Transitional Cabinet composed of four East Timorese and four UNTAET representatives. The revamped joint administration constructed the institutional foundations for independence. On 27 September 2002 East Timor joined the United Nations.

On October 13, 2000, O'Donnell arrived in Belgrade in the immediate aftermath of the overthrow of Slobodan Milošević. There, as UNDP representative, he supported the new democratic forces in bringing stability to the remnant of the former Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro), preventing nascent conflict with marginalised ethnic Albanians in the Preševo Valley of southern Serbia, launching reintegration programmes, promoting human rights, and supporting reform of governance institutions, and supporting civil society. In 2002, he was appointed by the UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan as Resident Coordinator of the UN system, and appointed by UNDP Administrator Mark Malloch Brown as Resident Representative of the UNDP in Yugoslavia/Serbia-Montenegro, and later again in Ukraine in October 2004, just before the so-called Orange Revolution. Following the Belgrade Agreement (2002) brokered by Javier Solana that restructured the remnant federal republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro) into a looser state union of Serbia and Montenegro, O’Donnell held consultations with the president of the federal government of Yugoslavia and leaders of the republics of Serbia and Montenegro, and organised a Strategic Roundtable on Governance Transition in Belgrade, featuring most of the signatories of the Belgrade Agreement, international experts on transition, and a large representation of government officials and the international community. It was the first major public forum bringing together important political players to air crucial constitutional issues. He also contributed to housing sector policy in south-east Europe.

He presented his credentials to the President of Ukraine on 16 November 2004. As Resident Coordinator, he was the designated representative of the UN Secretary-General and lead the UN Country Team of UN agencies and related bodies and was primus inter pares amongst several such accredited UN system chefs de mission diplomatique. The 2007 Ukrainian political crisis, which lasted from April to June 2007 was part of political stand off between coalition and opposition factions of Verkhovna Rada that led to the unscheduled Ukrainian parliamentary election, 2007, and started on 2 April 2007 as a culmination of long lasting crisis and degradation of the parliamentary coalition when the President of Ukraine (Viktor Yushchenko) attempted to dissolve the parliament. The following day, in light of impending political unrest, O'Donnell as United Nations Resident Coordinator, and following an earlier call to deepen democracy and liberalize the economy, exceptionally issued an advisory statement of principles on behalf of the Country Team (followed by a visit by former Estonian President Arnold Rüütel on 23 April.

O'Donnell called for greater awareness of the Holocaust and active tolerance and decried discrimination against Jews, Muslims, migrants and minorities in many countries. He was also instrumental in tackling racism and xenophobia in Ukraine, by taking the leadership in organizing regular consultations and meetings with the representatives of diplomatic missions and international organizations and jointly bringing this issue to the attention of Government. An ambassadorial working group was formed and a Diversity Initiative, a coordination group under the leadership of the IOM and UNHCR, was established to provide a forum for anti-discrimination policies – with the overall objective to create a consolidated response to racism and xenophobia in Ukraine. As a result of concerted efforts, the Government stepped up its response to this challenge; an official repudiation of racism by President Viktor Yuschenko issued; the Government adopted an Action Plan on Counteraction to Racism; and the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) established a special unit to counteract xenophobia and intolerance. Policy advice was provided and best practices from European countries was shared with Government. There was a wide-scale information campaign, including broadcasting of public service announcements.

Simultaneously serving as UNDP resident representative in Ukraine, O'Donnell also oversaw the establishment and implementation of the large EU Border Assistance Mission between Moldova and Ukraine, which brought about substantial improvements in border management, including a curtailing of human trafficking, illicit weapons and other contraband smuggling, and corruption. The EUBAM mission remains implemented by UNDP and funded by the European Commission. He also coordinated UNDP cooperation under the BUMAD programme with Ukraine, Moldova and Belarus, to reduce illicit drug traffic. O’Donnell drew attention to the negative impact of endemic corruption in Ukraine, on cooperation with its development partners. He also launched a major programme for women's and children's rights, in collaboration with the EC, Council of Europe, and ILO.

The First Lady of Ukraine, Kateryna Yushchenko, in her farewell, thanked Mr. O’Donnell for his work in Ukraine and cooperation with her Ukraine 3000 Foundation. She credited him that UN institutions repeatedly rendered support to the Foundation’s initiatives related to education and culture. Also in 2007, the Ukraine 3000 International Charitable Foundation joined the United Nations Global Compact.