Tom Fletcher heads the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and has been at the forefront of recent efforts to deliver aid into Gaza.
Last week, he was criticised for making inaccurate claims about the impact of the Israeli blockade.
No stranger to tough jobs, he was previously a foreign policy advisor to three British Prime Ministers and the UK Ambassador to Lebanon as the country dealt with the civil war in neighbouring Syria.
He once fought the mayor of Nairobi in a boxing match and had a mortar round land in his swimming pool at the British embassy in Beirut.
One of four siblings, he was born in Folkestone, where he attended the Harvey Grammar School before studying at Oxford University.
Prior to his UN role he was Principal of Hertford College and has written books on diplomacy as well as novels.

Presenter: Mark Coles
Producers: Tom Gillett, Lucy Pawle and Jo Casserly
Editor: Nick Holland
Sound: Gareth Jones
Production Coordinator: Maria Ogundele