SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE OF THE UNITED NATIONS SECRETARY-GENERAL FOR CENTRAL ASIA

(2015-2017)

Mr. Petko Draganov (Bulgaria) was Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General (SRSG) and the Head of the UN Regional Center for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia (UNRCCA) from 17 March 2015 till 4 September 2017. 

Mr. Draganov previously served as Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), a position he has held since 1 May 2009.

Born on 25 January 1958 in Cairo, Egypt, Mr. Draganov attended the English Language School in Sofia. He received his MA in International Law at the Moscow State Institute for International Relations.

Mr. Draganov began his diplomatic career in the Information Department of the Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

From 1985 to 1998 he worked largely on African affairs, serving in the Bulgarian embassies in Ghana and Zimbabwe and in the African Department of the Foreign Ministry. From 1993 to 1998 he was Ambassador to South Africa, Namibia and Botswana.

In 1998, Mr. Draganov was appointed Permanent Representative of Bulgaria to the United Nations and Other International Organizations in Geneva. He served as President of the Conference on Disarmament from August to December 2000.

From 2001 to 2005, Mr. Draganov held the position of First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria. He was in charge of multilateral diplomacy development, disarmament and European integration issues.

He also served as Chairman of the National Commission on UNESCO, Alternate Representative of the Republic of Bulgaria to the United Nations Security Council, and Special Representative of the Chairman-in-Office of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to the Republic of Moldova.

Mr. Draganov served a second term as Bulgaria’s Permanent Representative in Geneva from 2005 to 2008.

In 2008, he was President of UNCTAD’s Trade and Development Board. In that capacity, he contributed to the successful outcome of the Accra Conference, as Chair of the UNCTAD XII Preparatory Committee and the Committee of the Whole.

As Deputy Secretary-General, he has helped spearhead UNCTAD’s communications strategy and publications policy, streamline management, and enhance interagency collaboration and technical cooperation activities.

Mr. Draganov speaks English, French and Russian, and reads Spanish and Italian. He is married and has a daughter and a son.