Dr. Markandey Rai  is Senior Advisor of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT). Dr. Rai is also Chairperson of the Joint Advisory Committee, which advises UN offices at Nairobi (UNON) on administrative issues. He has served UN-HABITAT in various roles for seventeen years and was elected President of the Nairobi Staff Union 2000-2003. In January of 2006 he was the recipient of the Hind Rattan Award. Dr. Rai has served on the boards of academic, cultural, and social bodies in different countries.  In 2009 he addressed EU presidency seminar at the Swedish Parliament in Stockholm and Global Parliamentarians on Habitat conference in Washington, DC. Dr. Rai is a member of GPF’s Global Leadership Council.