Center for Human Rights and Humanitarian Studies

Michael Marx is currently the Senior Humanitarian-Military Advisor for the United Nations’ World Food Programme (WFP). Prior to this, he spent more than a decade in numerous positions with the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), including as the Chief of Policy, Plans, and Training for OCHA’s Civil-Military Coordination Service; OCHA’s Senior Civil-Military Coordination Advisor in New York; Chief of the Civil-Military Coordination Section (CMCS) and as OCHA’s Head of Office in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Michael joined the UN from the US Government, where he served as the Division Director for Disaster Response and Mitigation in the Office of US Foreign Disaster Assistance at the US Agency for International Development (USAID/OFDA). While in OFDA he served in various disaster response assignments, including DART (Disaster Assistance and Response Team) Team Leader in operations that included Iraq, Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Angola, and Mozambique. Michael also served as a US Army Officer, serving primarily overseas, included postings in Asia, the Middle East, Europe, and Africa. While in the Army, he participated in multiple operations supporting humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, as well one tour with the United Nations Peacekeeping Mission in Mozambique.