Author
Ms. Catherine Haswell
UN
Resident Coordinator
catherine.haswell@un.org
Ms. Catherine Haswell is the UN Resident Coordinator for the Republic of Maldives. She presented her credentials to HEP Ibrahim Mohamed Solih on 16 February 2020. Ms. Haswell brings 23 years of development and humanitarian experience in Asia, Africa, Europe and the Middle East. Ms. Haswell previously held programme and management roles with UNICEF in Darfur, the occupied Palestinian territory and Timor Leste. Ms. Haswell holds a master’s in international and public law from the University of Melbourne, Australia.
Catherine
Author
Akiko Fujii
UNDP
Resident Representative
akiko.fujii@undp.org
Akiko Fuiji is the UNDP country representative for Maldives since May 2019. Previously, she was the Deputy Resident Representative in UNDP Vietnam. She also served as DRR in the UNDP Multi-Country Office based in Fij, and previously held many positions in various UNDP country offices. Before joining UNDP, she worked for a community development NGO in Kyoto, Japan. Akiko holds an MA in Gender and Development Studies from Sussex University, UK. She also holds an MA in Human and Environmental Studies from Kyoto University, Japan.
Akiko
Author
Chiyo Kanda
World Bank
Country Manager for Sri Lanka & Maldives
ckanda@worldbank.org
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.
Chiyo
Author
Eric Falt
UNESCO
Representative
e.falt@unesco.org
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.
Eric
Author
Marjan Montazemi
UNICEF
Resident Representative
mmontazemi@unicef.org
Marjan has more than 30 years of professional experience in the field of international and community development, rights advocacy, social policy and leadership development working with foundations and not for profits in Canada and in the Balkans region. She joined UNICEF in 2008 as a national staff in Iran and since then has served the regional office of UNICEF in Middle East and North Africa (Amman, Jordan) as Planning Specialist, Deputy Representative in Tajikistan and recently Deputy Representative in Burundi. She has a successful track record in designing integrated innovative programmes focused on children and adolescents, partnership development and resource mobilization. She has a bachelor’s degree from Brussels, Belgium and a Masters’ degree in Political Science and International Relations from Toronto, Canada.
UNICEF
Author
Nazneen Anwar
WHO
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.
anwarna@who.int
WHO
Author
Oscar Mundia
UNHCR
Chief of Mission for India & Maldives
mundiao@unhcr.org
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.
Oscar
Author
Sarat Dash
IOM
Chief of Mission
sdas@iom.int
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.
Sarat
Author
Shadiya Ibrahim
UNFPA
Head of Office
ibrahim@unfpa.org
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.

Shadiya
Author
Sherina Tabassum
IFAD
Country Director – Maldives and Sri Lanka
s.tabassum@ifad.org
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.
Tabassum
Author
Simrin Caroline Singh
ILO
Country Director
singhs@ilo.org
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.
Simrin
Author
Sudhir Muralidharan
UNOPS
Country Manager for Sri Lanka & Maldives
sudhirm@unops.org
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.
Sudhir
Author
Troels Vester
UNODC
Head of Office a.i.
troels.vester@un.org
Mr. Vester holds a Master’s degree in Law from University of Copenhagen and has been the UNODC Head of Office ai. for Sri Lanka and Maldives since July 2020. Prior to taking up his current position, Mr. Vester was Country Manager for UNODC in Myanmar from September 2015-2020 and Country Manager for Indonesia and Timor-Leste, and liaison to ASEAN from June 2013 to August 2015. He was also Officer-in-Charge of the Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean, based in Panama. In Panama, he also worked as Regional Manager for the UNODC Container Control Programme in Latin America and the Caribbean. Prior to this, Mr. Vester worked as a Crime Prevention Expert at the Anti-Human Trafficking Unit of UNODC in Vienna and as a Technical Advisor, Legal and Law Enforcement at the UNODC Country Office in Vietnam. Before starting his career at the UN, Mr. Vester worked as a Lawyer at the Danish Ministry of Justice and as a Prosecutor for the District Attorney in Copenhagen.
Troels