Speakers

Mr. Lardner has over 30 years of experience in the humanitarian and development sector. Prior to his appointment as Director of the UNOPS Ukraine Country Office in November 2022, he was the UNOPS Country Director in Somalia (2018 – 2022) and chief of the United Nations Mine Action Service in South Sudan (2015 – 2018). He also served with UNDP as Chief Technical Advisor to the government of Lao PDR between 2012 and 2015.

Mr. Lardner began his career as a military officer with the British Army where he specialised in bomb disposal.  After leaving the military, he worked in the field for several NGOs and private sector organizations. This included running minefield clearance projects in Mozambique, Cambodia, Taiwan, and South Sudan, as well as risk mitigation projects in Iraq for BP.

Following his time in the field, Mr. Lardner established a unit at Cranfield University (UK) delivering training to managers of major international mine clearance programmes. After this, he moved to the Geneva International Centre for Demining, where he managed a couple of major research projects.

Mr. Lardner has an MBA from Cranfield University (UK) as well as a Master of Arts in Global Diplomacy from the University of London (SOAS).

Participates in the sessions: