Muralee Thummarukudy

Muralee Thummarukudy is the Director of the Coordination Office of UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). Prior to UNCCD Muralee was the Chief of Disaster Risk Reduction in the UN Environment Programme. An internationally renowned expert in disaster response, Muralee has been involved in post-disaster response and follow-up of almost all major disasters of the twenty-first century, including the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, Cyclone Nargis, Sichuan Earthquake, Haiti Earthquake (2010), Tohoku tsunami (2011) and floods in Thailand (2011). He has completed assignments in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, the Gaza Strip, Liberia, Sudan and Rwanda dealing with the environmental impacts of conflicts. Also deployed to China, Japan, Myanmar, Ukraine, Haiti, and Thailand to deal with Disasters. He is a native of Vengola in Ernakulam district of the Kerala State in India.