David Haeri

Guest Author

David Haeri is Director of the Division of Policy, Evaluation and Training (DPET) in the UN Department of Peace Operations (X – LinkedIn). He has extensive field and UN Headquarters experience related to political affairs, peacekeeping, peacebuilding and inter-agency policy development.

At UN headquarters, Mr. Haeri has served in a range of capacities in DPO including as the Chief of Staff ad interim, Chief of the peacekeeping Policy and Best Practices Service and as Special Assistant to the Under-Secretary General, as well as in the Department of Political Affairs and the Office of the Secretary-General.

He has previously served as the UN-wide Senior Planning Coordinator for Syria, and was the Director of the US$100m multi-donor Joint Peace Fund for peacebuilding support in Myanmar. His field experience includes extended deployments to Cambodia, Liberia, South Africa, East Timor, Afghanistan and Myanmar.

Articles by this author:

Three blue-helmeted soldiers sit atop a heavy duty white pickup truck with "UN" on the side in the foreground, as three other "blue helmets" as the peacekeepers are called, stand or work on the ground,, with a white UN armored personnel carrier sits in the background under a large tree. The ground underneath it all is dry red earth, marked with vehicle tracks.

Keep the Blue Helmets Ready — They Are Needed More Than Ever

Sep. 21, 2026 David Haeri