Mr. Toily Kurbanov (Russian Federation) took up his assignment as the Executive Coordinator of the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme in January 2021.
Prior to this, Toily worked as the Deputy Executive Coordinator of UN Volunteers since 2016 and played an important role in positioning UNV in the context of the 2030 Agenda and UN reform.
With over twenty-five years of leadership experience at the international and national level, his expertise includes a range of critical areas, including sustainable development and public policy in countries in transition and fragile contexts, as well as strategic partnerships and organizational transformation.
In his role as Executive Coordinator of UNV, Toily is advocating for volunteerism as a powerful and cross-cutting means of implementing the 2030 Agenda and providing strategic leadership of UNV as a global system-wide service in the United Nations. Before joining UNV, Toily worked at UNDP as Country Director in Myanmar (2012-2016), Deputy Resident Representative in Fiji and Pacific Island Countries (2007-2012) and at the Headquarters (2004-2006). Prior to that, he had a distinguished career in banking, government, and diplomacy in Central Asia and the South Caucasus.
Toily holds master’s degrees in Public Administration from Harvard University and in Economics from Russian Economic University. He speaks English and Russian. Toily is married and has three children.