Our Team in Maldives

Chiyo Kanda is the World Bank’s Country Manager for Maldives and Sri Lanka. She has held technical and managerial positions in the World Bank and other international development institutions for nearly 30 years. Prior to joining the South Asia Region, Chiyo worked as the Manager of the Results Unit of the Operations Policy and Country Services (OPCS), Operations Manager for the Philippines Country Management Unit and as deputy to the Country Director in Tanzania. She holds an MBA and a Master’s Degrees in Economics and in International Development.

Mr. Enrico Boninsegna started his assignment with UNODC in May 2020, supporting activities carried out in the field of preventing and countering terrorism and violent extremism in Sri Lanka and the Maldives. Prior to his current position, Mr. Boninsegna worked for the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe as a Monitoring Officer in Donetsk (Non-Government-Controlled Areas of Ukraine), and as a Human Rights Officer on Countering Terrorism in Warsaw (Poland). Additional professional experiences include working as an Associate Expert for UNODC’s Regional Office for Central Asia (2010-2012) in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, and as a defence Case Manager at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (2009-2010) in The Hague, Netherlands. Mr. Boninsegna holds a master’s degree in law from the University of Bologna (Italy) and a LL.M. from the University of Turin (Italy).

Enrico Gaveglia is the UNDP Resident Representative in Maldives since October 2021. He is an experienced development professional with over 16 years of experience in the United Nations Development System. Between 2016 and 2021 he served as the Deputy Resident Representative of UNDP in the Philippines, and from 2010 to 2016, he was the Deputy Country Director for UNDP in Sri Lanka and Cambodia. Enrico also served as the Head of the Trust Fund Management Unit in UN and UNDP in Sudan, from 2005 to 2010. He is a regular outposted resource of UNDP Bureau of Management, Crisis Bureau, an innovation advocate for the UNDP Asia Pacific Regional Innovation Center and has lived the last 11 years in the Asia Pacific Region. Prior to UNDP, he also spent five years with the European Union in the former regional Delegation to India, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Nepal and the Maldives. He holds a Master degree in Economics from the University of Florence, Italy.

Eric Falt is the Director and UNESCO Representative for New Delhi Cluster Office since May 2018. Before assuming his position, Eric served as the Assistant Director-General for External Relations and Public Information at UNESCO Headquarters, Paris. He also held the position of Director of the Outreach Division at UN Department of Public Information in New York, as well as Director of Communications for UNEP and UNIC for Kenya and Uganda. Before joining UN, he was posted for the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Chicago and New York.

Ms. Mikiko Tanaka is the Director and Head of ESCAP Subregional Office for South and South-West Asia Office, New Delhi effective 2 May 2022. Ms. Tanaka brings over twenty-five years of experience within the United Nations system. She most recently served as the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Guyana and worked with UNDP in Guyana, Yemen, Timor-Leste, Pakistan, Benin, China, Lao PDR and New York. Prior to the UN, she worked for Care International in Thailand and the financial sector in Japan. Ms. Tanaka holds master’s degrees in public policy and management from the University of London and in rural development management from Khon Kaen University in Thailand, and a bachelor’s degree from the International Christian University in Japan.

Dr. Nazneen Anwar has more than 35 years of professional experience in the field of public health including mental health; health policy, planning and capacity development; non-communicable diseases; nutrition; vaccine preventable diseases; disability prevention; health research and development; and health advocacy. She joined the WHO Country Office Bangladesh in 2010 as a National Consultant and since then has served the WHO Regional Office for South East Asia first as Technical Officer, and subsequently Regional Advisor on Mental Health. She has a successful track record in strengthening the mental health and substance use policy, plan, programme and legislative framework across the Member States of WHO South-East Asia Region. She is credited with facilitating the development and implementation of various innovative approaches targeted at strengthening of mental health care systems and capacity across the region by leveraging on partnership development and resource mobilization. She is a qualified Medical Doctor and holds a Master’s degree in public health.

Oscar Mundia is the UNHCR Chief of Mission for India and Maldives. Previously, he worked as the Senior Solutions Coordinator, Bureau of Africa at UNHCR Headquarters. He has served in many field operations as well as UNHCR Headquarters in various capacities for over 25 years of his career. He has also worked on secondment to the Department of Peace Keeping Operations with the UN Mission in Liberia as a Special Assistant to the Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary General. Oscar holds a Master’s degree in Management from Thunderbird – American Graduate School of International Management in the USA; and a Bachelors’ in Political Science from the University of Nairobi, Kenya.

Mr Sassarao has more than 30 years of professional experience in international and community development, focusing on social policies and child rights advocacy, working for public institutions and the private sector in Brazil and for UNICEF in various countries. He joined UNICEF in 1991 as a Junior Professional Officer in Burundi and since then has served UNICEF in various positions Ecuador, Haiti, Cape Verde, Dominican Republic, Paraguay and Nicaragua, his last post as Deputy Representative. He has a successful career in designing and implementing water supply, sanitation and environmental education programs, as well as in other fields of child and adolescents’ rights such as health and nutrition, education and child protection against violence, abuse and exploitation. He has a university degree in Sanitary Engineering from the Pontificia Universidade Catolica de Campinas, Sao Paulo, and a Masters’ degree in Sanitary Engineering from the International Institute for Hydraulics and Environmental Engineering, Delft, The Netherlands.

Sarat Dash is the Chief of Mission for IOM Srilanka and Maldives since March 2019. Previously, Sarat was working as the Chief of Mission of the Republic of Yemen, managing one of IOM’s largest humanitarian assistance programmes in the world. He also served as IOM’s Chief of Mission in Bangladesh and Nepal, and has served IOM in Azerbaijan, Islamic Republic of Iran and India in various capacities. Following the 2001 earthquake in the western Indian state of Gujarat in January 2001, he was assigned to lead IOM’s relief and rehabilitation programme for affected migrant workers and established first IOM presence in India.

Ms. Shadiya Ibrahim is the Head of Office at UNFPA in Maldives since 2020. She leads the country team in the development and management of the UNFPA country programme of cooperation which supports efforts to achieve UNFPA’s transformative results contributing to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. She has been in UNFPA in various portfolios since January 1997 with over 20 years of experience. She has a Masters in Social Change and Development, a Post Graduate Diploma in Social Science Research and Bachelors (hons) in Computing and Mathematics.

Ms Sherina Tabassum is a Country Director in the Asia and the Pacific Division in IFAD and leads the management of the Bangladesh, Maldives and Sri Lanka portfolios since March 2021. She is a policy and rural development specialist and leads the work on partnership building with the Government, development partners and civil society, and the work on knowledge management and communication in the countries. Prior to joining IFAD in 2017, Ms Tabassum served as the Governance Advisor in the United States Agency for International Development for nine years. She also worked as a project director at the Bangladesh Enterprise Institute, a private sector development think tank. In addition to Bangladesh and Maldives, Ms Tabassum has worked in Timor-Leste and Thailand. Ms Tabassum received her education in Bangladesh and Thailand in international relations, management and climate change.

Simrin Singh is the ILO Country Director for Maldives and Sri Lanka since April 2017. Ms. Singh has held various positions in different country offices and headquarters of ILO. Previously, she was the Senior Specialist on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work based in the ILO Regional Office for Asia and Pacific, Thailand. Ms. Singh holds a bachelor’s degree in Anthropology and Sociology from Connecticut College in the USA and a Master’s Degree in International Development Studies from The George Washington University, USA.

Sudhir Muralidharan has been heading the UNOPS office for Sri Lanka & Maldives since September 2017. He brings with him 15 years of international development experience with progressively higher responsibilities within UNOPS. Prior to joining UNOPS in 2005, Sudhir had a richly diversified experience of over 16 years within the Indian Private Sector. A qualified Chartered Accountant and Management Accountant by qualification, Sudhir has experience of working in various country contexts including India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, DPRK, Vietnam, Laos, and Indonesia besides Sri Lanka and The Maldives. He has in-depth experience in fiduciary oversight of IFAD and GFATM programs across the Asia Pacific Region.

Vimlendra Sharan is the FAO Representative for Sri Lanka and Maldives since June 2021. He previously served as the Director of the FAO Liaison Office for North America and brings with him three decades of national and international Government leadership experience focusing on rural development, agriculture, and food security issues. Prior to his role in Washington, he also served as Permanent Representative of India to the Rome based UN Agencies and filled positions of the Vice President of the World Food Programme (WFP) Executive Board, Chairman of the Evaluation Committee at International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Asia Group Representative on FAO Programme Committee, and a member of the FAO Council as well. Vimlendra has further worked with the Indian Government extensively in related areas. He holds a degree in Economics from St. Stephen’s College in New Delhi, India and an MBA in Public Policy from University of Birmingham, UK.