James Weatherill

James Weatherill has been the deputy head of office for the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Ukraine since March 2020 and is now based in Lviv, Ukraine. As deputy, he is charged with coordinating the humanitarian cluster system and supporting the humanitarian coordinator in managing the humanitarian program cycle.

James has more than 20 years of international humanitarian and development experience with OCHA, USAID and several international nongovernmental organizations. Prior to going to Ukraine, he worked for OCHA in New York on strategic planning for field operations, and served in several field operations, including the Congo, the Palestinian territories, Myanmar and Yemen. In these countries, he has served as fund manager for the country-based pooled funds, and as head of OCHA sub-offices in the field.

Before joining the United Nations in 2008, James worked with USAID in humanitarian, conflict and post-conflict settings, including Kosovo, Iraq, the Palestinian territories, Afghanistan, Zimbabwe and North Macedonia. James started his international career as a volunteer with the U.S. Peace Corps in Albania and worked with numerous international NGOs in the Balkans during the 1990s.

James holds a master’s degree in international affairs from the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University in New York. He completed his undergraduate work at Washington University in St. Louis, where he also studied international affairs.