Dr. Muhammad Sohail Ali

Chief of the UNDSS Critical Incident Stress Management Unit (CISMU)

Dr. Muhammad Sohail Ali assumed functions as the Chief of the UNDSS Critical Incident Stress Management Unit (CISMU) on 1 April 2022. His most recent assignment was as the CISMU Regional Stress Counsellor for East and Southern Africa. Dr. Sohail Ali is a highly accomplished professional, with degrees in medicine, psychiatry, community mental health, public health, disaster management, training, and professional development coaching. He has twenty-two years’ experience including sixteen years in the United Nations (UNDSS, WHO, DPKIO, UNHCR and UNICTR). During his professional career, Dr. Sohail has operated as a stress counsellor, trainer, and mental health programme manager. As such, he covered natural disasters such as earthquakes and floods, man-made disasters such as insurgency and terrorism, major organizational changes such as downsizing and liquidation, and conducted more than 200 workshops and training programs, training more than 3000 UN staff in Pakistan, Afghanistan, UNHQ New York, East Timor, Hungary, Tanzania, Rwanda, and Kenya. He has also contributed chapters to two scientific books on ‘Behavioral Sciences for Medical Students’ and ‘Mental Health in Emergencies’, besides several scientific publications and research papers. He is from Pakistan and has a family with three young children.