David Gressly is a senior United Nations

United Nations

The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...

 official.

With a background as a Peace Corps

Peace Corps

The Peace Corps is an American volunteer program run by the United States Government, as well as a government agency of the same name. The mission of the Peace Corps includes three goals: providing technical assistance, helping people outside the United States to understand US culture, and helping...

 volunteer and as an official of the United Nations Children's Fund

United Nations Children's Fund

United Nations Children's Fund was created by the United Nations General Assembly on December 11, 1946, to provide emergency food and healthcare to children in countries that had been devastated by World War II...

 (UNICEF), he was appointed in 2005 by Secretary-General Kofi Annan

Kofi Annan

Kofi Atta Annan is a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh Secretary-General of the UN from 1 January 1997 to 31 December 2006...

 as UN Resident Coordinator

Resident Coordinator

A United Nations Resident Coordinator is the highest United Nations official and the chief of UN diplomatic mission in a country . It confers the same rank as an Ambassador of a foreign state...

 and Humanitarian Coordinator

Humanitarian Coordinator

The Humanitarian Coordinator is the senior-most United Nations official in a country experiencing a humanitarian emergency. The Humanitarian Coordinator is appointed by the United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator when a new emergency occurs or an existing humanitarian situation "worsens in...

 in Juba

Juba, Sudan

Juba is the capital and largest city of the Republic of South Sudan. It also serves as the capital of Central Equatoria, the smallest of the ten states of South Sudan. The city is situated on the White Nile and functions as the seat and metropolis of Juba County.- Population :In 2005, Juba's...

, Southern Sudan. Flanked by Éliane Duthoit

Eliane Duthoit

Éliane Duthoit , a French citizen, is a senior United Nations official at the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs .- Career overview :...

, head of the local United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), he was involved in facilitating the Juba peace talks between the Government of Uganda

Uganda

Uganda , officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. Uganda is also known as the "Pearl of Africa". It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by South Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by...

 and the opposition group Lord's Resistance Army

Lord's Resistance Army

The Lord's Resistance Army insurgency is an ongoing guerrilla campaign waged since 1987 by the Lord's Resistance Army rebel group, operating mainly in northern Uganda, but also in South Sudan and eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo...

, and in consolidating peace between north and Southern Sudan in the context of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement

Comprehensive Peace Agreement

The Comprehensive Peace Agreement , also known as the Naivasha Agreement, was a set of agreements culminating in January 2005 that were signed between the Sudan People's Liberation Movement and the Government of Sudan...

.

Between July and August 2007, Gressly was acting UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator

Resident Coordinator

A United Nations Resident Coordinator is the highest United Nations official and the chief of UN diplomatic mission in a country . It confers the same rank as an Ambassador of a foreign state...

 in the Sudan

Sudan

Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...

's capital Khartoum

Khartoum

Khartoum is the capital and largest city of Sudan and of Khartoum State. It is located at the confluence of the White Nile flowing north from Lake Victoria, and the Blue Nile flowing west from Ethiopia. The location where the two Niles meet is known as "al-Mogran"...

, where he played a key role in the humanitarian response to the 2007 Sudan floods

2007 Sudan floods

On 3 July 2007, flash floods started to devastate many parts of Sudan, including some areas in conflict-battered Darfur and war-torn Southern Sudan.-Damage:...

 especially in terms of advocacy, supported by the local OCHA office headed by Mike McDonagh

Mike McDonagh

Michael McDonagh, a national of Ireland, is a humanitarian, and a senior United Nations official working for the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs....

.