Our Team in Sudan

Ms. Adjaratou Fatou Ndiaye, a Senegalese national, has held the position of UN Women Country Representative in Sudan since July 2018. Prior to moving to Sudan, she was the Deputy Representative of the UN Women Country Office in Nigeria. She has long time experience working on Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment and considers herself as a member of the Women’s Movement in Africa. She also worked as Program Manager with UN Women in Uganda, and before joining UN Women in Senegal as Programme Officer, she was working with national and international NGOs such as, Oxfam GB, CONGAD and Aid Transparency. Her academic background is in law, she holds a diploma from Facultés de Droit, Universités de Montpellier et Lyon, France.

Mr. Atila Uras has been UN Environment’s Sudan Country Programme Manager since July 2017. He started working for the UN in Turkey in 2006, then he worked as a Governance Officer in UNEP/MAP Secretariat in Athens, and as Assistant Resident Representative (Programme) of UNDP Turkey. Prior joining the UN, he worked with NGOs such as WWF. He holds a Master’s Degree in Coastal Engineering and Coastal Zone management with more than 20 years of experience in environmental governance, sustainable development, and climate change adaptation.

Prior to her current position as the UNV Country Coordinator, Ms. Baha Sharief worked with UN Women on the women economic empowerment portfolio in Sudan and served many different international organizations besides UN Agencies such as UNDP as a Project Manager and Capacity Development Officer; DFID, FCO, and the British Embassy in Khartoum as a Program Officer; Care International USA as a Program and Information Officer; and Near East Foundation as a Program Coordinator.

Ms. Cristina Albertin is the UNODC Regional Representative for the Middle East and North Africa. With a UN career spanning 28 years, Ms. Albertin joined UNODC in 1994, serving in different capacities in Peru and in Headquarters in Vienna before becoming a UNODC Representative in Bolivia, South Asia, and Nigeria. Before joining UNODC, she worked with the World Food Programme in Bolivia.

Mr. Eddie Rowe joined WFP in 1992 as an Emergency Officer in Somalia. Since then, Eddie has worked extensively in managing and coordinating complex Emergency and Natural Disaster operations in the Great Lakes, Southern Africa, Sudan, the Balkans, Kosovo South East Asia, and South Sudan in various capacities. Before appointed to serve as the Country Representative in Sudan in March 2021, Eddie served as the Director of Corporate Planning and Performance division at WFP Headquarters. Prior to this, he served as the Country Representative in Zimbabwe from 2015 to 2020. Eddie holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Sociology and Geography from the Fourah Bay College, University of Sierra Leone and a Masters of Specialization in Environmental Economics from the International School of Tourism Science in Rome, Italy. He is married with a son.

Mr. Farid Hamdan is the Deputy Representative at the OHCHR Sudan Country Office. With a BA in Political Science and an MA in Human Rights, he has dedicated his career to advocating for human rights. Beginning at Amnesty International, he has worked in various capacities, including roles at Care International and Chemonics International. Mr. Hamdan has served as a Human Rights Officer in Sudan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Geneva, focusing on capacity building and project coordination. In his current role, he leads the High Commissioner's efforts to serve his mandate to promote and protect human rights in Sudan.

Mr. George Papagiannis comes to Sudan with nearly 40 years of experience in international development, strategic communications, and journalism. He has been with UNESCO for the past 15 years where he has served in Iraq, the United States, and most recently at HQ as chief of all media operations since 2015. Prior to joining UNESCO in 2007, George was Vice President for Policy and Government Affairs at Internews, the international media development NGO. His career included work in post-conflict and transitional political environments including Iraq, Afghanistan, Afghan-Pakistan border, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Armenia, Cambodia, East Timor, Indonesia, among others. George also served as the Communications Director for U.S. Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi during the 105th Congress.

Mr. Hongjie Yang has been appointed as FAO Representative in the Sudan on 15 June 2023. Mr. Yang, a national of the People’s Republic of China, holds a Master of Science in Agricultural Economics (International Agricultural Trade) from Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences of Uppsala in Sweden, and a Bachelor of Science in Economics from Renmin University of China. Prior to joining FAO, Mr. Yang has been serving as Director of Statistics and Information of the National Animal Husbandry Service at the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs in Beijing, China, since June 2020. Mr. Yang started his career in 1990 as Economist/Project Official in the Dairy Project Office at the Ministry of Agriculture in Beijing, China. From 2001 to 2010, within the same Ministry, he held positions of increasing responsibility, in particular Deputy Director/Alternative National Coordinator of the National Husbandry and Veterinary Service, Director/International Coordinator of the National Animal Husbandry Service/China Feed Industry Association, and Director/National Coordinator of the National Animal Husbandry Service.

Mr. Justin Brady has over 20 years of experience with the United Nations. Since 2022 he has served as Head of Office for OCHA Somalia, a position he held previously between May 2012 and June 2020. In the interim he also served as the Head of Office for OCHA Libya and for five months in 2022 as Head of Office a.i. for OCHA Sudan. Prior to his service with OCHA, Justin worked for nine years in New York with the Department for Peacekeeping Operation (DPKO) in the Mine Action Service (UNMAS), including as the Director a.i. in 2011/2012. He was awarded a UN Secretary-General’s award in 2008 for his part in the 2006 emergency clearance of mines and explosive remnants of war (ERW) from south Lebanon. During his 17 years career in mine action, he has also worked for UNMAS, UNOPS and UNDP in Eritrea and Yemen. Prior to joining the UN, Mr. Brady served with various mine action NGOs in Angola, Western Sahara, Guinea-Bissau and the United States including Norwegian People’s Aid, Medico International and The Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation, which was a co-recipient of the 1997 Noble Peace Prize for its coordination of the global campaign to ban anti-personnel landmines (The Ottawa Convention). Mr. Brady has a Master’s Degree in International Development from Clark University in Worcester, MA and a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science and Latin American Studies from the University of Rhode Island. He is proficient in English, Spanish, Portuguese, Creole of Guinea-Bissau and Dutch. Mr. Brady is married to a Dutch national and has three children.

Ms. Kristine Hambrouck assumed her functions as UNHCR’s Representative in Sudan as of March 2024. Prior to this, she was the Regional Deputy Director and Head of Strategic Planning and Management for the UNHCR Regional Bureau for the East, Horn of Africa and Great Lakes from 2019 to 2024, where she led and coordinated strategic planning within the region and was responsible for resource management and operational coordination, including monitoring emergency preparedness levels. Ms. Hambrouck previously served as the Assistant Representative (Programme) in the Federal Republic of Ethiopia for two years. She was a Senior Desk Officer based at UNHCR’s Headquarters in Geneva, covering the Central African Republic and Cameroon Operations from 2015 to 2017 and a Senior Programme Analyst in the Division of Programme Support from 2012 to 2015. She has vast experience in programme planning and operations coordination, having worked in senior positions in Zambia, Pakistan, Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sierra Leone, and Mali. Ms. Hambrouck began her professional career with UNHCR as a Junior Professional Officer in 1998 in Mali. Ms. Hambrouck holds a Masters Degree in Development Studies, International Relations and European Politics from the University of Liege in Belgium and a Bachelor of Arts in Political and Social Science from the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium. She is fluent in English, French, Dutch, and German.

Mr. Luca Renda is the UNDP Resident Representative in Sudan as of 25 April 2024. He comes from New York, where since 2020 he has served as Head of the Recovery Solutions and Human Mobility Team, at the UNDP Crisis Bureau. Luca has over 25 years of experience working in a variety of development settings, in roles of increasing responsibilities since his first assignment with the United Nations as UN Volunteer in Liberia back in 1997. In UNDP, Luca has served as Program Manager in the Emergency Response Division (1999-2000) and Regional Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean (2000-2004). He has been Deputy Resident Representative in Ecuador (2004-2007) and Honduras (2007-2012), and Country Director in Lebanon (2012-2017), where worked on the UN response to the Syrian crisis. Between 2017 and 2020, he has undertaken special assignments such as Head of the UN Crisis Management Unit in Dominica, coordinating UN and UNDP post-disaster recovery efforts; Resident Representative in Guyana; and Special Advisor for the UN transition in Haiti. Luca graduated in Political Science/International Relations at LUISS in 1994. He also holds a Master of Science in Development Studies from the London School of Economics. He is married with two children.

Ms. Mandeep O’Brien has 24 years of work experience in the United Nations in three agencies across the field and headquarters. She has served in leadership positions in three regions and headquarters. Mandeep is currently in her third year as UNICEF Representative in Sudan delivering results for children at scale in one of the world’s most complex emergencies and war contexts. Leading a diverse workforce of over 400 staff, Mandeep is passionate about achieving results with care and humanity. She continues to serve as RC/HC and DO ad interim on several occasions. Mandeep has previously served as UNICEF Representative for the Islamic Republic of Iran amidst extreme sanctions and security challenges. In her role with UNICEF Headquarters as Deputy Director for Multilateral Affairs, UN Reform & International Financial Institutions, she led negotiations with the World Bank on advocacy & resource mobilization for emergency and resilience programs, including in Yemen. During her time in UNFPA, Mandeep worked with the Harvard University on political analyses for social policy implementation covering 13 countries across Asia, Africa & Central America, corporate strategic planning and served as Deputy Representative & Acting Representative in Viet Nam. With a masters in international affairs from the Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy, qualified as a university lecturer and recipient of the President of India’s award for academic excellence, Mandeep worked as UN national staff in India on grassroots community development programs. She is motivated to continue serving in leadership positions in the UN wholeheartedly committed to making the lives of children and women better.

Ms. Milena Stefanova, a Bulgarian national, is the Country Manager for Sudan. She joined the World Bank in 2005 in the Legal Vice Presidency. She has since held a number of positions, including Governance Specialist with the Justice Reform Group in Washington, D.C. and Vanuatu, East Asia and Pacific Region, and Senior Operations Officer with the Fragility, Conflict and Violence Group in Washington, D.C. Her most recent assignment was as Conflict Prevention and Resilience Adviser for Ethiopia, Eritrea, Sudan and South Sudan, based in Addis Ababa. Stefanova holds a LLM degree in Public International Law from the of University of Helsinki, a post-graduate degree in English and European Law from University of Cambridge, and a Master of Laws from the University of Plovdiv, Bulgaria.

Mr. Mohamed Elsayed Abdelmomen currently serves as UNIDO’s Country Representative for Sudan and brings in more than 20 years of professional experience in international development and humanitarian assistance. Prior to joining UNIDO, Mohamed worked for ACORD (UK based Charity) Ockenden International (UK based Charity), UNMIS and UNDP. He holds a Ph.D. in Business Administration (Entrepreneurship Development) from Sudan University of Science & Technology, MBA from University of Juba, Sudan and B.Sc. (General) in Management Studies from the University of Khartoum, Sudan.

Mr. Mohamed Salem O Moujtaba is the UNFPA representative in Sudan. Mohamed Lemine has extensive experience in the field of statistics and held the position of Head of Social Statistics at the National Bureau of Statistics in Nouakchott, Mauritania. Prior to his current position, he served as the UNFPA Representative in Congo-Brazzaville. From 2014 to 2018, he served as UNFPA Deputy Representative in Sudan. Mohamed Lemine joined UNFPA in 2003 as Regional Advisor to the Office of Population and Development. He holds M. Phil degree in Demography and a Special Diploma in Population and Development from Cairo Demographic Center, B.A. in Human Sciences, Tetouan, Morocco, and a certificate of Oversight and Monitoring and Evaluation, East Anglia University, Norwich, UK. He is fluent in French, English and Arabic. He is married and has three children.

Dr. Mohamed Refaat, an Egyptian national and a father of three children (two boys and one girl), is the newly appointed at interim Chief of Mission for the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Sudan. He is an experienced professional, recognized for his skill in orchestrating complex humanitarian operations and his strategic contributions to access negotiations, as well as crossline and cross-border operations. His career is marked by a strong commitment to early recovery and resilience programming within challenging humanitarian and post-conflict environments. Dr. Refaat's journey spans over 19 years in the field of Management and Health System Strengthening as a Medical specialist and Researcher, beginning in 2003. He has extensive expertise in navigating the complexity of emergency programming and operations. His roles have included leading migration and displacement emergency response operations through crises in Yemen, Syria, Libya, Tunisia, Belarus, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and the Central African Republic, as well as major health emergencies such as the Ebola outbreak in 2014 and the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2018 he reached the position of IOM Global Senior Operations Coordinator at IOM HQ in the Department of Operations and Emergency, under the Director of Emergency.

Mr. Mohammed Zaher is the IMF Resident Representative for Sudan. He joined the IMF’s Executive Board in 2010 as Senior Advisor to the Executive Director. In 2014, he became the lead desk on Yemen, and later on Bahrain. Between 2006 and 2010, he was Senior Manager at the National Bank of Kuwait. Prior to that, he worked for 15 years at the Central Bank of Jordan. He received a Ph.D. in Economics from Kansas State University in 2004.

For the last three decades, Mr. Gaafar has been actively working as an organizational leader and strategic change manager at the international level with diverse and multi-cultural working environments in both development and humanitarian sector, most of it in complex and fragile situations. He has worked in different countries with different organizations including ILO, UNDP, IRW, HelpAge International, NRC, Plan International and UNOPS. He is a holder of an MSc. in Managing Rural change from University of London, Peace and conflict reconciliation certificate from University of Coventry, certificate in humanitarian Response to Conflict and Disaster from Harvard Humanitarian Initiatives, Harvard University, as well as many other professional courses and certificates in Disaster Management from University of Wisconsin, (US), PMD Pro certificate and Partnering skills for strategic engagement (United Nations System Staff Colleague).

Ms. Omar is an agricultural economist and has been working in the field of agricultural and rural development since 1992. Prior to joining IFAD, she worked in the Kuwait Institute of Scientific Research as Research Assistant and in the Center for Development Services in Egypt as training and technical assistance manager. She joined IFAD in October 2001. She has served as IFAD Country Director in several countries, based in Sudan (from 2009 to 2011), Democratic Republic of Congo (2012-2015), and India (2016 to 2020). She also served as Head of the South Asia Hub of IFAD from 2018 – 2020 with the Hub covering Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. Ms Omar holds a Diplôme d’Ingénieur Agronome from the Institut National Paris-Grignon, France and a MSc in Rural Environment and Planning from Wye College, London University. Ms Omar is Egyptian.

Mr. Mohammad Sediq Rashid is a humanitarian mine action practitioner since 1989. Since then he has continuously offered mine action services by working in various roles through the UN in Afghanistan, Somalia, and Sudan. He has joined the UNCT in Sudan as an UNMAS Programme Manager in July 2019. Sediq has come to Sudan with an over 30 years of relevant experience. He is specialized in managing mine action programmes, strategic planning and capacity development of national mine action institutions. Sediq holds a master’s degree from Cranfield university in resilience.

Dr. Shible Sahbani is from Morocco and is a medical doctor with 25 years of experience in clinical practice, public health, development and humanitarian aid. Prior to joining WHO in his current role, he worked for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), most recently as Representative to the Central African Republic. He has also been acting Representative to Libya; Regional Reproductive Health Adviser for Arab States, based in Cairo, Egypt; Humanitarian Coordinator in Jordan; Humanitarian Team Lead in Tunisia; and Maternal Health Officer in Morocco. Before joining the United Nations system, Dr. Sahbani worked with private, public and nongovernmental organizations in the health sector. He also worked in humanitarian assistance in various countries. Dr. Sahbani earned his Doctor of Medicine degree from Hassan II University in Casablanca, Morocco. He also holds a Master’s degree and other qualifications in various relevant areas of expertise from universities in Belgium, Canada, Costa Rica, Egypt, Morocco and Switzerland.

Mr. Wael Al Ashhab, Head of UN-HABITAT Sudan Programme, is a Canadian/Jordanian national with a first degree in Civil Engineering and more than 35 years of experience on policy development and programme management. He joined UN-HABITAT Iraq Programme in March 2007 as the Head of Basic Services and Infrastructure Pillar. In May 2011, he was assigned to manage Sudan Country Programme, until 30 June 2018 when he was reassigned to manage Yemen Programme. He worked for UNICEF between 1999 and 2007 in Iraq country Office responsible for planning and implementation of basic services and infrastructure projects (Water and Sanitation, schools, clinics, and community-based facilities). Before joining the United Nations, Mr. Wael Al Ashhab worked for national and international private sector institutions in different capacities, including project/programme management pertaining to urban and regional planning and design and implementation of a wide range of infrastructure projects with distinguished international consulting engineering companies in in the Arab region and Africa.