Mr. Kristian Hölge

Regional Representative 

UNODC Regional Office for South Asia

 

Mr. Kristian Hölge, a national of Denmark, serves as the Regional Representative of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) for South Asia, covering Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. He assumed this role on 16 September 2025.

Mr. Hölge joined UNODC in the year 2000 and since then has worked at various international positions of increasing responsibility. Before this post, he served as UNODC’s Representative in Mexico from 2020 to 2025. Prior to that he served as the Representative in Lima, with responsibility for Peru, Ecuador, Argentina, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay (2016-2020). From 2012 to 2016 he worked in the Regional Section for Latin America and the Caribbean in Vienna. Having pioneered UNODC’s Legal Assistance Programme for Latin America and the Caribbean from 2000 to 2012, Mr. Hölge combines real technical expertise with hands-on management experience.

Mr. Hölge holds a master’s degree in law from the University of Copenhagen (Denmark) with specialized studies from the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (Spain). He has taught law at the Universidad de La Sabana (Colombia) and regularly publishes articles on UNODC’s mandate areas, such as drugs, corruption, human trafficking, money-laundering, asset forfeiture, corporate social responsibility and the 2030 Agenda.

He is married to a social entrepreneur with whom he has a daughter.