Mr Gerard A. Fischer, a Swedish national, holds a Ph. D. in Economic Development & Regional Planning from the University of Stockholm, Sweden. Prior to joining EUMM Georgia as Head of Operations in October 2008, Mr Fischer had been working with the United Nations Secretariat for more than twenty years in New York and Geneva as Political Economist in charge of, inter alia, designing and launching development and rehabilitation programmes for least developed and post-conflict countries in Africa and Asia. Mr Fischer has also held senior positions for about ten years in a number of United Nations peace operations: he, amongst other, headed the Human Rights Field Operation in post-genocide Rwanda; and, he further occupied senior management positions in UNPROFOR (former Yugoslavia), UNTAC (Cambodia), UNCRO (Croatia), UNTAES (Eastern Slavonia), UNMIK (Kosovo) and MONUC (Democratic Republic of Congo).  In addition, Mr Fischer contributes regularly as resource person, lecturer and mentor to the Geneva Centre for Security Policies, the Austrian Study Centre for Peace and Conflict Resolution, and the Folke Bernadotte Academy in Stockholm.