Deputy Director and Chief, Emergency Services Branch, OCHA Geneva, Switzerland

After graduation from the Austrian Military Academy in 1981 (NBC Defence), Mr. Müller was working as platoon leader, company commander and instruction officer at the NBC Defence School. As platoon leader and company commander in the Austrian Army, which is deployed in the case of major natural disasters and technological emergencies, Mr. Mueller has gained practical experience in the field of disaster relief/emergency assistance as well as in NBC defence/inspection activities at the national and international level (e.g. Armenia Earthquake, UN Special Commission for Iraq - UNSCOM).
From 1993 to 1995 Mr. Müller was working on the project on the use of Military and Civil Defence Assets (MCDA) in Disaster Relief with the Relief Coordination Branch of the Department of Humanitarian Affairs in Geneva (DHA), seconded by the Government of Austria. From May 1995 to August 1997, he was working in the Austrian Ministry of Defence in the Section for International Humanitarian and Disaster Relief/Division for International Policies.

Since September 1st, 1997, Mr. Müller has been working with DHA and OCHA, first in the Disaster Response Branch as ”Disaster Expert”. Among others he was Desk Officer for major emergencies, such as the earthquake in Bam, Iran, in 2003. In 2004 he was the principal Desk Officer for the Sudan, providing HQ assistance to the humanitarian emergency in Darfur and Southern Sudan. End of 2004 and beginning of 2005, he served as the (main) OCHA Desk Officer for the Indian Ocean Earthquake/Tsunami during the initial phase of the disaster.

Beginning of April 2005 Mr. Müller became the Head of OCHA’s office in Southern Sudan where he stayed until mid of October 2006.

From November 1st, 2006, to August 31st, 2008 Mr. Mueller was Chief of the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) Secretariat. The CERF is a humanitarian financing mechanism with the target of USD 500 million a year in 2008. By the time Mr. Müller left the post, the target (USD 500 million for 2008) was achieved.

In September 2008, Mr. Müller was appointed Deputy Director of the Coordination and Response Division (CRD) of OCHA. During his time with CRD he was deployed – inter alia - to Afghanistan, Pakistan, Zimbabwe, and Niger to support the OCHA offices in situ, and humanitarian coordination in general.

Since 24 March 2010 he assumes the post of Chief, Emergency Services Branch with OCHA Geneva. In addition, he is also the Deputy Director of OCHA in Geneva.