Dr Syed Jaffar Hussain MBBS (PAK), MAHM (UK), PhD

Dr Syed Jaffar Hussain (Pakistan) was assigned WHO Country Representative and Head of Mission in Yemen on 1 September 2025.

From 1 April 2021 until his move to Yemen, Dr Hussain served as Head of Mission and Country Representative in the Islamic Republic of Iran.

He served as Chef de Cabinet at the WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean from July 2019 to March 2021, as WHO Representative and Head of Mission in Libya (September 2015–July 2019) and Head of Mission in Tunisia (May 2016–Feb 2018), during which time he spent 6 months as Acting Resident/Humanitarian Coordinator.

Before joining the Libya office, Dr Hussain worked as WHO Representative in Iraq (2010–2015), a posting that for some time included Syria, and as Regional Adviser, Health Promotion/Violence, Injuries and Disabilities, at the Regional Office.

Dr Hussain holds a master’s degree in Hospital and Health Services Management from the University of Leeds, United Kingdom, a medicine degree from University of Peshawar, Pakistan, and an honorary PhD from Belford University, US.

Before joining the Regional Office, Dr Hussain was Project Officer Child Health, UNICEF, Pakistan, WHO Technical Officer Child Health, Pakistan, and Health Coordinator UNHCR, Pakistan/Afghanistan.

Government assignments include Assistant Director of the EPI in Pakistan, Assistant District Health Officer, Deputy Medical Superintendent Psychiatric Hospital, and National Programme Manager Lady Health Programme for Primary Health Care and Family Planning.

Dr Hussain has worked extensively in emergency settings, with a particular focus on post-emergency health system strengthening, south-to-south cooperation and multilateralism and health issues faced by refugees and migrants in the Region and beyond.

Dr Hussain served as Regional Ombudsperson 2006–2010 and 2019–2021 and is a member of Global Board of Appeal (GBA). He has headed UN leadership initiatives with the UN Staff College, World Bank and WHO, and authored many publications in international journals.