Filiep Decorte is currently the Chief (oic) of UN-Habitat’s new Programme Development Branch and acting Emergency Director. Previously he the Deputy Director of UN-Habitat’s New York Liaison Office and the focal point for UN-Habitat’s crisis-related work in New York. He was acting Director from December 2016 to February 2018. He is Chair of the Global Alliance for Urban Crises.
During his career, Filiep has predominantly focused on urban initiatives in conflict- and crisis-affected countries, specializing in urban planning, land, and housing issues. He globally focuses on migration, displacement, land and conflict and the humanitarian -development nexus. He co-edited with Andrew Rudd the Quito Papers and the New Urban Agenda, led by Prof. Richard Sennett. He has worked for UN-Habitat for more than fifteen years in different capacities, including long-term assignments in Haiti, the occupied Palestinian territory, Somalia, and Morocco. He also acted as coordinator for UN-Habitat’s Global Disaster Management Program. He was trained as a civil engineer, architect, and urban and regional planner with advanced master’s degrees from the Universities of Ghent and Leuven in Belgium.