Our Team in Sudan

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres appointed on 1 May 2023 Ms. Clementine Nkweta-Salami of Cameroon as his Deputy Special Representative for Sudan with the United Nations Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS), and United Nations Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator in Sudan. Ms. Nkweta-Salami brings to the position 30 years of experience in humanitarian affairs and protection, mainly in field settings. For the past three years, she has served as Director of the Regional Bureau for the East, Horn and Great Lakes Regions of Africa of the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), where she is responsible for providing strategic direction, support and oversight of eleven UNHCR country offices. Prior to this, she was UNHCR Representative to Ethiopia, Regional Representative to Southern Africa, Representative to Burundi, and Head of Inspection in the Inspector General’s Office at UNHCR Headquarters in Geneva. She has also served in field positions with UNHCR in Tanzania, Sierra Leone and Guinea. Ms. Nkweta-Salami holds a Master's degree in Corporate and Commercial Law from University College, University of London, a Bachelor of Law degree from the University of Warwick and a Bachelor of Social Science degree in Sociology and Political Science from the University of Ottawa. Ms. Nkweta-Salami is a qualified Barrister and member of the English and Cameroon Bar.

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.

Ms. Fatima Mohammed-Cole is a UN official, a lawyer by background with vast experience in humanitarian affairs, spanning 25 years with UNHCR in multiple field duty stations across Africa and Asia and its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. Ms. Mohammed-Cole is presently serving as UNHCR Representative ad interim in Sudan, responsible for the overall leadership and coordination of the operation and overseeing the delivery of protection and assistance to refugees and internally displaced persons. She arrived in Sudan in 2021 as Deputy Representative. Prior to her appointment in Sudan, she served as the UNHCR Representative in Liberia and Malawi. She has previously held a variety of roles, serving in protection and field operations in refugee and IDP contexts, in active emergency (conflict and disaster) and protracted situations, in Malawi, Liberia, Somalia, Mozambique, Sri Lanka, Sierra Leone, Uganda, and Ethiopia. In Geneva, Ms. Mohammed-Cole was Senior Protection Emergency Coordinator, where she worked on policy development and capacity building, with deployments in Sweden, Norway, Germany, Jordan, Kenya, and Tanzania. Ms. Mohammed-Cole also previously served in Geneva as Senior Investigation Officer, where she worked on investigation of misconducts and capacity building of NGOs on investigation procedures.

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.

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.

Mr. Masayuki Yokota has more than 18 years’ professional experience in urban and regional planning, urban development, housing, land and property rights (HLP), disaster risk management and emergency response including 6 years’ experience in Japan and 12 years with the UN-Habitat in challenging and/or crisis-affected field environment including Kosovo, Iraq, Libya, Occupied Palestinian Territory, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Sudan. Represented UN-Habitat HQ as a Sector Leader of Housing and Land in the Post-Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA) team in Moldova and in Cape Verde. Ph.D. of Engineering (urban and regional planning/disaster risk management), Chartered Town Planner of the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) in the U.K. and the First Class Architect in Japan.

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.

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.

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).

Dr Nima Saeed Abid is a physician in the field of epidemiology. He previously served as the representative of the World Health Organization, the polio team leader in Syria and Pakistan, and deputy senior coordinator of the polio programme in Pakistan. He also held the position of Director General of Public Health and Primary Health Care at the Iraqi Ministry of Health. Dr Nima holds a Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery from "Basra University", and a fellowship in Community Medicine (Iraqi Board).

Mr Kioy, a Kenyan national, recently came from IOM Niger, where he worked for five years on a varied range of migration and forced displacement challenges in support of the Niger government. His background with IOM includes working in Camp Coordination and Camp Management (CCCM) as well as a Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) Officer with IOM Haiti, as an Emergency Coordinator and most recently as Senior Programme and Policy Liaison Officer with IOM Niger. His experience includes humanitarian response and coordination, migrants’ assistance as well as resilience programming in line with Humanitarian-Development-Peace (HDP) Nexus. With the current complex climate in Sudan, Mr Kioy aims to support the Sudanese government in collaboration with other key stakeholders in meeting the objectives of the Global Compact on Migration (GCM) on Safe, Orderly, and Regular Migration, as well as building resilience for the affected populations from the crisis around forced displacement in Sudan.

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. Yuri Afanasiev is UNDP’s Resident Representative in Sudan, having spent his 32-year development and crisis-response career addressing critical needs around the world. Prior to his current position Mr. Afanasiev served as the UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in India, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Croatia. Earlier, he served in UNDP’s New York Headquarters as Senior Advisor at the Regional Bureau for Europe and the CIS covering 24 countries in the region including Central Asia. Mr. Afanasiev has led large-scale crisis response efforts as UNDP Coordinator for the Response to the Asian Tsunami in 2004-5, Somalia in 2012 and as the Typhoon Yolanda Response Coordinator in the Philippines in 2013 – and coordinated the UN response to the 2014 Balkan floods, and 2018 Kerala floods in India. Mr. Afanasiev has also served as Deputy Resident Representative at UNDP in Bosnia and Herzegovina after the conflict and Deputy Director at Inter Agency Procurement Services Office. Additionally, across a range of UN entities and development organisations, Mr. Afanasiev has undertaken roles in the United States, Ecuador, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Cuba, and holds an MA in International Economics and Finance from the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO).