Andrew MacLeod

Andrew Michael MacLeod is an emergency management specialist, who most notably served as the Chief of Operations for the United Nations Emergency Coordination Centre in response to the 2005 Pakistan earthquake.

Early years

MacLeod was born in Melbourne, Australia. He was educated at St Michael's Grammar School, where he was School Captain, and before that at Melbourne Grammar School in Melbourne. He was an active sportsman having won the Silver Medal for the 200m Butterfly at the World Masters Games and spent many years as a volunteer Surf Lifesaver at Point Lonsdale in Victoria.

He obtained Bachelor of Law and Arts degrees from the University of Tasmania, a Masters of International Law at Southampton University, is part of Melbourne University's Asia Pacific Centre for Military Law and is a Visiting Fellow at the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva.

MacLeod was also commissioned as an officer with the Australian Army and served attachments with the British Army's Royal Green Jackets.

Career

After graduation MacLeod was admitted to practice law in the Supreme Court of Victoria, Supreme Court of New South Wales the High Court of Australia, and in England and Wales. After working on a number of high profile cases Andrew applied to work with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)and after completing the selection process he was given responsibility for negotiating security and access guarantees in the former Yugoslavia during that country's breakup during the Yugoslav wars and Rwanda in the aftermath of the 1994 Rwandan Genocide and ongoing conficts in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He negotiated and implemented Law of Armed Conflict training programs within the military factions of those conflicts, which contributed to improved access for aid workers.

Under the auspices of the International Commission of Jurists he monitored the 1999 independence referendum in East Timor, evacuated several pro-independence leaders in the violent aftermath, the 2001 parliamentary elections in Sri Lanka and conducted a scrutineer school for local party officials in the lead up to the 2002 Presidential election in East Timor.

MacLeod was also a preselected candidate for the Australian Labour Party for the 2001 National Election, and prior to returning to the international world, he worked as a senior political adviser to the Victorian Deputy Premier.

After being head hunted by the United Nations Andrew reviewed and updated the United Nations Early Warning and Emergency Preparedness procedures through the Inter Agency Standing Committee.

Following the Pakistan earthquake, now recognised as one of the most difficult natural disaster response so far conducted by the United Nations, [ [http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:3uf2h3c83B8J:www.erra.gov.pk/Reports/Annual-Reviewe-2005-06.pdf+%22george+c+marshall%22+%22andrew+macleod%22&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=3] "Reliefweb.com", 17 November 2005, retrieved 23 February 2006] MacLeod helped to coordinate the delivery of aid and relief. MacLeod, according to OCHA internal reports, was instrumental in bringing together disparate actors in the months following the earthquake.

MacLeod, together with Maj-Gen Nadeem Ahmad modified an experimental model of coordination for the earthquake response known as "Cluster Approach", based on a series of recommendations made during a full review of humanitarian operation conducted through 2005. Whilst it was then a new and untried method, the "Cluster Approach" is now used as a model for global disaster management. [http://www.humanitarianinfo.org/iasc/content/Cluster/Default.asp?mainbodyID=5&publish=0] . MacLeod is now recognised as one of the pioneers in the humanitarian reform process and is credited for much of the policy development within the reform movement over the last few years.

Awards

MacLeod was awarded the Humanitarian Overseas Service Medal for his actions in the Balkans (1996-97), and awarded a second time for his actions in Rwanda (1998-99). A third nomination has been made for his actions in Pakistan (2005-06).

MacLeod also received the Silver Medal for Humanity in Montenegro (1997) and was awarded by the Australian Government for his service in East Timor in 1999.

In 2008 Andrew was awarded the Australian Davos Connection (ADC) leadership award for his work in encouraging social corporate responsibility engagement in emergency assistance settings.

Andrew is also a life member of Antarctic Circle Expeditioners and the Society of Antarctic Divers.

Sources

* [http://www.undp.org.pk/index.php?page=newsdetail&news_id=59 United Nations Development Program Pakistan]
* [http://coe-dmha.org/Pakistan/SAEU102805.htm Centre for Excellence in Disaster Management]
* [http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=49771&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN The aftermath of the Earthquake] - IRIN news site
* [http://www.irinnews.org/webspecials/PakistanEq/53657.asp The aftermath of the Earthquake, moving to recovery] - IRIN news site
* [http://www.krrc.org/doc/Pakistan%20Trip%20Report.pdf Cambridge University Field Trip]
* [http://www.itsanhonour.gov.au/honours/honour_roll/search.cfm?aus_award_id=888358&search_type=quick&showInd=true Australian government Awards site]
* [http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/KHII-6HT557?OpenDocument Relief web report]
* [http://pandora.nla.gov.au/pan/22309/20011026/www.andrew.macleod.com/andrew/moreaboutandrew.htm Australian National Library site Pandora]
* [http://www.law.utas.edu.au/alumni/docs/August%202005%20-%20newsletter.pdf University of Tasmania]
* [http://www.apcml.org/res_ppl_andrew_mcleod.php The University of Melbourne]
* [http://www.erra.gov.pk/Reports/ERRA-UN%20Early%20Recovery%20Plan.pdf United Nations/Government of Pakistan Early Recovery Plan]
* [http://www.erra.gov.pk/Reports/Annual-Reviewe-2005-06.pdf Government of Pakistan Annual review]

References

External links

* [http://www.un.org/ United Nations] - Official site
* [http://www.humanitarianinfo.org/iasc/content/Cluster/Default.asp?mainbodyID=5&publish=0 Cluster Approach] - Official UN site
* [http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=49771&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN The aftermath of the Earthquake] - IRIN news site
* [http://www.irinnews.org/webspecials/PakistanEq/53657.asp The aftermath of the Earthquake, moving to recovery] - IRIN news site
* [http://www.facebook.com/people/Andrew_MacLeod/561445477 Public Facebook page] - Facebook