Secretary-General Appoints Matthew Hollingworth of United Kingdom Assistant Executive Director for Programme Operations, World Food Programme

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) Director General Qu Dongyu and World Food Programme (WFP) Executive Director Cindy McCain announced today the appointment of Matthew Hollingworth of the United Kingdom as WFP Assistant Executive Director for Programme Operations.

Mr. Hollingworth succeeds Valerie Guarnieri of the United States, to whom the Secretary-General, Director General and Executive Director are grateful for serving in this role and for her dedication to WFP.

Mr. Hollingworth is an experienced humanitarian leader with over 25 years in emergency response, supply chain management and country leadership roles. He currently serves as WFP Representative and Country Director in Lebanon since 2024, overseeing large-scale food and cash assistance programmes for displaced populations and refugees. He previously directed WFP operations in Palestine, Ukraine, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Afghanistan and Rome, managing budgets up to $700 million and teams of over 1,200 staff. He has extensive expertise in crisis coordination, social protection systems and resilience programming, and has acted as UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in multiple contexts.

Mr. Hollingworth holds a master's degree in supply chain management from Cranfield University, United Kingdom (2001), a master's degree in philosophy, from Southampton University, United Kingdom (1997), and a Post-Graduate Diploma in humanitarian relief from Royal College of Surgeons, in Dublin, Ireland (1997). In addition to his native English, he has basic knowledge of French and Arabic.