Major General Ramón Guardado Sánchez (Mexico)
Head of Mission / Chief Military Observer (HoM / CMO) - D2
On 13 November 2024, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres announced the appointment of Major General Ramón Guardado Sánchez of Mexico as Head of Mission and Chief Military Observer for the United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP).
Major General Ramón Guardado Sánchez has had a long and distinguished career in the Mexican Army, currently serving as Commissioner of the National Guard in Yucatán. Prior to this, he served as Liaison to Congress for the National Defence Joint Staff (2022-2023), Chief of the Regional Training Centre (2021-2022) and as Chief of the G-7 Section (Counter-narcotics Operations) of the National Defence Joint Staff (2018-2019). He was also the Commanding Officer of the Mexican Peace Operations Joint Training Centre (2017-2018) and served in the United Nations Verification Mission in Colombia (2016-2017) as Regional Chief Observer.
Major General Guardado holds a bachelor’s degree in military administration from the Superior War School and a master’s degree in national security from the Naval Centre for Superior Studies, both in Mexico. He also graduated from the Armor Officer Advanced Course at the United States Army Armor Centre and the Joint and Combined Warfighting School at the Joint Forces Staff College in the United States and trained at the Argentine Joint Training Centre for Peace Operations (CAECOPAZ). He speaks English and Spanish.
Manuela De Luca (Italy)
Chief of Mission Support (CMS) - P5
Ms. Manuela De Luca joined the United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) as Chief of Mission Support (CMS) on 20 June 2026. She brings over 22 years of experience within the United Nations, complemented by extensive private sector leadership in strategic management, mission support, logistics, supply chain management, and organizational transformation.
Throughout her UN career, Ms. De Luca has served in leadership positions in several peacekeeping and special political missions, as Chief Supply Chain and Service Delivery in the United Nations Verification Mission in Colombia (UNVMC) and the United Nations Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), as Chief Movement Control in the United Nations Support Office and Support Mission in Somalia (UNSOA/UNSOS) and the United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC), further to joining Department of Peacekeeping at UN Headquarters in New York. She has led multidisciplinary teams, managed complex operations and multi-million-dollar budgets and successfully delivered operational improvements, change-management and innovative solutions in challenging environments.
Prior to joining the United Nations, Ms. De Luca served as Managing Director of two multinational logistics companies. She is recognized for promoting operational excellence, innovation, quality management and collaborative leadership.
Ms. De Luca holds a postgraduate qualification in Business Administration from Heriot-Watt University (United Kingdom) and an advance University degree in Foreign Languages and Literature with a specialization in Economics from the University of Bergamo, Italy.
A national of Italy, Ms. De Luca is fluent in Italian, English, French and Spanish.
As first female CMS in UNMOGIP she is committed to fostering an inclusive, respectful and collaborative workplace, and to supporting UNMOGIP in the effective implementation of its mandate through sound management, innovation and service excellence.