Biography: IOM Chief of Staff

Mohammed Abdiker Mohamud

Mohammed Abdiker assumed his role as Chief of Staff at the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Geneva, Switzerland on 1 October 2023. As Chief of Staff, Mohammed reports directly to the Director General and assists the Director General and the Deputy Directors General in the fulfillment of the Organization’s mandate. He leads the Executive Office and oversees IOM’s Regional Offices. The Executive Office facilitates the development and strengthening of IOM’s management capacity and ensures that Headquarters and Field structures respond adequately to the expectations from various stakeholders and addresses organizational challenges.

Prior to his appointment Mohammed was IOM’s Regional Director for East and Horn of Africa in Nairobi, Kenya. As the Regional Director, Mohammed represented the Director General vis-à-vis regional institutions within and outside the United Nations systems and directed and supervised the Heads of IOM’s Country Offices in the region. He led the Organization’s formulation, promotion and implementation of strategic responses to migration issues and trends in support of Member States and migrants in the region.

Mohammed brings a wealth of experience to the Executive Office, with over 25 years of experience on a range of migration issues in crisis and post-crisis settings. Mohammed led IOM’s worldwide response to migration crises as the Director of Operations and Emergencies at Headquarters in Geneva until 2019. Under his leadership, the Organization saw a major expansion both in scope and reach of its programmes, covering humanitarian, transition and recovery, and resettlement portfolios, as well as support for land, property and reparations and other dimensions of transitional justice. Drawing upon his vast cross-cultural experiences and his linguistic abilities, he was able to successfully negotiate various complex assignments for the Organization. Mohammed oversaw advances of IOM’s policy and technical expertise, through the introduction of new frameworks to guide its field interventions, to navigate and respond to the evolving nature of crises and global commitments.

He began his rich professional career with IOM in 1996, working on refugee resettlement and cultural orientation programmes in Kenya and has served as Chief of Mission in Sri Lanka (2007-2010) and the Chief of Mission in Zimbabwe (2003-2007); as well as covering the return and resettlement of refugees for IOM offices in Ethiopia, Kenya, and West Africa. He has also focused extensively on IOM’s Disarmament Demobilization and Reintegration programming.

Mohammed is based in Geneva, Switzerland. He is married and has four children.

Download here IOM Chief of Staff's biography.