Matthias Schmale holds a PhD in development economics from the Free University in Berlin, Germany. During more than 24 years of professional experience in international humanitarian and development organizations, he has held numerous senior management positions and served the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), the British Red Cross, and International Save the Children Alliance. For UNRWA he has served as director for Lebanon, for Syria, and for its Representative Office in New York, and since October 2017, he has been director of field operations in Gaza.