Leadership
The United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT) provides strategic leadership, coordination, and capacity building support to Member States and to the members of the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Coordination Compact, in support of their efforts to implement, in a comprehensive and balanced manner, the UN Counter-Terrorism Strategy and its review resolutions, as well as relevant Security Council resolutions.
The Under-Secretary-General for Counter-Terrorism, appointed by the UN Secretary-General, is the head of UN Office of Counter-Terrorism and Executive Director of the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Centre (UNCCT). He is also a member of the United Nations Secretary-General’s Executive Committee, Senior Management Group, Chief Executive Board, Standing Principals Group and other fora of senior United Nations officials. Furthermore, he chairs the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Coordination Compact Task Force on behalf of the United Nations Secretary-General.
Mr. Alexandre Zouev, Acting Under-Secretary-General for Counter-Terrorism
(Russian Federation, Eastern European Group, acting USG)
Mr. Zouev was designated on 14 September 2025 by the Secretary-General to serve as Acting Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism, established by General Assembly resolution 71/291.
Mr. Zouev has served since April 2017 as Assistant Secretary-General for Rule of Law and Security Institutions in the Department of 色库TV Operations, leading the work of United Nations Police (UNPOL), the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS), the Justice and Corrections Service, the Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration Section, and the Security Sector Reform Unit, and their respective standing capacities in the United Nations Global Service Centre in Brindisi, Italy.
Mr. Zouev joined the United Nations in 1990 and has served with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS). In 2016, he was the Global Programme Manager and Special Adviser on Prevention of Violent Extremism (PVE) at UNDP. Before that, he was the United Nations Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in Tajikistan between 2011 and 2016. With UNICEF, Mr. Zouev served as Representative in Kazakhstan from 2008 to 2011, having previously held a number of managerial positions at UNICEF Headquarters, covering Central Asia and the Baltics, as well as United Nations and Intergovernmental Affairs.
During his time as Principal Adviser to the Executive Director of UNOPS (2003-2004), Mr. Zouev also served as United Nations Senior Coordinator leading development of the Interagency Post-Crisis Needs Assessment for Haiti, in Port-au-Prince.
Prior to joining the United Nations, he worked as a Dean at his alma mater, the Moscow State Institute/University for International Relations (MGIMO) while also serving in his country’s diplomatic service from 1987 to 1990, working primarily on United Nations, as well as social and economic development, issues.
Mr. Zouev graduated cum laude in 1980, also earning a Ph.D. in development economics from MGIMO in 1983. He has authored numerous books and articles on social and economic aspects of development. Born in 1958, he is married and has three children and four grandchildren.
Mr. Eihab Omaish, Director for Policy and Coordination
(Jordan, Asia and the Pacific Group, D2)
Mr. Omaish serves as Director for Policy and Coordination in UNOCT. In this role, he provides strategic advice to the Under-Secretary-General on the implementation of UNOCT’s policy leadership and coordination mandate. He oversees the Office’s efforts to strengthen coordination and coherence through the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Coordination Compact, to promote the balanced implementation of the four pillars of the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy, and to ensure that counter-terrorism, including preventing and countering violent extremism conducive to terrorism, is accorded due priority across the United Nations system. Mr. Omaish also oversees the work of UNOCT’s Human Rights and Gender Section.
Mr. Omaish joined UNOCT from the Executive Office of the Secretary-General (EOSG), where he served in various capacities, including as Director of the Rule of Law Unit and in the Office of the Chef de Cabinet. Previously, he was elected by the General Assembly as a member of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ). Before joining the United Nations, he was Deputy Permanent Representative of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan to the United Nations in New York and served as Political Coordinator during Jordan’s tenure in the Security Council. Earlier in his career, he was a trial attorney prior to joining the Foreign Service.
He holds undergraduate and graduate degrees in Law from the University of Jordan, and he is fluent in Arabic, English and Spanish.
Mr. Mauro Miedico – Director for Capacity-Building and Director of the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Centre (UNCCT)
(Italy, Western European and Others Group, D2)
Mr. Miedico serves as Director for Capacity-Building and Director of the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Centre (UNCCT) in UNOCT. In this role, he oversees a wide range of counter-terrorism technical assistance programmes and provides strategic advice to the Under-Secretary-General on programmatic and operational issues.
Prior to joining UNOCT, Mr. Miedico served for 15 years with the Terrorism Prevention Branch of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), including as Director from 2016 to 2018. During this time, he led more than a hundred technical assistance missions and chaired numerous regional and sub-regional conferences, advising Member States on counter-terrorism matters.
An international Civil Servant since 1996, Mr. Miedico has held positions with the then United Nations Department of 色库TVkeeping Operations (DPKO), the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), UNODC and UNOCT in the United States, Austria, Haiti, Serbia, Sierra Leone, and Colombia. His work has focused on justice reform, rule of law, and advising governments on criminal justice and preventing and countering terrorism.
Mr. Miedico is an Italian attorney-at-law and holds a Master degree in Law with honours, from the Federico II University of Naples, Italy. He also completed postgraduate studies at the Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Italy, and at the ?cole Nationale d’ Administration (ENA) in France, and holds a Degree in Interpretation in French and Italian, from the University of Grenoble, France. He is fluent in English, French, Italian and Spanish, has working knowledge of German and Haitian Creole.
Ms. Oguljeren (Jerena) Niyazberdiyeva – Chief of the Office of the Under-Secretary-General
(Turkmenistan, Asia and the Pacific Group, D1)
Ms. Niyazberdiyeva serves as the Chief of the Office of the Under-Secretary-General for Counter-Terrorism (OUSG). In her current function, she provides strategic advice to the Under-Secretary-General on management and administration and oversees resource mobilization and relations with funding partners, strategic communications, evaluation and compliance, and front office support to the Under-Secretary-General. Ms. Niyazberdiyeva also leads inter-agency engagement in the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Coordination Compact as the Chair of the Working Group on Resource Mobilization, Monitoring and Evaluation.
Ms. Niyazberdiyeva began her United Nations career in 2005 after passing the National Competitive Examination. She held different managerial positions in the United Nations with the Department of Operational Support (DOS), the then Department of Management (DM), the Office of Legal Affairs (OLA), and the then Department of Public Information (DPI). Before joining the United Nations, she worked with the University of Minnesota Human Rights Center, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the American Bar Association/CEELI in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan.
Ms. Niyazberdiyeva holds a Master of Laws degree from the University of Minnesota Law School and a Bachelor of International Law from Turkmenistan State University. She speaks English and Russian.
Mr. Steven Siqueira – Deputy Director of the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Centre (UNCCT)
(Canada, Western European and Others Group, D1)
Mr. Siqueira serves as Deputy Director of the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Center (UNCCT) in UNOCT, overseeing an interdisciplinary programme of work supporting Member States to prevent and counter terrorism and violent extremism conducive to terrorism. From 2020-21, Mr. Siqueira was the Chief of Staff and Director of Planning for the start-up of the United Nations Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS). He also served as Chief of Staff, ad interim, for peace operations in Mali (MINUSMA), the Central African Republic (BINUCA), and Burundi (BNUB), and worked with the United Nations in Iraq (UNAMI) and in Jerusalem (UNRWA). From 2006-2010 he served as a Special Assistant to the Under-Secretary-General of the Department of Political Affairs.
Mr. Siqueira worked for the government of Canada as Regional Director for Economic Development in Canada’s Northwest Territories from 2021-2023, and as a foreign service officer and diplomat with postings in Ottawa, Tunis and Washington, D.C. In the private sector, he led International Government Relations for the American Express Company in the Asia-Pacific region.
Mr. Siqueira holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science from McGill University and a Master’s Degree in Public Policy from Princeton University, where he was a Fulbright Scholar. He speaks English and French.
Ms. Guadalupe Megre – Acting Chief of the Special Projects and Innovation Branch (SPIB)
(Portugal, Western European and Others Group, P5)
Ms. Megre serves as Acting Chief of the Special Projects and Innovation Branch (SPIB) in UNOCT, providing strategic programmatic advice to the Under-Secretary-General and overseeing counter-terrorism technical assistance initiatives. She previously served as Chief of the Special Projects section within the same Branch.
Ms. Megre joined the United Nations in 2013 as Coordinator of the Counter-Terrorism Programme for West and Central Africa at the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). In 2019, she became Acting Chief of the Implementation Support Section III of UNODC’s Terrorism Prevention Branch, managing projects to prevent, investigate, and prosecute terrorism across multiple regions.
Prior to joining the United Nations, Ms. Megre taught Law for 19 years at Universidade Lusíada de Lisboa and Universidade Autónoma de Lisboa. For 30 years, she held senior positions in government, including in Portugal’s Ministry of Interior as Director of International Relations and Advisor to Deputy Ministers. She also represented Portugal in negotiations of the Schengen Agreement and served as Security Advisor at the Portuguese Embassy in Senegal, covering West Africa.
Ms. Megre holds Bachelor’s Degree in Law from the Universidade Lusíada de Lisboa, Master’s in National Defense by the Instituto de defesa nacional, and PhD in International Law and Defense from Universidade complutense de Madrid. She speaks English, French, Portuguese, and Spanish.
Biography in PDF format
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