Management

The Executive Director of the UNCCT is the Acting Under-Secretary-General for Counter-Terrorism, Mr. Alexandre Zouev. He is supported by the Director of UNCCT, Mr. Mauro Miedico, in the management of the Centre.

UNCCT is guided by an Advisory Board, which is chaired by Ambassador Abdulaziz Al-Wasil, Permanent Representative of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the United Nations.

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 Peace 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.

The Permanent Representative of Saudi Arabia to the United Nations, Ambassador Abdulaziz Al-Wasil, presented his credentials to UN Secretary-General António Guterres on 2 August 2022. Prior to his latest appointment, Mr. Al-Wasil served as Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations Office at Geneva, since November 2016.

Since joining the Diplomatic Service, Mr. Al-Wasil has focused primarily on multilateral and human rights affairs, areas in which he has extensive experience. He served as Deputy Head of Mission at Saudi Arabia’s Embassy in London for more than three years. He was also assigned to Saudi Arabia’s Embassy in Australia.

Having begun his career as a college lecturer, Mr. Al-Wasil has had several articles on social and political issues published in both Arabic and English.

Mr. Al-Wasil holds a doctorate in international relations, a master’s degree in political science and a bachelor’s degree in Arabic language and literature.

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 Peacekeeping 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 École 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.