Who's Who

The Asia-Pacific Regional Centre, together with the Pacific Centre in Suva, supports 24 Country Offices and their national partners in Asia-Pacific by sharing knowledge, building capacity and forging partnerships.

This compilation of staff profiles is provided to offer our Country Offices, Government counterparts, partners, and UN agencies access to the diverse range of services, expertise and experience offered by the Asia-Pacific Regional Centre. Included are current profiles for staff in Policy and Programme, and Operations Support. Please feel free to contact us if you need any additional assistance finding a person who can serve you best.

Jump to Teams

Management | Capacity Development | Communications | Crisis Prevention and Recovery | Democratic Governance | Environment & Energy | Gender | HIV, Health & Development | Human Development Report Unit | Inclusive Growth & Poverty Reduction | Knowledge Management | Management Support Unit | Operations Support | Public-Private Partnerships | RACP | Safety and Security |

Management

Mr. Clifton Cortez

Asia-Pacific Regional Centre Manager a.i.

Areas of Work: Overall management of Regional Centre

Clif heads the Regional Centre and manages all its activities, ensuring APRC services to Country Offices in the Asia-Pacific region in the area of advisory services, regional programme implementation, provision of management services, and support to regional partnerships development and coordination.

Clif is also the Regional Practice Leader of HIV, Health and Development team at APRC, leading the Centre's work on HIV and other Health issues.

Prior to joining UNDP, since 2005 he was the USAID Regional Team Leader for HIV, based in the USAID Regional Development Mission Asia, in Bangkok. During all of that time, his training in law and human rights has been the foundation for his perspective and approaches to his work in supporting responses to HIV.

 

Mr. Akbar Usmani

Senior Adviser to the Regional Centre Manager

Areas of Work: Coordination and Improvement of Development Results

Akbar provides support to the Regional Manager in coordinating and improving the development results emanating from the Regional Centre. He provides inputs as requested in support of the functions of the Regional Manager, including providing high-level advisory support on RDT and UNDG issues, and in supporting the delivery of a coherent and coordinated approach to service and programme delivery.

Akbar joined UNDP in 1984. Since then he has held a variety of positions, the most recent being the Senior Deputy Resident Representative in Myanmar (2011-2012). Prior to this position, he was OIC and Joint Presence Manager, Solomon Islands (2010), Resident Representative a.i (2010) Mongolia, Country Director Timor-Leste (2006-2010), Programme Adviser (Pakistan) (2005), Deputy Programme Director UNDP-ENRP, Iraq (2002-2004), Senior DRR Tajikistan (1999-2002), Deputy Resident Representative/Operations, Mozambique (1995-1999), Deputy Resident Representative/Administration, Zambia (1992-95), Management Auditor, New York (1984-92).

 

Ms. Duanglutai Khomson

Executive Secretary

Areas of Work: Secretarial and Administrative Support

Duanglutai is the Executive Secretary to the Asia-Pacific Regional Centre Manager and provides administrative support and technical backstopping to his work. She also organizes agendas for visitors and maintains a filing system for the Centre.

Prior to her present assignment, she was the Administrative Assistant of the UNDP Sub Regional Facility (SURF) in Bangkok where she also served as Senior Secretary to the Chief. She has over 30 years of experience in secretarial support and administration with many UN agencies including UNDTCP, ITU, ESCAP and UNDP.

Policy and Programme

Policy and Programme staff at the UNDP Asia-Pacific Regional Centre support 24 Country Offices and national, regional and global partners through the delivery of client-driven services in analysis and advocacy, policy advice, programming and technical backstopping, capacity development, knowledge and communications.

The Centre’s areas of work include: Democratic Governance, Poverty Reduction, Crisis Prevention and Recovery, Energy and Environment including Global Environment Facility (GEF). Specialists also provide support in crosscutting areas such as Capacity Development, Communications, Gender, HIV/AIDS, Knowledge Management, Information and Communications Technology for Development, Management, Public-Private Partnerships and South-South Cooperation.

Communications

Ms. Cherie Hart

Regional Communications Adviser

Areas of Work: Media Relations, Strategic Communications

Cherie leads the Centre’s communications and media development services. She supports the formulation of communications strategies for Country Offices and advises on launches of major global, regional and national publications, events and programmes. Cherie also provides targeted communications capacity building support for UNDP staff and partners at the Regional and Country Office level.

Cherie brings extensive experience in media and communications, both within the UN and at commercial news organizations. Prior to joining the Centre, Cherie served as Chief of the UNDP Media Section in New York. She previously served as a press officer, writer and editor in the UNDP Communications Office in New York. Her earlier years in the UN system included a stint as an editor at UNFPA. Before joining the UN, Cherie was a print reporter for feature magazines, as well as an on-air reporter and television producer.

 

Democratic Governance

Mr. Thomas Beloe

Officer-in-Charge

Tom provides overall leadership and management of the Democratic and Governance team. He is an Aid Effectiveness specialist at the Centre, providing policy and technical advice on aid effectiveness policies and practices.

Tom has worked on various aspects of social policy in developing countries including the social aspects of private sector development, health, education and rural livelihoods. Before joining the Centre, he had focused on aid effectiveness and the implementation of the Paris Declaration whilst working at the Department of International Development DFiD in the UK as well as in Africa and Southeast Asia.

 

Mr. Simon Alexis Finley

Programme Specialist - Global Programme for Electoral Cycle Support

Areas of Work: Electoral Cycle Support

Simon manages the GPECS Asia-Pacific Regional Programme and provides support to country offices in the region who are interested in receiving UN electoral assistance or are already implementing projects.

Simon has worked extensively on elections and conflict with UNDP, the World Bank, Australian Electoral Commission and the Australian National University. At the Australian National University his doctoral research had significance for understanding political engineering and managing elections in conflict-prone societies. He has also lectured in Law, Criminology and Psychology and published widely on identity-based conflict. Since October 2008 he has been based with the Democratic Governance Practice in UNDP Asia-Pacific Regional Centre as an elections specialist, implementing regional activities that seek to reduce electoral violence and increase women’s political participation in the Asia-Pacific.

 

Justice and Human Rights

Ms. Antje Kraft

Justice and Human Rights Specialist

Areas of Work: Justice and Human Rights

Antje supports integrated development solutions and innovations, and fosters South-South exchange and mutual support across countries in the region. She also provides policy advice and programme support to UNDP Country Offices, UN Country Teams and other national partners in Asia to strengthen their work on human rights and access to justice and the rule of law at the national level.

She was the Gender and Governance Specialist for UN Women and the UN Resident Coordinator Office in Guinea-Bissau for the last three years. Previously, she was the Gender and HIV Project Manager at UNDP Morocco. Antje has a Master’s degree in International Relations from the Institute of Political Studies in Grenoble, France, and a Bachelor in Politics and Psychology from London Metropolitan University.

 

Ms. Issarapan Chaiyato

Programme Assistant

Areas of Work: Administrative Support, Events and Travel Arrangement

Issarapan provides administrative and financial support services to the Democratic Governance Team. She monitors programme activities, backstops for missions, provides logistical support for events, and performs research activities.

Issarapan has a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Chulalongkorn University and a Master of Science in International Policy Analysis from University of Bath, UK. Prior to joining UNDP, she worked as WAE Commercial Clerk at US Commercial Service at US Embassy Bangkok for almost 2 years and worked as Administrative Assistant at JPAC Detachment One at US Embassy for almost 3 years.

 

Decentralization and Local Governance

Ms. Thusitha Pilapitiya

Policy Adviser - Decentralization and Local Governance for Asia

Areas of Work: Decentralization and Local Governance

Thusitha provides support to governments, national partners and UNDP country offices in Asia-Pacific on political, fiscal and administrative decentralization and strengthening of local democratic governance. A large part of her policy advisory and programme support focuses on countries in crisis or recovering from conflicts or natural disaster and relates to the wider development of democratic governance.  Working closely with colleagues in country offices, the regional centre and beyond, she spearheads a series of regional and global initiatives on decentralized governance and localization of the MDG.

Prior to that, Thusitha was the Adviser/Team Leader for Democratic Governance at UNDP, South Sudan, during which time her main focus was assisting South Sudan to strengthen its governance structures at the local, state and national levels leading to the historic referendum to successfully become an independent country. She has also been a Senior Technical Adviser to a USAID Contractor based in Washington D.C. focusing on strengthening transparency and accountability systems particularly at local and municipal government structures and has served as Chief of Party of a USAID project in Malawi to reduce corruption across national and local institutions. As Project Manager of the UNDP Support to the Establishment of the Afghan Legislature Project, she successfully worked with a broad array of national and international partners to commence the Afghan parliament after 30 years of war.

In her native Sri Lanka, Thusitha has worked with UNDP, The World Bank and USAID on issues relating to democratic governance including  decentralization and devolution of power to the local level as a means of reducing conflict. She has also worked extensively with non-governmental organizations and local government structures to protect the environment through people's participation.

 

Ms. Sujala Pant

Programme Specialist

Areas of Work: Local Governance  

Sujala contributes to efforts to strengthen inclusive and responsive local governance, and is responsible to facilitate regional and country level initiatives that establish clear links between local governance and other areas, such as climate change. She also coordinates the regional initiative on youth and political participation, and is the focal point for the Institutional and Context Analysis work.

Prior to joining APRC, Sujala worked as Special Assistant to the Practice Director with the Democratic Governance Group in New York, providing substantive support for policy analysis and strategic development, and development of cross-thematic areas. Before UNDP, Sujala worked with the Netherlands Development Organisation (SNV) in Bhutan (2006-2008), and in her in native Nepal (2003-2006), providing advisory and capacity development services to key national and sub-national level partners.

Sujala joined UNDP in 2008 through the LEAD programme. She has an MSc in International Relations from the London School of Economics, (UK) and a BA in Social Sciences from Monash University in Melbourne, (Australia).

 

Ms. Tarika Wongsinsirikul

Programme Assistant

Areas of Work: Administrative and Financial Support, Research, Events

Tarika provides administrative and financial support services to the Democratic Governance Team. She monitors programme activities, backstops for missions, provides logistical support for events, and performs research activities.

Tarika has a wide variety of experience in community development and humanitarian works. She has worked for the government agencies for six years and with both public and private sectors in Southeast Asia region for ten years. Prior to joining UNDP, she worked as a SEA Regional Organizational Development Officer at the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

Aid Management

Mr. Thomas Beloe

Climate Change Governance and Development Effectiveness Adviser

Areas of Work: Governance, Development Finance and Climate Finance

Tom provides governance advise across APRC’s regional programming. In addition he provides support to Ministries of Finance and other institutions to strengthen systems of governance in ways that will respond to the rising challenge of climate change. This includes working to enhance the integration of climate change policy and expenditure within national budgeting and public finance management processes. Launched in 2008, Tom continues to manage the Asia Pacific Development Effectiveness Facility working to support south-south initiatives that strengthen the management of development cooperation. This involves working with development cooperation providers from the region – including China, India, Indonesia for examples – as well as countries seeking support in managing development cooperation from a recipient perspective.

Before joining the Centre, Tom worked as an anthropologist with the UK’s Department of International Development DFID engaged in social policy and programming in Africa and Southeast Asia. In particular he focused on providing advise around human rights based approaches and gender equity within DFID’s programming on governance reform, health, education and rural livelihoods.

 

Ms. Mereseini Bower

Governance and Development Effectiveness Specialist

Areas of Work: Aid Management

Mereseini provides policy advice and technical support for enhancing the governance of aid at country level and mainstreaming and applying development effectiveness principles and democratic governance approaches to address outcomes of MDG acceleration and climate resilience.

Mereseini was the Poverty Team Leader with the UNDP Fiji Multi-Country Office (serving 10 countries) for the last three and a half years. Previously, she worked as a Principal Economist with the Fiji Ministry of Finance and National Planning, a Business and Market Analyst as well as HR Manager for the Shell Group in Fiji and Tonga. She also worked as a lending officer with the Fiji Development Bank managing a loan portfolio comprising of aviation, shipping, road transport, real estate and rural SME businesses. She holds a Master’s degree in International and Development Economics from the Australian National University, Canberra, Australia and a Bachelor in Banking & Finance from Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. Mereseini recently participated as a Global Emerging Voices Fellow in Europe in June, where a community of leading young European and Asia-Pacific scholars and professionals committed to bilateral dialogue and a nuanced understanding of the changing perspectives on global governance in light of China's re-emergence, came together to share their perspectives.

 

Ms. Siriluck Chiengwong

Regional Communications and Programme Analyst

Areas of Work: Climate Finance, Workplan Formulation, Programme Management and Communications Strategy Implementation

Siriluck provides substantive and administrative support to APRC’s Governance of Climate Change Task Team with cross-practice members from Environment and Energy Team and Democratic Governance team under the multi-donor programme in Strengthening the Governance of Climate Change Finance to benefit the poor and vulnerable. She supports the programme management particularly in developing and implementing the cross-practice multi-year workplan and ensures the efficient communication strategy implementation in close collaboration with UNDP Country offices, governments in Asia-Pacific, CSOs and development partners at regional and global level. She also provides support to the team’s resource mobilisation, knowledge management and the management of the team’s website http://www.climatefinance-developmenteffectiveness.org/. At the Regional Centre, she works in close collaboration with the operations support team, various programme and policy practice teams and the programme management support team.

She has experiences working in the international organizations in project and programme implementation. Prior to her current role, she was a Programme Associate of Aid Effectiveness team of APRC’s Democratic Governance Practice Team. In her previous career, she worked for UNESCAP, UNODC and the Royal Bhutanese Embassy.

 

United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF)
Regional Office in Bangkok

UNCDF works with UNDP to provide high quality on demand policy advice and catalytic capital investments to member states in the practice areas of Local Development and Inclusive Finance

Mr. Christopher Kaczmarski

Officer-in-Charge and Regional Technical Adviser - Local Development

Areas of Work: Policy Advice

Christopher Kaczmarski is serving within UNCDF as a Regional Technical Adviser for the local development in Asia and Pacific region.

His professional background comprises over 25 years’ of overall work experience as a senior local/regional public sector management and finance expert, including over 15 years’ of continuous international service in countries of transition and developing countries on donor assistance programmes involving regional and local development, public service provision, capital investment programming and finance, fiscal decentralization and local financial management, municipal credit market development and creditworthiness enhancement, democratization and civil society involvement.

Prior to joining UNCDF, Mr. Kaczmarski worked in expert adviser and team leader capacity on complex technical assistance projects of key international donor and financing institutions in Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Russia. Before entering the field of international development Mr. Kaczmarski has worked in the USA where he advised municipalities of New England states on energy and environment projects development, financing and implementation  as well as operation and management of  public utility companies.

 

Mr. Feisal Hussain

UNCDF Senior Regional Technical Adviser – Financial Inclusion

Areas of Work: Policy Advice, Technical Support, Resource Mobilization

Feisal leads a team of Country Technical Advisers and Specialists to deliver financial inclusion programming in the region, while also leading and supporting the global clean energy finance team to test and upscale business models to rapidly expand financial services to poor people for clean energy access in Africa and Asia. Besides on-going programming, Feisal leads on UN Capital Development Fund’s policy-influencing agenda in the region, contributing to shaping the discourse and future priorities for financial inclusion in Asia through strategic dialogue with microfinance market leaders, development partners, and leading networks, think-tanks and associations. Key policy influencing issues include the evolving role of microfinance market leaders in a region undergoing rapid change, and extending the role of financial inclusion to more directly address acute challenges of growing food insecurity, widening inequality, and increasing vulnerability.

Feisal has over 20-years international development experience in strategic leadership, senior management, advisory and programme management roles, with a particular focus on financial services for the poor, livelihoods and extreme poverty. Prior to joining the UN Capital Development Fund, Feisal ran a development consultancy in the UK, designing and evaluating projects mostly in Asia and advising some of the largest donors, not-for-profit organizations, and microfinance institutions such as UNDP, DfID, ASA, Oxfam, Save the Children, Care International, and ActionAid. Before this he spent five years designing and project-managing economic livelihood projects globally for ActionAid International, and served for four years as ActionAid’s Country Director in Bangladesh, transforming the country programme into an influential and highly respected rights-based and livelihoods agency. Before his role as Country Director for ActionAid, he spent several years designing and managing microfinance programmes both at the retail level and at the meso level through policy research and advocacy. His initial focus was in Bangladesh in the early 1990s, then Asia more generally through UNDP’s MicroStart project, and then South Asia more especially through the microfinance think-tank South Asian Network of Microfinance Initiatives, which he helped to create in the mid-1990s.

Before joining the development sector, Feisal worked in the City of London in the late 1980s in retail banking and then in wealth management of high net-worth individuals.

Feisal holds a Masters in Development from the University of Leeds and Bachelors in Business from Middlesex University.

 

Ms. Jill Engen

UNCDF Regional Technical Adviser – Local Development
Deputy Head of Office

Areas of Work: Policy Advice, Technical Support, Resource Mobilization

Jill provides high quality policy and technical advice to the Local Development practice area in the Asia Pacific region. She is responsible for the technical development of the Local Development portfolio and the development and design of new products. Jill also serves as Deputy to the Head of Office.

Jill has more than 10 years of international development experience in local development and public sector governance in the Asia-Pacific region. After joining the United Nations system in 2000, she has held various positions ranging from Development Officer in a UN peacekeeping operation to Government Adviser on decentralization and local government. Prior to joining the Bangkok regional team, Jill worked as an International Technical Specialist for UNCDF in Timor-Leste for five years. Since 2006, Jill has also provided extensive technical advice in local level policy and planning, fiscal transfer mechanisms and capacity development to UNCDF programmes in Bangladesh, Lao PDR and Vietnam.

 

Ms. Suela Krifsa

UNCDF Regional Portfolio Specialist

Areas of Work: Programme Management, Programme Development, Resource Mobilization

Suela is responsible for managing the UNCDF’s portfolio of programmes in the region. She provides support on programme design and management, budget and expenditure management, joint programming, partnerships and resource mobilization.

Suela’ background is in programme & project management, financial resource planning and allocation, results-based management and resource mobilization. Prior to joining UNCDF, Suela worked for 9 years with UNDP as Programme Specialist in various postings with the Bureau for Crisis Prevention & Recovery in New York and Geneva as well as UNDP Sothern Sudan and Somalia. Suela joined the UN system in 1995 as a National Officer with UNFPA Office in Albania and later continued with UNICEF.

 

Ms. Hee Sung Kim

UNCDF Monitoring and Evaluation Officer

Areas of Work: Project Performance Monitoring and Evaluation

Hee Sung provides support in improving the quality and substance of UNCDF’s reporting on project performance. As a longer term objective, she will be assisting in establishing a coherent monitoring and evaluation system at the country level to provide reliable data for project and corporate reporting. She also serves as a focal point in the region on evaluation matters.

Prior to joining UNCDF, Hee Sung worked at LG Electronics, Korea as interpreter to Chief-level executives heading strategy, procurement, and human resources, among others. Before joining LG Electronics, she worked as interpreter to the Minister of Information and Communication, Korea.

Hee Sung holds an MA in Korean-English Interpretation from Ewha Womans University Graduate School of Translation and Interpretation.

 

Ms. Urailuk Jetsongkul

Programme Assistant

Areas of Work: Programme Support

Urailuk provides programme support services for Inclusive Finance and Local Development areas as well as support the Regional Portfolio Specialist with the management of regional portfolio.

Urailuk has a Bachelor of Public Administration from Thammasat University. She has been working in the field of Operations including Finance, Procurement, and Administration with the United Nations for over 6 years. Prior to joining the Centre, she worked for the UN Millennium Campaign as Administrative and Finance Associate for Asia and the Pacific.

 

Ms. Npakrprawi Kridaratikorn

UNCDF Regional Operations Analyst

Areas of Work: Financial Management, Contract, Asset and Procurement Management, Human Resource Management

Npakrprawi provides operational and financial management support to the UNCDF portfolio of programmes in Asia. Npak is also responsible for managing the UNCDF regional office operations and its regional knowledge management programme.

Npak has 16 years of work experience in HR, administration, procurement, logistics, contracting, grants and project administration. She has worked in both the private sector and for various UN agencies such as UNICEF, ESCAP, the World Food Programme and ILO. Prior to joining UNCDF, Npak worked as Acquisition and Assistance Specialist with USAID.

 

Ms. Kullawan Arphasrirat

UNCDF Programme Assistant

Areas of Work: Programme and Project Management, Operations and Administrative Management

Kullawan provides programme support to UNCDF Regional Office in Bangkok and UNCDF programming countries in Asia. Her responsibilities include leading and facilitating all activities and actions in programme and project management; and monitoring financial data and transactions of the projects. She takes the lead in day-to-day project implementation and follows up pending programmes and operations issues. She also manages and maintains UNCDF Regional Retainer Consultants Management for UNCDF projects in Asia and the Pacific.

Kullawan has a decade of experience with the UN system. Before joining UNCDF she worked for UNDP Sub-Regional Facility (SURF) in Bangkok and later UNDP Asia-Pacific Regional Centre.

Environment & Energy

Mr. Gordon Johnson

Regional Practice Leader – Environment and Energy

Areas of Work: Team Leadership and Management, Partnerships, Climate Change, Carbon Finance

Gordon leads and manages the Environment and Energy team at the Centre. He liaises and works closely with both external and internal partners and also provides policy advice and project related services on climate mitigation and carbon finance.

Gordon has over 25 years of professional experience as an environmental engineer, consultant and manager, including 18 years with UNDP. He comes to us most recently from the United Arab Emirates where he served as Deputy Resident Representative. Previously he served as Practice Manager in the Environment and Energy Group in New York (2006-2011), as Deputy Resident Representative in Kazakhstan (2003-2006), and as an environmental adviser and head of the environment units at the UNDP Country Offices in Mongolia (1999-2003) and Viet Nam (1994-1999).

Prior to joining UNDP, Gordon worked for a variety of NGOs and consulting firms, mostly in the field of water resource management, including: Appropriate Technology International in Washington, DC (1992-1994), the American Friends Service Committee in Cambodia (1990-1991), Harza Environmental Services in Chicago, Illinois (1986-1989) and the American Peace Corps in Nepal (1985-1986).

Gordon holds a Master's Degree in International Relations from Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, DC, and Bachelor's Degrees in Civil Engineering and Philosophy.

 

Ms. Daranee Tattakorn

Programme and Management Support Analyst, BDP/EEG/GEF

Areas of Work: Programme Support, Operational Oversight and Financial Management

Daranee is responsible for all programme support, operational oversight and management of co-financing portfolio, the UNDP/GEF trust funds, cost sharing funds, sub-trust funds, MSAs, and management funds to support the Unit as well as administrative budgets of the region.  She also manages annual management resources including staff cost, travel, consultants, common services, other general operating expenses, and release of implementation fees to country offices.

Daranee works in close collaboration with UNDP/GEF teams in headquarters and regional centres, with country offices and other UNDP units to ensure; consistent service delivery and practices and provide programme support, operations, and financial advice on all aspects of operation of the development and management funds/projects; a smooth functioning of the regional teams in the operation and finance areas; and that management of resources of GEF and co-financing funds including management projects is in accordance with UNDP financial regulations and rules, and donor requirements.

Daranee previously worked for Operations Support Team (OST) from August 2005 to September 2011 as Finance Associate.  Prior to joining the Centre, she worked for UNDP Thailand as Programme Assistant to Environment and MDG Advocacy and Human Development Analysis Unit.  She graduated with a Master’s degree of Business Administration from University of Birmingham, UK.  She has 15 years of work experience in finance and accounting, operations and business analysis, programme management, budget oversight and financial management.

 

Ms. Noparat Uathamthaworn

Administrative/Operations Associate

Areas of work: Finance, Operations and Administration

Noparat provides management of the operational and administrative services to the Environment and Energy team. She also handles the financial transactions for GEF, MPU and MDG CF. Her roles are to promote a client and results-oriented approach consistent with UNDP rules and regulations and ensures high quality and accuracy of work. She works in close collaboration with ESD Regional Technical advisers, Administrative Assistant, Programme Assistants as well as staff in the UNDP Asia-Pacific Regional Centre (APRC), UNDP/GEF HQs, other RCUs and UNDP Country Offices as required for resolving complex administrative-related issues and exchange of information. Her responsibilities also include assets control, logistical services, information and records management, and Atlas support.

Noparat has work experience in Marketing, Software Content Development and research projects’ management. Prior to working with UNDP, she spent her last 6 years in the finance and administrative roles at Immigration New Zealand, New Zealand Embassy.

 

Environment & Natural Resources

Mr. Timothy Boyle

Regional Technical Adviser - UN-REDD

Areas of Work: Ecosystems and Natural Resources

Tim works as Regional Coordinator for the UN-REDD programme, which supports capacity development in Indonesia, PNG and Vietnam, to assist governments and other stakeholders to prepare for a new post-Kyoto Climate Change mitigation financial instrument, in which investments to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) are expected to play a major role. Recently, the UN-REDD Policy Board held its first meeting in Panama, at which it approved the first batch of five country programmes, including submissions from all three Asian programme countries.

Tim has spent the last 6 years consulting, working extensively on GEF-funded projects, particularly in SE Asia. Prior to that he worked for UNDP as a GEF Regional Coordinator for the Asia/Pacific region, for the Centre for International Forest Research (CIFOR), in Bogor, Indonesia, and as a forest researcher and policy specialist in Canada.

 

Mr. Akihito Kono

Regional Technical Adviser - UN-REDD and UNDP-GEF Ecosystems and Biodiversity

Areas of Work: Ecosystems and Biodiversity

Aki works as part of the Ecosystems and Natural Resources Team to support the implement of the UN-REDD Programme in Asia and the Pacific, and to serve as a task manager for two UNDP/GEF global projects on sustainable land management. He has worked in the environment and development area for a number of years, and has a BSc in Geography and a MSc in conservation and tourism.

Prior to joining the Centre, he worked as a consultant to the UNDP/GEF team, and also served as an Environment Programme Officer in a UNDP country office in Southeastern Europe. He has also worked for an NGO in Southeast Asia.

 

Mr. Doley Tshering

Regional Technical Specialist

Areas of Work: Ecosystems and Natural Resources

Doley supports the team in identification and development of UNDP-GEF projects in the areas of Land Degradation and Biodiversity. Together with the relevant UNDP-GEF regional team, he supports UNDP COs and other partners in the design, implementation and management of on-going and planned UNDP-GEF projects on biodiversity and land degradation including project monitoring, reporting and evaluation; liaison with potential co-financing partners; and reviewing and commenting on relevant submissions to GEFSEC.

Prior to joining the Centre, Doley was the Head of Environment and Disaster Management Unit and from 2008 as the ARR/Head of Poverty and MDGs Unit at UNDP Bhutan. He also worked for Ministry of Agriculture of the Royal Government of Bhutan as the National Coordinator and Team Leader of the Community-Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) programme and as a Forestry Researcher and Programme Officer, Natural Resources.

 

Mr. Joseph D'Cruz

Ecosystem and Natural Resources Adviser

Areas of Work: Biodiversity, Ecosystems and Natural Resources Management

Joseph provides environmental conservation and GEF-funded projects with advice on programme formulation, approval processes, implementation and supervision. His services also support the mainstreaming of environmental conservation priorities within and across ‘non-traditional’ government decision-making sectors.  

Prior to joining the Centre, Joseph was a GEF consultant working on the formulation and implementation of numerous UNDP/GEF projects throughout the Asia-Pacific and Arab States regions. Joseph has also consulted for a variety of bilateral and multilateral organizations and for the private sector.

 

Mr. Sameer Karki

Regional Technical Adviser - Biodiversity

Areas of Work: Frameworks and Strategies for Sustainable Development, Biodiversity

Sameer supports Country Offices and partners to identify projects and develop biodiversity conservation capacity – with a particular focus on projects eligible for funding from the GEF. He also oversees project implementation, and works to strengthen Country Offices’ and partners’ capacities and partnerships.

Before joining the Centre, Sameer was Director of Forestry and Natural Resource Management for Winrock International in Nepal. He has also worked for IUCN’s Asia Regional Office in Bangkok and Country Office in Nepal, an Australian funded community forestry project in Nepal and for the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), also based in Kathmandu.

 

Ms. Midori Paxton

Regional Technical Adviser – Ecosystems and Natural Resources for Asia and the Pacific

Areas of Work: Policy, Programming, Implementation Support and Oversight

Midori provides technical policy, programming, implementation support and oversight, and knowledge and capacity development services to UNDP Country Offices in the region, pertaining to the work of the Ecosystems and Natural Resources programme and biodiversity signature activities. In particular, she supports Country Offices in developing and managing projects that aim; 1) to mainstream biodiversity management objectives into economic sector activities and 2) to improve protected area management and unleash the economic potential of protected areas.

Midori was based in Namibia in 2000, firstly working as a JPO Programme Officer at UNDP Country Office dealing with environmental projects, and more recently as the Project Coordinator for the UNDP/GEF supported Strengthening the Protected Area Network (SPAN) Project based at the Ministry of Environment and Tourism. She also worked as an environmental journalist and served as a UN volunteer in Somalia and Tanzania. Midori is a Japanese national and holds a Master’s Degree in Environment and Development from University of Cambridge.

 

Mr. Paul Steele

Environment Adviser - Poverty Environment Initiative (PEI)

Areas of work: Poverty and Environment, Natural Resources and Pro-Poor Growth, Climate and Environment Mainstreaming, Environment Economics

Paul works on the Poverty Environment Initiative with UNEP and other partners. The PEI is now working in Bhutan, Cambodia, Laos, Nepal and Timor-Leste to support governments to increase their financing and implementation of pro-poor environment outcomes through mainstreaming environment issues in planning and financing processes. Paul will support increased attention to the economics of natural resources and the environment. He will continue his role as the coordinator of the global Poverty Environment Partnership (PEP) a group of development agencies working on poverty environment issues (see www.povetyenvironment.net/pep).

Paul was with the Poverty Team of the Regional Centre Colombo for almost two years. Previously he has worked as Economic Adviser in the Ministry of Environment of Sri Lanka and as the Environment adviser for the UK Department for International Development (DFID) for four years. He set up Economics for the Environment Consultancy (EFTEC) Ltd, a UK based environment economics firm. He has co-authored several books and articles on poverty environment issues including the World Resources Report on Environmental Wealth of the Poor. He has undertaken environment assignments for many multilateral organisations including ADB, EC, IUCN, WWF and the World Bank.

 

Mr. Jose E. Padilla

Regional Technical Adviser for Marine, Coastal and Island Ecosystems with GEF/Reg Coordination Unit

Areas of Work: Marine, Coastal and Island Ecosystems

Joe provides technical policy, programming, implementation support and oversight, and knowledge and capacity development services to UNDP Country Offices (COs) in the Asia-Pacific region, pertaining to the work of the Ecosystems and Natural Resources programme in marine, coastal and island ecosystems. In particular, he supports the COs in developing and managing multi-country projects in GEF’s international waters focal area, covering a number of large marine ecosystems (LMEs) and transboundary river basins.

Prior to joining the Centre, Joe worked with the GEF facilitation team at the Asian Development Bank in Manila covering all the GEF focal areas as senior project development specialist (staff consultant) from 2005 to 2010. He also served as senior policy officer working with the 5 WWF offices in Southeast Asia from 2000-2005. He obtained his Ph.D. in economics from Simon Fraser University, Canada in 1991 and held a post-doctoral fellowship with The World Fish Center (formerly International Center for Living Aquatic Resources Management).

 

Ms. Kwanruen Seub-am

Programme Assistant for International Waters & Land Degradation, Mangroves for the Future, UNREDD and Ecosystems

Areas of Work: Programme Support

Under the Environment and Sustainable Development team (ESD), Kwanruen provides wide range of support to the activities of International Waters, Land Degradation, Mangroves for the Future (MFF), UN-REDD and Ecosystems. The support include project implementation and follow up, budget monitoring, administrative and operational supports i.e. organizing workshops and trainings, travel and missions, logistical services and procurement. Prior joining UNDP, Kwanruen worked in the private sector.

 

Ms. Wallaya Pinprayoon

Programme Assistant for Biodiversity

Areas of Work: Programme Support

Wallaya provides programme support to UNDP-GEF Regional Technical Advisers for biodiversity. Her responsibilities include reviewing project proposals and documents to ensure compliance with UNDP-GEF project cycle requirements, and liaising between UNDP-GEF Headquarters and Country Offices to provide programme, administrative and financial oversight of UNDP-GEF proposals and projects.

Wallaya has been in International Development Organizations and working intensively in administrative and financial areas for almost 8 years. Prior to UNDP, she worked as Administrative Officer in Regional and Country Analysis and Support Unit (RECAS) of Regional Community Forestry Training Center for Asia and the Pacific (RECOFTC).

 

Climate Change, Adaptation, Energy and Carbon Finance

Mr. Manuel Soriano

Senior Technical Adviser - Energy and Transport

Areas of Work: Energy, Infrastructures, Transport & Technology

Manuel supports the design, development and implementation of UNDP-GEF climate change mitigation projects, as well as CDM projects in the region. He is responsible for overall global technical quality control of UNDP-GEF Climate Change Mitigation projects of all UNDP country offices, including overseeing technical project design and development and project implementation. Where needed, he also supports UNDP-GEF Regional Technical Advisers in their roles of providing direct support to  UNDP country offices in the efficient, effective, and timely provision of GEF-related services in the climate change focal area. He also provides technical services to other UNDP practice area activities.

Manuel’s main expertise is in the area of energy (energy engineering, energy efficiency, renewable energy, energy management, planning and policy). He joined UNDP-GEF in 2000 working for the UNDP-GEF in Kuala Lumpur as GEF Regional Coordinator for Climate Change in the Asia and the Pacific region. Before joining UNDP, he worked as process engineer in chemical and petroleum industries in the Philippines; was affiliated with the Department of Energy in the Philippines (as Sr. Supervising Research Specialist); with the ASEAN Energy Management Training and Research Centre (Division Head); Ministry of Mines and Energy in Indonesia (Technical adviser); and with Hagler Bailly Inc. (Manager). He holds postgraduate degrees in energy engineering from the University of Surrey (United Kingdom), and chemical engineering from the University of the City of Manila (Philippines).

 

Mr. Alex Heikens

Regional Policy Adviser - Climate Change

Areas of Work: Climate Change Policy - Adaptation and Mitigation

Alex provides policy advice and programmatic support to the Country Offices on a range of climate change issues such as global and corporate policy directions, developing national climate change policy, low emission climate resilient development strategies, climate financing mechanisms, REDD+, adaptation and mitigation programming.

Specialized in environmental issues in Asia, he has over 10 years experience in research, technical and policy advice, resources mobilization and programme management. After he completed his MSc in Biology, he worked for 5 years at various research institutes on risk assessment of environmental pollution and acquired a PhD on the subject. He then joined FAO where he worked on water resources management in agriculture and was based in Bangladesh and the Regional Office in Thailand. Early 2007 he moved to UNDP Indonesia where he developed and managed the climate change programme of UNDP Indonesia for over 3 years prior to joining the Asia-Pacific Regional Centre.

 

Mr. Faris Khader

Regional Technical Specialist - Climate Change

Areas of Work: Climate Change Mitigation and Carbon Finance

Faris identifies, develops and manages climate change mitigation projects under the Global Environment Facility (GEF) trust fund, in cooperation with the Iran, Pakistan, Mongolia, Bhutan and Maldives country offices. He also supports the identification and development of Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects under the MDG Carbon Facility.

Faris has worked for UNDP for 7 years, most recently with UNDP-GEF in New York as Climate Change Specialist and Acting Monitoring Officer.

 

Mr. Thomas Lynge Jensen

Regional Technical Adviser for Energy and Climate Mitigation based at UNDP Pacific Centre (PC), Suva, Fiji

Areas of Work: Access to Energy, Climate Change Mitigation in the Pacific Islands Countries (PICs)

Thomas participates in and coordinates all the steps in the UNDP/GEF project cycle including identification, design & preparation, GEF and UNDP approvals, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation, and closure. The current UNDP/GEF renewable energy portfolio in the Pacific consists of one regional project covering 11 PICs and national projects in Palau and the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI).

Prior to joining the Pacific Centre (PC), Thomas worked for RCB (as part of the Regional Energy Program for Poverty Reduction), for the UNDP Samoa Multi-country Office (MCO) and the UNESCO sub-regional office in Samoa. He started his career working for a Danish NGO focusing on sustainable energy in developing countries.

 

Mr. Pradeep Kurukulasuriya

EEG/GEF’s Senior Technical Adviser for Climate Change Adaptation

Areas of Work: Climate Adaptation and Low-Emission Climate-Resilient Development

Pradeep provides leadership on all EEG/GEF programmes related to climate adaptation and low-emission climate-resilient development strategies. He is outposted from Headquarters to Asia-Pacific Regional Centre where he leads efforts around the world on supporting countries to access, combine and sequence financing from the various global climate funds as well as other sources of finance, including from the private sector.

Pradeep joined UNDP in 2005 to help establish UNDP/GEF’s work programme on adaptation.  He is part of a network of EEG Principal/ Senior Technical Advisers located either in New York and in Regional Centres who, together with Regional Practice Team Leaders, are spearheading EEG’s efforts to design, finance and implement cutting edge environment/ climate programs. From his base at APRC, he continues his global responsibilities of overseeing a team of Regional Technical Advisers based in Bangkok, Apia, Pretoria, Bratislava and Panama City.

An economist by training, Pradeep holds a PhD in Environmental Economics from Yale University, MPhil and MSc from Yale and MPhil from Cambridge University. His research findings on the microeconomic valuation of climate change impacts and various adaptation options (crop choice, irrigation, etc.) in the agriculture sector has been published in leading international journals such as World Bank Economic Review, Climatic Change,  African Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Environmental and Resource Economics, Climate Change Economics and others.

 

Ms. Maria May Chen

Regional Climate Change Adviser

Areas of Work: Climate Change and Energy

Maria is an APRC staff out posted in UNDP China. Her responsibilities include providing policy programming, knowledge and capacity development services to UNDP China and other UNDP country office. She has 18 years of work experience in the U.S. and Asia in climate change mitigation, clean energy, and environmental protection. Prior joining UNDP, she was the China Environment Program Coordinator at the Regional Development Mission for Asia of USAID in Bangkok, responsible for developing and managing USAID’s climate change mitigation and environment programs in China. Prior to it, she worked for ICF International in Beijing and D.C. for 15 years, specializing in development, implementation, and management of greenhouse gas accounting, climate change mitigation, clean energy, Montreal Protocol, and environmental law and pollution management programs for international and bilateral agencies in Asia and China, including USAID, the World Bank, the Asia Development Bank, the US Environmental Protection Agency, and others.

 

Mr. Yusuke Taishi

Regional Technical Specialist

Areas of Work: Climate Change Adaptation, Communications and Knowledge Management

Yusuke works on climate change adaptation as well as communications and knowledge management for the team. He is the lead focal point in the Environment and Energy team for the upcoming Regional Human Development Report on climate change, working closely with the HDR Unit. Prior to this, Yusuke worked for the Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific, providing oversight to UNDP’s Regional Programme in Asia-Pacific.

Prior to joining UNDP, he worked for a microfinance research institution in India. There, he managed various research projects and undertook advocacy work for financial inclusion in the country. Yusuke has a Master’s degree in environmental science and development economics.

 

Ms. Rakshya Thapa

Technical Specialist

Areas of Work: Technical and Policy Support to Partners - Climate Change Mitigation

Rakshya is responsible for technical and policy support to partners for obtaining and utilizing various sources of funds for climate change mitigation projects with particular focus on the Global Environment Facility.

Prior to joining UNDP she was with Asian Development Bank where she was providing technical assistance to develop low carbon projects, advise counterparts on climate finance and help mainstream climate change mitigation issues into ADB operations. She was also conceptualising and organising capacity building activities including regional workshops. Previously, Rakshya had worked with Agrinergy Ltd. in the UK where she was instrumental in setting the country office in Bangkok as well as developing and managing projects under the Clean Development Mechanism across Asia and Latin America. She was simultaneously monitoring international climate change policies. She has also worked with Winrock International Nepal where she was successful in building new partnerships and securing additional funds for clean energy and climate change programmes.

Rakshya holds MSc. in Climate Change with distinction from the University of East Anglia, UK and Post Graduate in Environmental Management from India.

 

Mr. Gabor Vereczi

Regional Technical Adviser for Climate Change Adaptation in the Pacific

Areas of Work: Frameworks, Strategies, Coordination and Capacity Building for Climate Change Adaptation and Related Aims of Sustainable Development

Gabor serves as policy adviser, supporting the development and implementation of the UNDP Climate Change Strategy for the Pacific, in coordination with UN, regional and national government agencies. He provides technical and knowledge management support for Pacific Island Countries in order to identify adaptation needs, prepare and carry out adaptation projects.

Prior to join UNDP, Gabor worked at the UN World Tourism Organization as a specialist on sustainable development issues, including climate change adaptation and related environmental and socio-economic policies and management techniques, with applications in SIDS and coastal areas.

 

Mr. Thiyagarajan (Rajan) Velumail

Regional Technical Adviser for Energy

Areas of Work: Energy Access; Climate Change - Mitigation

Rajan is a member of the Regional Climate Change, Energy and Ecosystems Programme at the UNDP Asia-Pacific Regional Centre in Bangkok, Thailand.  His primary focus is on access to sustainable energy services, linking to poverty reduction.  His principle areas of service include policy advice, design and implementation of national programmes on energy access, climate change mitigation, capacity development and knowledge sharing on energy, poverty and gender.  Rajan works closely with development partners and institutions to promote South-South cooperation.

Rajan has considerable experience in development planning and sustainable energy policy development and implementation. His previous experience also includes donor aid coordination and South-South cooperation. Rajan joined UNDP Malaysia as the Head of Programme in 2002. Prior to that, he worked as the Head of Energy Policy at the Ministry of Energy, Water and Communications, Government of Malaysia. Rajan has also served as national focal point for ASEAN Energy Cooperation, APEC Energy Cooperation and the UNESCO World Solar Programme.

 

Mr. Butchaiah Gadde

Technical Specialist

Areas of Work: Climate Change Mitigation, Carbon Finance and Energy Access

Butchaiah is responsible for technical guidance, support to policy and project development; support implementation partners to attract and direct public (particular focus on the Global Environment Facility) and private investments towards catalyzing and supporting environmentally sustainable pathways for energy use and supply, climate resilient infrastructure and low carbon transport and mobility.

Butchaiah holds a PhD in Energy Technology and Policy from King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi, Bangkok, Thailand. He graduated Master of Science (Renewable Energy) from the University of Oldenburg, Germany and MBA (International Business) from Annamalai University, India. Graduated Bachelor of Engineering (Environmental Engineering) from Mysore University, Mandya, India. Prior to joining UNDP, he worked as a freelance consultant for UNDP, GIZ, and USAID.  He has professional experience in working with international development agencies, consulting firms and NGOs. As a consultant and expert, also carried out assignments for international agencies such as ADB, WHO, UNEP, and AusAID in renewable energy, environmental engineering and climate change related issues.

 

Ms. Karakate Bhamornbutr

Programme Assistant for Climate Change Mitigation

Areas of Work: Programme Support, Administrative and Financial Oversight of UNDP-GEF Climate Change Portfolio

Karakate provides programme support to UNDP-GEF Regional Technical Advisers for climate change. Her responsibilities include reviewing project proposals and documents to ensure compliance with UNDP-GEF project cycle requirements, and liaising between UNDP-GEF Headquarters and Country Offices’ to provide programme, administrative and financial oversight of UNDP-GEF proposals and projects.

Before joining the Environment team, Karakate worked with the Centre’s Asia-Pacific Development Information Programme. Prior to that, she worked at the Office of the UN Resident Coordinator for Thailand.

 

Mr. Doungjun Roongruang

Programme Assistant for Climate Change Adaptation

Areas of Work: Programme, Administrative and Financial Oversight of UNDP-GEF International Waters, Land Degradation and Adaptation Portfolio

Doungjun provides programme support, administrative and financial oversight for the UNDP-GEF international waters, land degradation and adaptation portfolio. His responsibilities include support to regional technical advisers, reviewing project proposals and documents to ensure their compliance with UNDP-GEF project cycle requirements, and liaising between UNDP/GEF Headquarters and Country Offices’ environmental focal points on programme, administrative and financial matters.

Prior to joining the Centre, Doungjun worked as an Information Assistant at the Child Rights International NGO, ECPAT International, and as Project Assistant at UNODC.

 

Ms. Sirintharat Wannawong

Programme Assistant for Regional Climate Change, Energy and Ecosystems project (RCCEEP)

Areas of Work: Programme Management and Support

Sirin provides programme supports to the Regional Climate Change, Energy and Ecosystems Project under Environment and Sustainable Development team. She also provides support to the ESD’s Practice Leader. Her responsibility is to provide financial and implementation oversight to all 5 sub-projects under RCCEEP – these are Climate Proofing, Carbon Financing, Equitable Energy Access, Ecosystems and the Pacific Climate Change Centre in Samoa.  

Prior to joining RCCEEP, Sirin worked as a programme assistant for biodiversity for UNDP/GEF Regional Coordination Unit for 4 years. Prior to joining the Regional Centre, Sirin worked as a research analyst at the Thai Asset Management Corporation and Financial Sector Restructuring Authority of Thailand.

 

Ms. Nittaya Saengow

Administrative Assistant

Areas of Work: Administrative Support

Nittaya provides administrative support services ensuring high quality, accuracy and consistency of work to the team.

Nittaya holds a Bachelor of Arts in English Language & Literature and a Master of Arts in English from Careers from Thammasat University.  For the past 5 years, she worked as an administrative assistant at GE Power & Water-Thermal and Power Generation Services Sales.  Prior to GE Power & Water, she worked as an administrative assistant with Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC) and a secretary at Embassy of the Republic of Korea. 

 

 

Montreal Protocol/Chemicals

Mr. Nandan Chirmulay

Senior Technical Adviser and Regional Coordinator, Asia and Pacific for Montreal Protocol and Chemicals Unit

Area of Work: Strategic Leadership, Technical and Policy Advice - Ozone Depleting Substances (ODS), Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs)

Nandan is responsible for development, management and oversight of UNDP’s Ozone Layer Protection and Chemicals programmes in the Asia and Pacific, covering formulation, implementation and monitoring of projects under the Montreal Protocol, POPs and follow up on Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (SAICM) initiatives in the region. He also give policy advice on matters relating to cross-convention synergies for chemicals-related multilateral environment agreements (MEAs).

Nandan also acts as the UNDP global focal point for technical issues for the Montreal Protocol, providing inputs to planning, reporting, programme development and implementation. He provides the oversight needed for the ongoing portfolio of projects for emerging technologies, for waste management/disposal programmes as well as for cross-convention synergies and public-private financing mechanisms.

Nandan has a Master’s degree in 1983, from the Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai, India, majoring in Mechanical Engineering. Thereafter he spent 11 years in the private sector. He was an independent technical expert for UNDP’s Montreal Protocol programme from 1994 to 2008. He joined UNDP in his current position from August 2008.

 

Mr. Balaji Natarajan

Technical Specialist - Montreal Protocol and Chemicals Unit

Areas of Work: Programme Development

As a Technical Specialist for the Montreal Protocol/Chemicals team in the region, Balaji provides quality technical advice for development of UNDP’s chemicals-related portfolio of programmes in the areas of Ozone Layer Protection (Montreal Protocol), Persistent Organic Chemicals (Stockholm Convention), Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (SAICM) and on cross-convention synergies, such as linkages between Ozone Layer Protection and Climate Change, through innovative partnerships and financing opportunities.

Balaji has a Bachelor of Technology (Honors) degree from Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, India, followed by a Masters degree in Management from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, India. He has over 15 years of professional experience in management and technical consulting.He has worked extensively with private sector and Government onMontreal Protocol activities including strategy development, project management, monitoring and reporting. He has also worked with UNEP ROAP on Montreal Protocol activities for the past three years in assisting countries in the Asia-Pacific region for achieving compliance with Montreal Protocol control targets. Balaji is an empanelled member of Accreditation Team (AT) for verification of Designated Operational Entities (DOEs) under UNFCCC.

 

Ms. Tomoko Furusawa

Programme Specialist - Montreal Protocol and Chemicals Unit

Areas of Work: Programme Development and Management

Tomo provides technical support for development and implementation of UNDP’s chemicals-related portfolio of programmes in the areas of Ozone Layer Protection (Montreal Protocol), Persistent Organic Chemicals (Stockholm Convention), Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (SAICM) and on cross-convention synergies, such as linkages between Ozone Layer Protection and Climate Change, through innovative partnerships and financing opportunities.

Tomo holds a Masters degree in Public Policy from the University of Chicago. She has over 7 years of professional experience in programme management, partnership development, and policy research and analysis. Most recently she worked on Climate Change and Montreal Protocol activities in UNDP Ghana (2007-2010), and on the Japanese Trust Fund management in UNDP HQ in New York (2005-2006).

 

Ms. Panida Charotok

Programme Assistant – Montreal Protocol and Chemicals Unit

Areas of Work: Programme, Administrative and Financial Oversight of Montreal Protocol and Chemicals Unit

Panida provides programme support to regional Montreal Protocol and Chemicals Unit. Her responsibilities include reviewing project proposals and documents to ensure their compliance with UNDP-GEF, Multilateral Fund for the Implementation of the Montreal Protocol (MLF) project cycle requirements, and liaising with UNDP Headquarters-based Montreal Protocol and Chemicals Unit (MPU), GEF, and Country Offices’ environmental focal points to provide programme, administrative and financial oversight of UNDP, MPU and GEF proposals and projects.

Prior to her present position, Panida worked with the Centre’s Environment and Sustainable Development team for which she facilitated responses to country offices requests for expert referrals and provided programme, administrative, knowledge management, and event-coordinating support to the Poverty Environment Initiative, Mangroves for the Future, and Regional Energy Programme for Poverty Reduction. Prior to joining UNDP, Panida worked for a private power and rail infrastructure company. She also had extensive experience as a translator.

 

Crisis Prevention and Recovery

Mr. Sanny R. Jegillos

Practice Coordinator and Regional Programme Coordinator - Regional Crisis Prevention and Recovery Programme

Areas of Work: Natural Disaster Reduction, Recovery

Sanny coordinates the CPR practice team in the region and contributes to HQ-led crisis-response effort.  He develops and implements regional and sub-regional initiatives in the area of crisis prevention and recovery; provides high-level policy and technical advisory services in the area of Disaster Risk Reduction and Recovery to the Regional Service Center; and leads in the advocacy for the CPR practice in the region.

Sanny was recruited in 2005 by the Regional Center in Bangkok to coordinate UNDP’s regional programme efforts on risk reduction and sustainable recovery in the tsunami affected countries of the region. This responsibility was expanded to include contribution to the design of capacity development in risk reduction, policy development, integration of disaster risk reduction into development and facilitating regional cross learning and developing alliances with regional partners under the Regional Crisis Prevention and Recovery Project.  Until 1992, he managed programmes on emergency response and livelihood recovery of communities affected by catastrophic events in the Philippines, following major cyclones, the Northern Luzon earthquake and the Mt. Pinatubo volcanic eruption. From 1992 to 1998, he worked for the Asian Institute of Technology and within the Asian Disaster Preparedness Center as Senior Manager of the Learning and Professional Development and International Consultancies Units. In the middle of 1990’s, Sanny led partners from Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and the Philippines in codifying community based approaches to disaster management (CBDRM), and conceptualized the first regional training/s and the introduction of this approach to CSOs and governments in the Asia-Pacific Region. He previously advised and consulted on disaster risk management for UNDP in Bangladesh, Yemen, Lao PDR and China. He has also undertaken similar work for the Asian Development Bank and the European Commission. Sanny holds a Master Degree on Emergency Management from Charles Sturt University, Australia

 

Natural Disaster Reduction, Recovery

Mr. Krishna Vatsa

Regional Disaster Risk Reduction Adviser - South Asia

Area of Work : Natural Disaster Reduction, Recovery

As part of the Centre’s CPR practice team and based out of Delhi, India, Krishna assists Country Offices in South and South West Asia on disaster risk management issues such as disaster mitigation and recovery. He provides policy review and development advice, technical backstopping for planning and management activities and applied research services.

Krishna has worked for more than 15 years on disaster risk reduction and recovery issues. Over the last 10 years, Krishna has held leadership positions and consulted for a number of international organizations including UNDP, World Bank, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, Inter-American Development Bank, Asian Development Bank and the Secretariat of International Strategy for Disaster Reduction. Prior to joining the Centre, Krishna worked as Early Recovery Coordinator with the UNDP Philippines. As a career civil servant from India, Krishna has held the positions of Secretary, Rural Development and Secretary, Relief, Rehabilitation and Disaster Management in the Government of Maharashtra from 2003 to 2007. He implemented the World Bank-funded Maharashtra Emergency Earthquake Rehabilitation Programme during 1995-99.

 

Mr. Rajesh Sharma

Regional Information Systems Specialist

Areas of Work: Natural Disaster Reduction, Knowledge and Information Management

Rajesh is responsible for information management on disaster recovery coordination and risk reduction. Rajesh analyses disaster trends and beneficiary tracking in India, Indonesia, Maldives, Sri Lanka and Thailand. This information is used to strengthen UNDP’s disaster response coordination.

Rajesh joined UNDP from the Asian Disaster Preparedness Centre (ADPC) in Bangkok. At ADPC Rajesh managed and implemented the information and networking component of a ten-country regional programme - Asian Urban Disaster Mitigation Programme supported by USAID. Formerly, Rajesh has served as National Programme Coordinator of UNDP’s Sustainable Development Networking Programme (SDNP) in India and established the Secretariat at the Ministry of Environment and Forests in New Delhi.

 

Ms. Radhika Behuria

Regional Programme Specialist - Gender in Crisis

Areas of Work: Gender and Disaster Risk Reduction, Gender and Conflict Prevention and Recovery

Radhika provides knowledge and capacity development support pertaining to the work of the Regional Crisis Prevention and Recovery Programme. More specifically, in her capacity as Regional Programme Specialist on Gender in Crisis, she supports the: (i) strengthening of national and regional capacities in using gender sensitive conflict and disaster risk analysis, and (ii) implementation of BCPR's Eight Point Agenda.

Radhika has been based at the Regional Centre with the Gender Team since 2005, working with the Asia Pacific Gender Programme and supporting Country Offices on their gender mainstreaming efforts. Prior to joining the RCB, she was based in the Regional Programme Division with RBAP in New York. She holds a Master's Degree in Gender and Media Studies from the University of Sussex.

 

Ms. Ana Graca

Programme Specialist

Areas of Work: Conflict Prevention and Recovery in Fragile Countries

Ana is responsible for providing policy and technical support to conflict prevention and recovery in fragile countries, namely on CPR mainstreaming and programming, rule of law and security sector for countries of Asia-Pacific.

Ana has over ten years of experience working with UNDP, seven of which in the Asia Pacific region including some months in the APRC where she performed several regional evaluations of access to justice programmes in 2009. She joined the UN family in 2001 in Timor-Leste working for UNFPA as a Gender Based Violence Project Manager and joined UNDP in 2003 as the Chief Technical Advisor of the Justice System Programme. In late 2007 she moved to Africa to work as the Assistant Resident Representative in UNDP Angola responsible for the Democratic Governance Cluster for 2 years. She has also worked in Guinea Bissau as the Rule of Law and Security Sector Programme Manager and she just came from New York where she was assisting the BCPR Rule of Law Team. Ana is a Portuguese lawyer and prior to joining the UN she performed as a criminal lawyer for 4 years and as a legal advisor in a humanitarian NGO in her hometown in Lisbon. She holds a master degree in Law and International Studies from the Lisbon Law University.

 

Mr. Pairach Homtong

Disaster Inventories Associate

Areas of Work: Natural Disaster Reduction, Web programming and Databases

Pairach assists the Regional Programme with the development and construction of historical disaster loss databases in programme countries including Thailand, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Indonesia and Tamil Nadu state of India. He also provides direct IT support to programme countries for customizing, configuring and hosting these databases.

Prior to UNDP, he worked in the private sector as a programmer. In addition to programming skills, he also has experience in GIS integration, e-commerce solutions and customer support for both software and hardware.

 

Ms. Varisara Anansiribovorn

Programme Assistant

Areas of work: Operations and Administration

Varisara supports Crisis Prevention and Recovery Team in managing procurement processes, preparing meetings, seminars and workshops, providing logistical services as well as other related secretarial and administrative support.

Prior to joining CPR team, she worked for Environment and Energy team as Administrative Assistant. Prior to joining UNDP, she worked for International Organization for Migration (IOM) as Finance and Administrative Assistant.

 

Capacity Development

Ms. Dipa Bagai

Capacity Development Adviser and Regional Coordinator

Areas of Work: Capacity Development

Dipa supports Country Offices’ efforts to mainstream capacity development into programming, and provides advice and technical backstopping on capacity diagnostics, designing capacity development strategies and monitoring at the local and national levels. She also assists Country Offices by developing guidelines and toolkits for capacity development, including targeted initiatives such as leadership development.

Dipa has undertaken numerous assignments and conducted studies for UNDP, donors and international organizations on capacity development, public administration reform, technical cooperation, donor coordination and harmonization issues and strategic planning.

Prior to this assignment, she worked with the World Bank as Senior Partnership Specialist. She had worked for over fifteen years as a civil servant in India. She has also provided consultancy services including policy advice and partnership building support, and was involved in the development, management, and evaluation of capacity development programmes particularly in the Asia and Pacific Region.

 

Knowledge Management

Mr. J. David Galipeau

Knowledge Management Team Leader

Areas of Work: Regional and Country Knowledge Strategy, Knowledge Management and Sharing

David facilitates the implementation of the corporate Knowledge Strategy, development of regional knowledge sharing initiatives, and promotes the development of country level knowledge management (KM) capabilities. As well as provides training and outreach on KM products including Teamworks platform, David is also available to advise on knowledge management needs and opportunities for enabling staff to share knowledge. He also works to enhance inter-agency knowledge sharing and engagement to assist you in providing more effective responses to development priorities.

Professionally, David has served in senior Communications, Web and Knowledge Management positions within the finance, publishing, and consumer goods industries and sits on the advisory board of several non-profit organizations. After a successful run as a dotcom entrepreneur, David joined the United Nations in 2005 completing appointments with UNAIDS and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

 

Public-Private Partnerships

Ms. Diana Brandes

Programme Specialist Public Private Partnership for Local Service Delivery (PPPLSD)

Areas of Work: Programme Advisory

Diana works as the Programme Specialist Public Private Partnership for Local Service Delivery under the Bureau for Development Policy (BDP) and Global Capacity Development Group (CDG) at the Centre. She works under the direct supervision of the PPPSD Global Task manager in Johannesburg. Her work involves programme advisory services to UNDP Country offices and Governments in the region on the application of PPP as complementary approach to improve local service delivery and meet the MDG’s, Programme Development and Implementation support, Knowledge Product Development and Knowledge networking.

Prior to joining the Centre, Diana worked as a Capacity Development consultant for different UNDP Practice teams in Bangkok and Papua New Guinea. She also worked in the development sector as Portfolio Strengthening Advisor in SNV Nepal, as Organizational Development and Management Advisor in Lithuania, Cameroon and Nepal and as Senior Manager in the corporate (financial) sector at ING Group in the Netherlands.

Gender

Ms. Kim Henderson

Practice Leader

Areas of Work: Practice Management: Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment

Kim is responsible for providing substantive and managerial leadership of the regional gender team and all activities related to gender at the RSC. This includes: supporting and overseeing regional gender programme activities and gender mainstreaming in the regional programme; overseeing support to country offices on gender issues; managing the provision of policy advisory services to Governments and other partners in the region in the area of gender; contributing to global and regional policy development and leading UNDP’s advocacy and partnership building in gender equality and women’s empowerment in the region.

Prior to joining the APRC, Kim was the global adviser on Gender and Crisis Prevention and Recovery with the Gender Team in New York. She has spent many years with UNDP managing and delivering global advisory services, including as Manager of the Knowledge Management Group and with the Democratic Governance Group. Before joining UNDP, she worked on a range of development issues for the Australian Agency for International Development, with a particular focus on democratic governance and the Asia-Pacific region. Kim has 15 years experience in international development, working in bilateral and multilateral agencies as well as in her own Parliament.

 

Mr. Omar Siddique

Programme Specialist

Areas of Work: Gender Mainstreaming and Inclusive Growth

Omar is the focal point in the Gender Team for Sexual and Gender-Based Violence programming, gender parity, and integrating gender issues into the post-2015 development processes. He has extensive experience in research, technical and policy analysis, and programme management in Asia-Pacific. His expertise includes mainstreaming gender into urban planning and governance initiatives, with specific focus on housing/tenurial security, transportation/mobility, poverty reduction and pro-poor livelihoods. Omar also works part time for the Inclusive Growth and Poverty Reduction Team leading the team's work on inclusive and sustainable urbanization.

He previously provided research to the Asia Pacific Human Development Report (APHDR) series, including the 2010 APHDR on Gender, 'Power, Voice and Rights'. An American national, Omar holds a Masters in International Relations from New York University, USA, and Bachelors from Monash University, Melbourne, Australia, with a double major in Geography and Political Science.

 

HIV, Health and Development

Mr. Clifton Cortez

Practice Leader – HIV, Health and Development

Areas of Work: Team Leadership and Management, External Partnerships, HIV and the Law, Human Rights and Social Justice

Clif leads the Asia-Pacific Regional Centre’s work on HIV and other Health issues. He holds a juris doctorate (JD) from Georgetown University, in Washington, DC, and has over 17 years of experience in HIV responses in developing countries, the last 13 of those years with USAID. He brings to the role extensive experience on HIV programming across the Asia-Pacific region as well as hands-on experience in integrating HIV as a crosscutting concern in areas such as climate change, governance and capacity development.

Prior to joining UNDP, since 2005 he was the USAID Regional Team Leader for HIV, based in the USAID Regional Development Mission Asia, in Bangkok. During all of that time, his training in law and human rights has been the foundation for his perspective and approaches to his work in supporting responses to HIV.

 

Ms. Marta Vallejo-Mestres

Programme Specialist

Areas of Work: HIV/AIDS and Mobility, HIV/AIDS in the Workplace and Coordination

Marta provides substantive support for the coordination and implementation of the activities of the Regional Task Force on Mobility and HIV Vulnerability reduction in South East Asia, as well as regional HIV/AIDS and mobility initiatives in South Asia.  She focuses on research, policy advice, liaison, knowledge management services, and HIV/AIDS in the work place. Marta is currently working as part of the Regional HIV/AIDS Programme managed from the Regional Centre in Colombo and is out-posted to the Regional Centre in Bangkok.

Marta’s has worked in the UN system since 1999. Before joining the Centre, Marta worked as a joint UNDP/UNAIDS Regional Programme Officer in the Middle East and North Africa. She has also worked with UNDP Egypt as a JPO where she coordinated the regional portfolio with Egypt’s national programme. Previously she served with UNICEF in China on internal migration and with the UNDAF and UNDP Country Programme for Sao Tome e Principe, in West Africa.

 

Mr. Edmund Settle

Policy Adviser – HIV, Rights, Law and Sexual Diversity

Areas of Work: Gender, Human Rights and Sexual Diversity

Edmund works on expanding and strengthening UNDP’s response to human rights, legal and governance challenges faced by those most vulnerable to HIV including people of diverse sexual orientation and gender identity. Since arriving at APRC in 2009, he has supported regional partners and country offices address these challenges which limit equitable access to health and other legal/social services for men who have sex with men, transgender people and other vulnerable groups. He is currently managing two regional Global Fund programmes covering nine countries in South Asia and Southeast Asia; working with two WHO regional centers to address stigma and discrimination in health care settings; and continues to support Bureau of Development Policy (BDP) with the role out of the Global Commission on HIV and the Law in the region. In addition, Edmund is managing the cross-practice (HIV, Health and Development and Democratic Governance) Being Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender (LGBT) in Asia initiative covering seven countries in South-East and East Asia.

Prior to joining APRC, Edmund worked at UNDP China and completed a detailed assignment with UNDP Philippines. He received his Master’s degree in International Policy Studies/Human Security at the Monterey Institute of International Studies and his Bachelor’s degree in Modern Chinese History at the University of California, San Diego.

 

Mr. Kazuyuki Uji

HIV/AIDS Programme Specialist

Areas of Work: Socioeconomic Impact of HIV, HIV-sensitive Social Protection, Access to Affordable Medicines, Social Determinants of Health

Kaz provides technical support on a range of HIV-related issues. In particular, he works on issues related to socioeconomic impact of HIV at the household level; HIV-sensitive social protection; human rights of people living with and affected by HIV; intellectual property rights, trade, and access to affordable medicines; and social determinants of health.

Prior to joining the Centre, Kaz was a research associate at the Tokyo Medical and Dental University and the WHO Collaborating Centre on Urban Health Policy, teaching and researching health promotion policies in Asia. Kaz also brings 6 years of corporate sector experience in marketing and sales. As a Japanese national, he holds a Master’s degree in Public Health (MPH) from the School of Medicine, Yale University.

 

Ms. Nashida Sattar

HIV/AIDS Programme Specialist

Areas of Work: Implementation Support and Oversight, Knowledge and Capacity Development

Nashida works with the HIV Team in providing programming, implementation support and oversight, and knowledge and capacity development services. In particular, she works on HIV, gender and human rights issues.

Nashida has been working with the Regional HIV Team at the Regional Center in Colombo for the past 3 years. Prior to that she was a National Officer at UNDP Maldives heading the Governance Unit. Nashida is a Maldivian national and holds a Master’s Degree in Development Studies with Social Anthroplogy from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London.

 

Ms. Pranee Threekul

Programme Assistant

Areas of Work: Research, Administrative and Financial Support

Pranee provides administrative and logistical support to HIV, Health and Development. She provides administrative backstopping to policy advisory missions, supports workshop and conference management, and consolidates research reports and background materials in preparation for missions and workshops. Pranee is proficient in financial management using ATLAS, and is responsible for monitoring and reporting programme fund utilization.

Prior to joining the Centre, Pranee worked with UNDP CO for 5 years.

 

Inclusive Growth & Poverty Reduction

Ms. Alessandra Casazza

Officer-in-Charge and Policy Adviser

Areas of Work: MDG Acceleration, MDG Progress, MDG localization and MDG-Linked Gaps in Social Services

Alessandra is the Focal Point responsible for MDG Acceleration; Tracking MDG Progress; MDG localization; and MDG-linked gaps in social services in support of local development for countries of Asia Pacific. This includes Regional and MDG Reporting, tracking and monitoring; outputs of the Team’s regional programmes; policy development and advocacy of knowledge products; technical and policy advisory services to support country programmes; and MDG-linked partnerships.

Alessandra has over ten years of work experience with UNDP, seven of which in the Asia-Pacific region. She joined UNDP in 2000, when she took up her first assignment as a JPO, in the Timor-Leste Country Office. After spending five years in Timor-Leste, she moved to Sri Lanka, where she worked with the Country Office as advisor to the Ministry of Finance and Planning, to advance the national MDG agenda. In recent times, Alessandra was working in New York, in the Bureau for Development Policy/Capacity Development Group. Prior to joining UNDP, she worked in New Zealand, and in her home country, Italy, with KPMG, working on Corporate Social Accountability. Alessandra is an Italian national and holds a Master in Development Economics from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in London.

 

Mr. Biplove Choudhary

Programme Specialist

Areas of Work: Trade for Poverty Reduction, Inclusive Globalization and Fostering South-South Economic Linkages

Biplove is Programme Specialist with the Asia Pacific Trade and Investment Initiative (APTII) under the Poverty Practice. A development economist with over 11 years of experience at the policy, research and grass-roots levels, he has been working with UNDP since 2007. Prior to joining the Asia-Pacific Regional Centre, he was posted at the Regional Centre in Colombo. Earlier, he headed CENTAD, the Trade and Development arm of Oxfam in South Asia and had been an advisor to civil society organizations, national governments and international agencies such as Commonwealth Secretariat-DFID, USAID, and UN agencies.

Biplove holds a Ph.D. in international trade and human development from the Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi and was a visiting faculty to the academic institutions such as Institute for Human Development and Delhi University. He is a former Fellow of the Cambridge Advanced Programme on Rethinking Development Economics and has published extensively on poverty and inclusive growth in academic journals, books and mainstream media.

 

Mr. Taimur Khilji

Policy Specialist – MDG

Areas of Work: MDGs, Social Protection, Inequality and Social Exclusion

Taimur is Policy Specialist for MDG initiatives as part of the Poverty Team. He works on the MDGs, Social Protection and Social and Economic Inequality. Prior to joining the Centre, he has worked at the Regional Centre in Colombo, The Partnership Bureau, New York, and Regional Bureau for Asia and Pacific, New York.

Before UNDP, he opened a primary school in Islamabad, Pakistan that continues to provide education and basic health services to children. Taimur completed his undergraduate education from Williams College (MA, USA) and Exeter College, Oxford University in Mathematics and Philosophy and his postgraduate studies from the New School University (New York, USA) in Economics.

 

Ms. Yumiko Yamamoto

Programme Specialist

Areas of Work: Gender and Economy, Inclusive Growth, Trade and Human Development

Yumiko provides technical support on a range of economic policy issues, in particular from a gender perspective. A feminist economist with over 10 years of experience in research, policy advice, and programme management, she has been working with UNDP since 2005. Before joining the Asia-Pacific Regional Centre, she was based at the Regional Centre in Colombo.

Prior to joining UNDP, Yumiko taught Economics courses at the academic institutions in the USA and Japan. She also brings work experiences at a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting gender equality in Japan. Her current focus areas are capacity development on gender and macroeconomic issues, human development impact assessment of trade, and intellectual property rights and access to knowledge.

 

Ms. Ryce Chanchai

Programme Analyst

Areas of Work: Inclusive Growth and Globalization, MDG and Social Policies and Institutions

Ryce joined the Inclusive Growth and Poverty Reduction Team in January 2011 and has been re-appointed as Programme Analyst.  Her recent work focused on social and economic policy research analysis particularly on social protection.  She also provided policy advisory services and technical support to country offices on issues related to poverty reduction and MDG acceleration in the Asia-Pacific region.   Ryce is also responsible for contributing to and coordinating the Team’s knowledge management and advocacy and technical and policy advisory services, including capacity development.  She works with the Team Leader in reporting, monitoring, resource mobilization and management, and function as an integral part of the team responsible for common outputs and results across the three key work steams: inclusive growth and globalization, MDG, and Social Policy and Institutions.

Ryce has been with the UN family since 2007.  Her previous work covers the areas of governance and accountability, advocacy, capacity building for governments, media and civil society organizations, and social inclusion of ethnic minorities and indigenous peoples in Bhutan, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Nepal and the Philippines.  

 

Ms. Anyamanee Somboonsabdee

Programme Assistant

Areas of Work: Administrative and Financial Support, Knowledge Building and Sharing

Anyamanee works in close collaboration with the operations, programme and the project staff at UNDP APRC and UNDP HQ to exchange information and support programme delivery.

Anyamanee holds a Bachelor Degree in Communication Arts and Broadcasting from Chulalongkorn University. She has over 9 years of working experience in administrative and operational management from various international business industries. Prior to joining the Centre, she worked as a Staff Assistant for UN World Food Programme.

Human Development Report Unit

Mr. Bishwa Tiwari

Deputy Programme Coordinator

Areas of Work: Project Management, Reporting and Capacity Building

Bishwa undertakes managerial and substantive intellectual work on regional human development reports (RHDRs), planning, implementing and managing the delivery of RHDRs, human development policies, HD-related advocacy and capacity development, knowledge products and other results. Among others, his three key functions are: (i) overall project management and reporting, (ii) preparation of the Asia Pacific Human Development Reports; and (iii) capacity building services to the countries of the Asia Pacific region on their demand.

Bishwa holds a PhD in Economics, and MSc in Environmental and Resource Economics. He has the blend of both technical and managerial experience. He taught more than 20 years in universities, and conducted research works in different areas/themes including poverty, inequality and human development; food insecurity and vulnerability; child and women development; drinking water and sanitation; and monitoring & evaluation.  He has authored some books and/or chapters, and more than a dozen of articles in national and international journals. He was the lead author of Nepal Human Development Report 2009: State Transformation and Human Development.

Bishwa has been offering services to UNDP and other UN agencies in different capacities since 1994. He has worked as Project Manager for more than six years for UNDP Nepal. Prior to joining the Centre, he worked for UNDP Bangladesh and Myanmar.

Ms. Rohini Kohli

Programme Specialist

Areas of Work: Human Development Research and Outreach, CO Advisory Services and Capacity Development, Programme Management Support

Rohini works on research and advocacy for the Asia-Pacific Human Development Report. She contributes technical and policy advisory services to Country Offices on human development with an emphasis on reports, capacity building, dialogue and outreach. She has over nine years of experience in poverty and human development related initiatives, monitoring and evaluation, publications, knowledge and programme management. She is specialized in qualitative research, with an interest in political economy and sociology.

 

Ms. Supharat Kaewkhonkaen

Statistics Associate

Areas of Work: Research and Analysis, Capacity Development and Knowledge Management

Supharat supports the Team’s research and analysis work in maintaining a high quality database of statistics, indicators and indices related with publications of the Unit, including the flagship publication Asia-Pacific Human Development Reports.  She provides technical backstopping and capacity development services; and contribute to effective knowledge management and support to Teamworks.

Supharat holds Master’s degree in Business Administration, majoring in Information Systems from University of Tampa, Florida, U.S.A.  She has an international relations, business, and management information system background with more than 7 years work experience with UNESCAP as Research and Statistics Assistant in the MDG Centre/LDC Coordination Unit and Statistics Division, and over 3 years with the Financial Sector Restructuring Authority of Thailand as Researcher and Senior Auditor. She has undertaken research, developed and maintained statistical databases, and provided analysis for flagship publications on development related issues within Asia Pacific region with a focus on MDGs and comparative studies of financial sector restructuring agencies inside and outside of Southeast Asia.

 

Ms. Panvipa Lekluanngarm

Practice Assistant

Areas of Work: Administrative and Financial Support, Research and Events

Panvipa provides administrative and financial support services to the Human Development Report Unit.  She works in close collaboration with the operations, programme and project staff at UNDP APRC and UNDP HQ to exchange information and support programme delivery.

Prior to joining UNDP, she worked for an NGO based in Bangkok as a Project Coordinator/Researcher in Environmental Management and Corporate Social Responsibility.  She also has experience working for Thai government at the National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB).

 

Safety and Security

Mr. Peter Waa

Regional Security Adviser

Areas of Work: Safety and Security

As the UNDP Regional Security Advisor (RSA) for Asia and the Pacific, Peter leads the efforts of a team of more than 50 National and International Security Professionals providing security support to Country Offices across the Region.

Prior to joining the Centre, Peter was the Sub Regional Security Advisor for South East Asia and the Pacific, based in Jakarta, and previously the Sub Regional Security Advisor for Bangladesh, Pakistan and Iran, based in Islamabad. He joined UNDP in May 2008 after having served with the New Zealand Defence Force since 1987. His years of service included three UN Peacekeeping Missions (UNAMA in Afghanistan in 2006, UNTSO in the Middle East in 2002-03, and UNPROFOR in Bosnia in 1994-95), as well as many other operational deployments. Peter has a Master of Commerce Degree (Hons) from the University of Auckland.

 

Mr. Paul O'Hanlon

Sub-Regional Security Adviser

Areas of Work: The Sub-Regional Security Adviser for North-East Asia & the Mekong which consists of Mongolia, China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, DPR Korea, Republic of Korea, Japan and Thailand.

As part of the Security Management System (SMS) Paul liaises directly with the respective UNDP Country Office management teams and UNDSS, whilst reporting to the UNDP Regional Security Advisor. He is primarily responsible for developing UNDP security mechanisms, whilst implementing the mainstreaming of security within region;he provides an advisory function as an expert on field security matters, monitoring events that have the potential to impact the security/safety of UNDP staff, premises and assets.

Prior to joining the Centre, Paul spent four years in Afghanistan firstly with UNDSS followed by UNDP as the UNDP Field Security Advisor. His previous international experience has been predominantly within the Middle East:- Iraq, Kuwait, Jordan with the UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office and also within the private security sector, with the exception being his first UN mission deployment to East Timor in 1999. Paul has 18 years of service within the UK Police force and as part of the UK International Policing Unit and Rapid Deployment Teams.

 

Management Support Unit

Ms. Daniela Gasparikova

Programme Specialist

Areas of Work: Regional Programme Implementation

Daniela provides advisory support to Regional Programme implementation (DEX), carries out quality assurance functions for Regional Programme including monitoring and financial management of Regional Programme, provides support to Deputy Regional Director on inter-agency initiatives at the UNDG Asia-Pacific level and facilitates the ARPC knowledge management initiatives and outreach to clients. In addition, she supports the Asia-Pacific Country Offices in design, set up and implementation of monitoring, quality assurance and evaluation processes for their country programmes and projects.

Prior to joining the Centre, Daniela worked for UNDP Regional Centre in Bratislava where she led the country programmes of RBEC countries without Country Offices.

 

Ms. Kamolmas Jaiyen

Evaluation & RBM Officer

Areas of Work: Evaluation and Monitoring, Results-Based Management

Kamolmas is responsible for initiating and driving development results monitoring and reporting at APRC, including that of the Regional Programme for Asia and the Pacific, in line with corporate monitoring and reporting requirements. She is also responsible for establishing proper internal systems for project monitoring, quality assurance and evaluation system in line with UNDP policies.

Kamolmas has over 13 years of experience, ten of which on project management, grant administration, and monitoring and evaluation with a non-governmental organization, a global corporation, and, most recently, with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Kamolmas holds a Master of Arts in International Relations from Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand.

 

Ms. Churairat Phunphichit

Resource Management and Planning Analyst

Areas of Work: Project Management, Work-planning

Churairat provides support to the planning and monitoring of Regional Programme financial resources, monitors project activities and financial situation of development projects, and provides advisory services to project teams on UNDP administration and DEX reporting, in particular on budgetary issues.

Prior to joining the Centre, she worked for the World Food Programme (WFP) in Bangkok.

 

Ms. Sawitree Limvongsakul

Client Engagement Associate

Areas of Work: Advisory Services and Knowledge Management

Sawitree manages, monitors and supports the APRC’s teams to improve the processes related to APRC’s engagement with its clients, as well as facilitates development and monitoring of APRC-Country Office engagement plans. She supports the APRC’s teams on access to expertise service, including maintenance and enhancement of the rosters of consultants managed by APRC.

Sawitree was our Knowledge Services Associate during the past four years. Prior to joining APRC, she worked more than eight years at McKinsey & Co., the global strategic management consulting firm as the research and information team coordinator and three years as an equity analyst.

 

Ms. Maya Nyagolova

Development Information Officer

Areas of Work: Internal Knowledge Management and Communications

Maya coordinates and supports the APRC’s internal knowledge management and communication processes. She works closely with the practice teams to identify, develop and package regional programme products, results and lessons-learnt for enhanced and improved communication of functions and roles of the APRC towards its clients and stakeholders.

Maya was a Public Advocacy Officer at UNDP Bulgaria, designing and monitoring communications and advocacy strategies. Prior to UNDP Bulgaria, she worked for Bulgarian Diplomatic Review, Bulgarian and foreign media organizations as well as Ministry of Culture and National Film Centre.

 

Ms. Supaporn Daophises

Knowledge Management Associate

Areas of Work: Knowledge Management and Communications

Supaporn works on development, maintenance, management, publishing and regular update of content on the regional, external and internal information and collaboration platforms, and social media. She also supports development of new and existing knowledge management and communication tools.

Prior to joining the Centre, she worked for the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). She also has experience in integrated marketing communications, advertising and event organization.

 

Ms. Sirinporn Pongsurapipat

Programme Assistant

Areas of Work: Project Management, Administrative and Financial Support

Sirinporn provides support to project management, namely to project budgeting, budget monitoring, budgetary advise as well as ATLAS training.  She also provides administrative and operational assistance in day-to-day management of the Management Support Unit and Communications Unit.

She joined the Centre in 2010 to provide support on integration of programme budget from the Regional Centre in Colombo.  Prior to joining the Centre, she had worked as a Programme Assistant for MDG Advocacy and Human Development Analysis Unit of UNDP Thailand for nearly 4 years and as temporary research assistant for almost 1 year.  She graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Business Economics and a Master of Science in Financial Economics from Queen Mary College, University of London.

 

Regional Advisory Committee on Procurement

Mr. Ramakrishnan Iyer

Chief, Advisory Committee on Procurement for Asia and the Pacific

Areas of Work: Procurement Management/Oversight, Advisory Services and Capacity Building

Ram is responsible for oversight of procurement function in the Region. He provides advisory services and capacity assessment support to the Country Offices to ensure procurement enables development results. He regularly contributes to corporate policy development and focusses on harmonization of procurement across United Nations Agencies, through UN's HLCM Network.

Ram has over 24 years of experience in Operations. He started his career with the Government of India in 1989 and moved to work with the CGIAR Centres during 1995-2000. In 2001, he joined UNDP India Office and worked on the Gujarat Transition Recovery Team (in the aftermath of Gujarat Earthquake) and later worked with USAID/India as Project Specialist. During 2004-06, he worked as Operations Manager in UNDP Sri Lanka and later in the Bureau for Development Policy (BDP), New York. In late 2009, he moved to UNDP Sudan as Chief of Operations and was later assigned as Deputy Director of UNDP's Procurement Office in Copenhagen, where he managed UNDP's global procurement portfolio.

Ram holds a Masters' Degree in Business Administration from Maastricht School of Management in the Netherlands and is certified in various UNDP functional areas.

Mr. Chayut Mathurapote

Procurement Associate

Areas of Work: Procurement Policies, Rules and Regulations, Monitoring

As Secretary of Regional Advisory Committee on Procurement (RACP), Chayut facilitates country offices’ request for RACP approval. He manages RACP submission’s review process and is responsible for preliminary review of all procurement cases submitted to RACP ensuring that the proposed procurement action is in accordance with UNDP Regulations and Rules, procedures and instructions.

Chayut has work experience in administration and public relations. Prior to joining the Centre, he worked as a Public Relations Associate at Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) in Paris and later joined the Permanent Delegation of Thailand to UNESCO in 2003 as an Administrative Officer.

 

Operations Support

The Operations Support Team (OST) at the UNDP Asia-Pacific Regional Centre provides support services to the Regional Centre, UNDP Thailand and over 40 UN offices in Thailand and around the region. OST services cover the full range of operations including Human Resources, Finance, Administrative Services, Registry, and Information and Communications Technology. The OST also provides logistical support for workshops and meetings organized in Thailand, and works closely with other UN agencies to promote UN common services.

 

Ms. Margaret Goon

Chief of Operations

Areas of Work: Management, Performance and Results Management

As Chief of Operations, Margaret provides overall leadership and supervision of operational functions. She ensures that financial management, human resources, procurement, logistics, information and communication technologies and common services meet the needs of the Centre, UNDP Thailand and a number of UN Offices in Bangkok and elsewhere in the region.

Margaret brings with her a wealth of experience both in and out of UNDP. She started her career in the Government Audit Department in Malaysia before moving on to a number of UNDP positions. She worked as an Internal Auditor with UNDP Audit and Performance Department from 1994 to 2002, followed by positions in UNDP Indonesia as Operations Manager for the Tsunami Programme, and UNDP Bangladesh as DRR - Operations. In September 2007 she became Programme Adviser and Chief of the Management Support Unit at Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific (RBAP) in New York.  Margaret has a Master of Business Administration degree from Universiti Pertanian Selangor in Malaysia, and a Bachelor of Arts (Economics) degree from University of Malaysia. She is a Certified Internal Auditor and has a certificate in Legal practice.

 

Ms. Parichad Uttayan

Secretary/Operations Assistant

Areas of Work: Operations Support

Parichad ensures effective and efficient functioning of the Chief of Operations' Office, full confidentiality in all aspects of assignment, maintenance of protocol procedures and management of information flow. She also works in collaboration with OST, programme and project staff at APRC, Country Offices and other UN agencies.

Parichad holds a Bachelor of Arts and Humanities in French and Literature from Chiang Mai University, a Master of Business Administration from Burapha University and a Master of Arts in Language and Communications from National Institute of Development Administration.  Prior to joining UNDP, she worked as Secretary to Head of Operations at SIG Combibloc Ltd. for seven years.

 

Human Resources Unit

Ms. Morakot Buranachon

Human Resources & Learning Manager

Areas of Work: Strategic HR Services, Human Resources and Learning Management

Morakot manages the HR Unit, transparent implementation of HR strategies and effective delivery of HR services to the Centre, UNDP Thailand and client UN agencies in Thailand. She is also responsible for advocating, facilitating and coordinating learning activities and staff development of the Centre.

She has extensive experience in human resources and administration in the pharmaceutical, construction, information technology and printing industries. Prior to joining UNDP, she worked as Human Resources and Administration Manager for Schering (Bangkok) Ltd.

 

Ms. Inthira Faikam

Human Resources Assistant

Areas of Work: Human Resources Management

Inthira provides Human Resources services focusing on recruitment, administration and general support for fixed term contracts and Service Contracts (SC). She also manages monthly salary payment, benefits, and entitlements of Service Contracts.

Prior to joining UNDP, she worked as a Human Resources practitioner in the international manufacturing and IT industries.

 

Ms. Jintarah Sitalayan

Human Resources Assistant

Areas of Work: Learning, Performance Management

Jintarah provides Human Resources services in learning and performance management, leave records maintenance and internship selection process. She also provides administrative support to recruitment processes.

Prior to joining UNDP, she worked for the Civil Service Training Institute, Office of the Civil Service Commission.

 

Finance Services Unit

Ms. Rojanee Veerakiatikit

Finance Manager

Areas of Work: Accounting and Financial Management, Cost Recovery

Rojanee provides strategic direction of the FSU operations. She is responsible for the day-to-day management and provision of services to COs in the region with the aim of building capacities, knowledge and skills of CO finance units as well as the day-to-day management of full financial services in Thailand

Prior to joining UNDP, Rojanee worked for American Express (Thailand) Co., Ltd. Her last position was Planning and MIS Manager for ASEAN and South Asia. Prior to that, she worked for Exxon Mobil.

 

Ms. Apichada Pissathanporn

Finance Assistant

Areas of Work: Accounting and Financial Management

Apichada provides payment services to Non-ATLAS agencies such as IAEA, WIPO, IMO, WMO, and processes all payment authorizations from UNDP HQ New York. She also handles payments for service contract holders’ salary, rent and utility services to UNESCAP, pouch and postage charges and long distance telephone use.

Prior to joining UNDP, she worked for Philips Electronics (Thailand) Ltd. as a Payment Associate in a shared service centre.

 

Mr. Athapol Sanwiriya

Finance Associate

Areas of Work: Accounting and Financial Management

Athapol provides payment services to Country Offices, and oversees payment services rendered by his team members for Non- ATLAS agencies, salaries to international staff and service contract holders, overtime payments, rent and utility payments, pouch and postage charges, overseas calls, petty cash expenses and MIP reimbursements. He is also the resource person for training relating to daily subsistence allowance (DSA) rules and regulations and payment procedures.

Prior to joining UNDP, he worked as an Accountant for the United Nations Border Relief Operation (UNBRO)/UNHCR.

 

Ms. Ladapa Aramcharoen

Finance Assistant

Areas of Work: Accounting and Financial Management

Ladapa provides financial services ensuring high quality, accuracy and consistency of work. She promotes a client-oriented approach consistent with UNDP rules and regulations and works in close collaboration with the operations, programme and projects’ staff and with UNDP’s HQ New York staff to exchange information and ensure consistent service delivery.

Prior to joining UNDP, she worked for PricewaterhouseCooper Legal & Tax (Thailand) Ltd.

 

Ms. Nadda Chotiwichit

Finance Analyst

Areas of Work: Accounting and Financial Management

Nadda provides advice and support to UNDP Country Offices in the Asia Pacific region through: advisory services, issue identification and resolution, leading process improvements, knowledge sharing, and building capacities and skills of CO finance units. The Finance Analyst also manages the management plan, budgeting, financial reporting and analysis of the Centre and UNDP Thailand.

Prior to joining UNDP, Nadda worked in business process and IT field in Tele-Communication and B2B industry.

 

Ms. Varaluck Thirawattanavong

Finance Supervisor

Areas of work: Accounting and Financial Management

Varaluck supervises and leads the Finance Services Unit members delivering local finance services to the Asia-Pacific Regional Center, Thailand Country Office, and other client agencies. She oversees payment services, cash management, bank reconciliation, cost recovery billing and accounting including accounts closing.

Varaluck holds Master and Bachelor Degrees of Science in Accounting from Thammasat and Chulalongkorn University. She started her career as external auditor at PricewaterhouseCoopers. She then joined Ford Operations (Thailand) Co., Ltd as Accounting Manager. Prior to joining the Centre, she was Finance Manager for AED and ActionAid International Asia Regional Office.

 

Administrative Services Unit

 

Ms. Somlak Supkongyu

Procurement and Administrative Services Manager

Areas of Work: Procurement of Goods and Services, Contract Management, Administrative Services

Somlak is responsible for effective delivery of procurement services in order to obtain the best value for money and to provide efficient administrative and logistics services. She analyzes and interprets the financial rules and regulations and provides solutions to a wide spectrum of complex issues related to procurement and administrative services.

Somlak had extensive experience in procurement, logistics and administration with private sector, NGO and UNDP. She started her career with UNDP in 2003 handling procurement of goods and services, individual contracts as well as Long Term Agreements. She holds a Master's degree in Supply Chain Management.

 

Ms. Pattanoot Pongpanit

Procurement Associate

Areas of Work: Procurement of Goods and Services, Contract Management

Pattanoot provides procurement supports to UNDP Thailand and APRC, ensuring execution of transparent and efficient procurement services and processes She is responsible for hiring Individual Consultants (IC), Request for Proposal (RFP) and assists the Procurement and Administrative Services Manager in providing technical guidance to staff members of the Procurement Unit.

Pattanoot has extensive experience in private sector and the UN system. She was a Senior Supply Assistant at UNHCR, responsible for procurement activities for Regional Office, Thailand Office, and Field Offices in Thailand. From 2004-2011, she was Procurement Assistant at UNDP, responsible for procurement of goods and services for UNDP Thailand and APRC. Prior to joining the UN, she worked in HR & procurement function for Siam Cement & The Dow Chemical Group of Joint Venture Companies.

 

Ms. Jarintorn Kiatniyomrung

Procurement Assistant

Areas of Work: Procurement of Goods and Services, Contract Management

Jarintorn supports procurement services to the Asia-Pacific Regional Centre, UNDP Thailand Country Office and its clients, including other country offices in the Asia Pacific Region. In addition, her responsibilities include the implementation of sourcing strategy, providing support to the control of assets and accuracy and timely processing of travel related services.

She has extensive experience in logistics and procurement. She started her career in 1995 with Unilever Thai Holdings Limited as a Logistics Staff for 5 years. Then she moved to work as Logistics Engineer with Aapico Hi Tech PLC. for 3 years. In 2002, she joined Jotun Powder Coatings (Thailand) Ltd. as a Purchasing Executive for 3 year. Prior to UNDP, she worked as Procurement Assistant at UNOPS for 4 years.

 

Ms. Benjawan Simprasert

Administrative Assistant

Areas of Work: Administrative Support

Benjawan provides administrative support services and logistical support for events organization in Thailand.

Prior to joining UNDP, she worked as an Executive Assistant to the Managing Director in the international oil exploration and production industry.

 

Ms. Sukhuma Muthikul

Administrative Assistant

Areas of Work: Shipping, Administration and Asset Management

Sukhuma provides shipping and administrative services and handles asset management for the UNDP Thailand and the Centre.

She has more than 10 years of experience in the foreign trade business.

 

Mr. Thanakit Nithaaksorn

Administrative Assistant

Areas of Work: Administrative Services (Visa)

Thanakit provides administrative services to assist staff with Thai government document issuance and renewal, including UN Laissez-Passer, non-immigrant visas, extensions of stay, re-entry permits, identification cards and driver licenses for international staff.

Prior to joining UNDP, he worked in flight operations for FedEx.

 

Thanatat Thipnamthong

Driver/Clerk

Areas of Work: Staff Services

Thanatat handles VAT Exception Certification. He provides driving service to senior management and guests, arranges conference rooms and provides other services to the Centre and UNDP Thailand.

Prior to joining UNDP, he worked as a driver at the US Embassy in Bangkok.

 

Mr. Kemmatat Gettong

Driver

Areas of Work: Staff Services

Kemmatat provides driving service to senior management and other staff. He also arranges conference room facilities for the Centre.

Prior to joining UNDP, he worked as a driver for other UN agencies.

 

Mr. Vitoon Daengchat

Driver

Areas of Work: Staff Services

Vitoon provides driving service to senior management and other staff.

Prior to joining UNDP, he worked as a driver at the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

 

Information Management Unit

Mr. Tanya Janjarasskul

Information Manager

Areas of Work: Management of Information and Communication Technologies

Tanya provides ICT and registry management for the Centre, Country Offices and selected sister agencies. His services include ICT infrastructure management, application development, deployment, implementation, help desk services and ICT consultation.

Prior to joining UNDP, Tanya worked as a Project Director for Platinum Technology (now Computer Associates).

 

Mr. Jirawat Rattanamet

ICT Associate

Areas of Work: Information and Communication Technologies

Jirawat provides daily technical support for users of information management tools and technology infrastructure. He is also responsible for the review and advice on the use of new technologies that will enhance the units’ productivity.

Jirawat has 11 years of work experience in Network/Server/IT Security Administration, Web development and IT supports and management. Prior to joining UNDP, he worked as Network Engineer for Lehman Brothers (Thailand).

 

Ms. Dusitporn Artyingyongchai

Information Technology Assistant

Areas of Work: Information Technology

Dusitporn provides daily technical support in information management tools and technology infrastructure. She works in close collaboration with the Front Office, Management Support and Business Development, Programme and Operations teams for resolving complex ICT-related issues.

She has over 10 years of experience in IT supports, network & telecommunication maintenance; system & server administration as well as network configuration with private sector and public organizations including Embassy of the United States of America, Fujitsu System Business (Thailand) and PricewaterhouseCoopers (Thailand). Prior to joining UNDP, Dusitporn worked as ICT Assistant for International Committee of the Red Cross .

Dusitporn holds a Bachelor of Computer Science from King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology Ladkrabang.

 

Mr. Rattaphol Vihokrat

Information Technology Assistant

Areas of Work: Information Technology

Rattaphol provides assistance with technical aspects of information systems – daily support, training and implementation, and ensuring high availability of the user environment.

He has a Master of Technology and Innovation Management from King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi. He has more than ten years of experience and background in IT support, system & server administration in multi-cultural organizations, especially in the first and second level IT user support. Prior to joining UNDP, he worked as System Engineer at Capital Advisory Services (Thailand) Ltd.

 

Mr. Piched Tachawattanakun

Web Programmer

Areas of Work: Web-based Applications Development

Piched develops web-based applications based on Microsoft .Net framework, workflow applications, ASP .Net. He also designs, implements and maintains project websites for UNDP.

Piched has more than five years of experience in website development (Microsoft .Net and ASP .Net). Prior to joining UNDP, he worked for Kimberly-Clark Thailand Ltd., Sun Systems Corporation Ltd. and Hutchison CAT wireless Multimedia Ltd.

 

Mr. Thodsapon Sittiphon

Application Developer

Areas of Work: Information and Communication Technology  

Thodsapon is responsible for development of SharePoint applications including (1) Approval-based document review system for ACP Online process, publications, and other document management workflow; (2) Basic automation tools that are commonly used among UNDP Country Offices; (3) Porting of .Net applications to SharePoint 2010 based applications targeting at SharePoint AppStore; (4) Integration modules with Internet and Extranet components; and (5) Testing and provide Proof of Concept (POC) for various SharePoint applications.

Thodsapon holds Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Ubonratchathani University. He worked as consultant for the Centre for 2 years on SharePoint projects of e-Protocol System, Services Tracker, ACP Online, UN Online Directory and APRC's software package.  Prior to joining the Centre, he worked as Programmer, Analyst, and .Net developer for more than 6 years in private sectors.

 

Ms. Pinyada Janthana

Information Assistant

Areas of Work: Registry Services

Pinyada provides registry services for incoming communications and document management.

Prior to joining UNDP, she was a Service Assistant in the Underwriting Department of Citicorp Finance & Securities (Thailand) Ltd.

 

Ms. Saowani Bunwong

Information Management Clerk

Areas of Work: ICT Support and Registry Services

Saowani provides ICT support and registry services for the Centre, Country Offices and sister agencies. These services include off-site ICT support, help desk services, web maintenance and delivery of outgoing pouches.

Prior to joining UNDP, she worked as a Web Designer for IMEX DECOR in the export glass tile industry.

Other Regional Centre affiliated UNDP colleagues in Asia-Pacific

Pacific Centre, Suva, Fiji

• Please see http://www.undppc.org.fj/