Author
Sabine Machl
RCO
Resident Coordinator
sabine.machl@un.org
Dr. Sabine Machl has been appointed UN Resident Coordinator in Georgia on 1 June 2019. Prior to this post, Sabine has worked in international organizations for more than 22 years among those over 7 years for the UN. Her latest assignment was UN Women Representative in Indonesia and Liaison to ASEAN and before that she headed UN Women in Palestine and Kyrgyzstan. From 2007-2011 Sabine was the Head of Section/Senior Adviser to the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities in The Hague covering the countries of the former Soviet Union. From 2005-2007 she was posted in Kyrgyzstan as Deputy Head of the OSCE Centre in Bishkek. She also worked for four years as the Head of the Central Asia desk in the OSCE Conflict Prevention Centre in Vienna. Throughout 2001 Sabine was assigned Deputy Head of the OSCE Mission to Estonia and during Austria’s OSCE Chairmanship in 2000, she was First Secretary in the Austrian Permanent Mission. She worked as Desk Officer for Southeastern Europe in the Political Section of the Austrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, at the European Parliament, in three different courts in Vienna and as a teacher in Croydon/London. Sabine holds two Master degrees (in Law and Languages) and a PhD in Law from the University of Vienna.
Dr. Sabine Machl
Author
Erika Kvapilova
UN Women
Country Representative
erika.kvapilova@unwomen.org
Ms. Erika Kvapilova assumed her responsibilities in Georgia in July 2013. Before joining UN Women in Georgia, she served as UN Women Regional Programme Director for South-Eastern Europe, the Programme Specialist, supporting UN Women/ UNIFEM programming in the Western Balkans and Turkey. Before joining UN, she spent over 15 years in social policy and welfare research, participated in international comparative research teams, and as a visiting scholar spent almost four years at Stockholm University, the Institute for Social Research (SOFI) and worked as a Director of Research Institute for Labour and Social Affairs and the International Center for Family Studies affiliated to the Ministry of Labour, Social Studies and Family in Slovakia.
Erika Kvapilova
Author
Ghassan Khalil
UNICEF
Representative
gkhalil@unicef.org
Dr. Khalil is currently the UNICEF Representative to Georgia and also serves as MBA thesis supervisor with the UN Staff College and the University of Stellenbosch in South Africa. Before joining UNICEF Georgia, he served as the Senior Advisor to UNICEF Regional Office for Middle East and North Africa and the UNICEF Special Representative in Libya. He was also the managing director and principal consultant of the International Centre for Research and Training (ICRT) based in Dubai and the Chairperson of the Beirut Centre for Human Rights. He held important positions in Lebanon, in the League of Arab States, Iraq, Bangladesh and the Arab Gulf Area.
Dr. Ghassan Khalil
Author
Giorgi Todua
UNIDO
National Consultant
G.TODUA@unido.org
Mr. Todua occupies his current position since September 2015 and is responsible for UNPSD, Country Programming Framework and Industrial Energy Efficiency project development and coordination. Prior to his appointment he worked as an intern at the UNIDO HQ in Vienna. Before joining UNIDO, he held a position of field assistant at the UNHCR and during undergraduate study did internships at the US Embassy and the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia
Giorgi Todua
Author
Kemlin Furley
UNHCR
Representative
furley@unhcr.org
Ms Furley has worked with UNHCR for nearly 25 years in various functions including programme, policy, communications, emergency response and humanitarian inter-agency coordination. She headed the partnership section in HQs supporting UNHCR’s global partnerships with NGOs and UN agencies, and was later head of policy and field support for Eastern Europe and South East Europe. Most recently she was Deputy Representative and then Head of External Relations in Uganda, UNHCR’s biggest Africa operation. She has also worked as UNICEF Deputy Representative in Russia. She has degrees from Cambridge and Princeton universities.
Kemlin Furley
Author
Kinan Bahnassi
ILO
Chief Technical Adviser
albahnasi@ilo.org
Before joining ILO Georgia as the Chief Technical Adviser, Inclusive Labour Market Development for Job Creation, Mr. Bahnassi worked as Regional Specialist on Labour Market Information for Migration Policy - IOM Thailand; Chief Technical Adviser, Innovations in Labour Market Governance - ILO UAE; Consultant on Labour Migration Policy, ILO Bangladesh; Specialist, Jobs, Livelihoods and Inclusive Growth UNDP Bureau of Arab States, New York, US and Jordan. Prior to this he held various positions in UNDP Bangladesh, Yemen, Syria and Assistant Professor in multiple universities (USA, UK, Canada, and UAE).
Mr. Kinan Bahnassi
Author
Lela Bakradze
UNFPA
Assistant Representative
bakradze@unfpa.org
In 2014 Mrs. Bakradze was appointed Assistant Representative and since 2019 serves as the Head of Office a.i at the UNFPA Country Office in Georgia. Prior to this position, she coordinated the UNIFEM regional programme “Women for Conflict Peacebuilding in the Southern Caucasus” and UNFPA Programme Analyst. Before joining UN, she worked in the development field for Georgia Red Cross Society and as a Medical Doctor in leading medical clinics in St. Petersburg, the Russian Federation, and Tbilisi, Georgia.
Lela Bakradze
Author
Louisa Vinton
UNDP
Resident Representative
Louisa.vinton@undp.org
Louisa Vinton is the UNDP Resident Representative in Georgia. Previously she served as the UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Croatia. Her first post with UNDP was as Division Chief in the Regional Bureau for Europe and Central Asia in New York. She also led UN coordination on issues related to the legacy of the Chernobyl nuclear accident of 1986.Before joining UNDP, Louisa worked for the Economist Intelligence Unit for nine years. She worked as a Senior Research Analyst for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Inc., in Munich.
Louisa Vinton
Author
Mamuka Meskhi
FAO
Assistant Representative in Georgia
Mamuka.Meskhi@fao.org
After three-year assignment as a FAO Liaison Officer for Georgia, Mr Meskhi was appointed in his current position of the Assistant FAO Representative in 2004 when the Representation Office of the Organization was inaugurated in Georgia. Before joining FAO, Mr. Meskhi briefly served as the Head of International Relations Department in the Ministry of Agriculture of Georgia in 2000. From 1991 to 2000 he worked for the private sector in the areas of agriculture and energy, including the positions of an Import & Marketing Manager of HANWHA Petroleum (Seoul, Korea), Coordinator of a Gulf-Georgia Project Fertilizers for Dry Areas in Sharjah, the U.A.E., the Trade Consultant in Benghazi, Libya and the Marketing Consultant of Jason Co in Moscow, Russian Federation and Wolvega, the Netherlands. In 1986-91 he was a lecturer of the Contemporary Arabic at the Department of Semitic Languages in the Tbilisi State University. Mr. Meskhi holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration, MSc in International Relations and BSc in Linguistics.

Mamuka Meskhi
Author
Mikkel Broholt
UNOPS
Representative
mikkelb@unops.org
Danish political scientist with some 20 years of work experience with the UN in the areas of political affairs, peacekeeping, and international development, including from the Permanent Mission of Denmark (New York), the UN Secretariat, various Peacekeeping Operations, and a UN agency (UNOPS).
As of October 2018, he was appointed UNOPS Representative to Georgia.
Mikkel holds a BA and MA in Political Science from University of Copenhagen and an MA in International Relations from University of California, Berkeley. He is an OCHA certified Civil-Military Coordination Officer, and holds different project management, leadership, and mediation certifications.
Mikkel Broholt
Author
Naida Chamilova
UNODC
Head of Programme Office
naida.chamilova@unodc.org
Ms. Chamilova joined UNODC Georgia in 2016 with 23 years of comprehensive analytical, planning, admin and int’l program management experience, including 10 years working overseas. She has significant experience in representing and consulting on behalf of Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada (DFATD). She holds a PhD in cross-cultural problems, Education Research Institute, Moscow, Russia; B.Ed. Queen’s University, Kingston, Canada; B.A. in History/Social Studies, Dagestan State University, Russia.

Naida Chamilova
Author
Nino Zhvania
OCHA
National Disaster Response Adviser for Caucasus
nino.zhvania@un.org
At various times, Ms Zhvania served as the IRC Georgia Country Director, HIAS Country Representative, Eurasia Foundation Program Manager, and UN OCHA Information Officer/Field Advisor. In her capacity as a Coordinator of the New Approach to IDP Assistance Program Support Unit, she was a co-author of the Study on IDP Rights published by UNDP Georgia in 2003. Ms Zhvania was a Director of the USAID-funded Centers for Civic Engagement Program. One of her recent jobs was as a Senior Coordinator for the Ukrainian NGO Forum. Ms Zhvania holds MA in International Relations. She is the US Project Management Institute and Cornell University certificated project management professional.
Nino Zhvania
Author
Sanja Celebic Lukovac
IOM
Chief of Mission
scelebic@iom.int
Mrs. Sanja Celebic Lukovac, has been appointed the Chief of Mission of the IOM Mission to Georgia in July 2018. She has been with the IOM since 1998 and has acquired extensive experience in migration issues and IOM’s programmes. She also served in IOM Mission in Iraq as Head, Programme Development and Support Unit/Senior Programme Development and Donors Liason Officer. Prior to that, she worked in the Regional Liaison and Co-ordination Office to the European Union as Liaison and Project Development Officer covering Northern Africa and Middle East, Western Balkans, and Turkey.
Sanja Celebic Lukovac
Author
Sebastian Molineus
World Bank
Regional Director
smolineus@worldbank.org
Mr. Molineus is the World Bank Regional Director for the South Caucasus, effective July 1, 2019. He joined the International Finance Corporation in 2002 where he managed corporate governance reform programs in Russia and across the Middle East & North Africa region. In 2008 he joined the World Bank in Washington as a Senior Operations Officer responsible for financial and private sector development and then became a Practice Manager for the Capital Markets Global Practice. He also served as Director to the Finance & Markets Global Practice and later as the Director for the Finance, Competitiveness, and Innovation Global Practice. Prior to joining the World Bank Group, he worked at the OECD.
World Bank
Author
Selim Cakir
IMF
Regional Representative
SCakir@imf.org
Selim Cakir has rejoined the IMF as Sr. Economist in August 2016 and has been working as the IMF’s Resident Representative in Georgia since June 2019. Prior to rejoining the IMF, he worked as Chief Economist for Turkey and Gulf countries at Bnp Paribas between 2008 and 2016. Prior to his career at Bnp Paribas, he held various positions at the International Monetary Fund during a tenure of 10 years where he worked on Middle East and transition economies in Central Asia. Mr. Çakır represented the government of Turkey in the Executive Board of the IMF between 1999 and 2003, and had an active role in the design of the government of Turkey’s economic program.
Selim Cakir
Author
Silviu Domente
WHO
Representative
domentes@who.int
Dr Domente is WHO Representative and Head of the Country Office in Georgia since April 2019. In 2013, he became part of the WHO team on the ground in Athens, Greece, acting initially as Health System Analyst and since 2016 as Senior Adviser, Health Policy and team leader. In 2004 Dr Domente has joined the UN family, working first for UNICEF Moldova as HIV Officer. Since 2008 Dr Domente is with WHO. He worked initially as Technical Officer, Disaster Preparedness and Response and then as Health System Officer in the WHO Country Office in the Republic of Moldova.
Silviu Domente
Author
Talgat Toleubayev
UNICRI
Regional Coordinator – CBRN Risk Mitigation and Security Governance Programme
talgat.toleubayev@un.org
Mr Talgat Toleubayev of France has been appointed Regional Coordinator in the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute’s CBRN Risk Mitigation and Security Governance Programme on 1 November 2019. He coordinates activities for 10 countries of South East and East Europe region within the framework of the European Union’s CBRN Risk Mitigation Centres of Excellence Initiative.
Prior to assuming this position, he has worked at the headquarters of the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) for more than 16 years. He graduated from the Boston University majoring in Strategy and Security Studies.

Talgat Toleubayev
Author
Vladimir Shkolnikov
OHCHR
Senior Advisor
vshkolnikov@ohchr.org
Dr. Shkolnikov holds this position since July 2011. Prior to this assignment he held a number of positions in the intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations focusing on human rights and good governance in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. He also served as a Senior Fellow at the Jefferson Institute with offices in Belgrade, Serbia and Washington. He also served as the Director, Europe Office of Freedom House in Hungary, the OSCE/ODIHR Adviser on Migration and Freedom of Movement and later as the Head of Democratization Department of OSCE/ODIHR in Poland, and the Resident Research Consultant at the RAND Corporation in the USA.
Vladimir Shkolnikov