Our Team in Kyrgyz Republic

UN Resident Coordinator Antje Grawe

Ms. Antje Grawe

UN Resident Coordinator in the Kyrgyz Republic
Ms. Grawe brings more than 20 years of experience in international cooperation, sustainable development and peace and security with the United Nations and other international and bilateral organizations.

Prior to her appointment as UN Resident Coordinator, Ms. Grawe served for three and a half years with the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine, first as Deputy Chief Monitor leading the Mission's work in the fields of human rights, gender, environment and dialogue facilitation, since April this year as Acting Head of Mission.

Earlier, she served with UN Political and Peace Operations in various leadership and senior advisory roles in Afghanistan, Haiti and for the Office of the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Yemen (OSESGY). In Afghanistan, she led the Regional Office of the United Nations Assistance Mission (UNAMA) in Herat and was the Head of the Mission's Analysis and Planning Unit. In the OSESGY, she served as Senior Peacebuilding Officer after having advised the Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) as Senior Special Assistant for nearly four years.

Ms. Grawe also worked with the German Government at the Embassy in Pakistan as Counsellor for Economic Cooperation and Development and as Desk Officer for Afghanistan in the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) in Bonn, in addition to positions with the German Corporation for International Cooperation (GIZ) at its Headquarters in Germany and in Afghanistan.

Ms. Antje Grawe holds a master’s degree in Political Science and History from the University in Trier, Germany. She also holds a certificate in political science from the Institut d’Études Politiques in Bordeaux, France, and studied at Universities in Krakow and Warsaw in Poland.
Dr. Amir Piric

Dr. Amir Piric

UNESCO
Director (Officer-in-Charge) of the UNESCO Almaty Regional Office and UNESCO Representative to Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan
 
Dr Amir Piric works for UNESCO since 2004, initially as Head of Evaluation Office, within the Internal Oversight Service (IOS) of UNESCO and lately as Chief Programme Coordinator at UNESCO Institute for Lifelong-learning in Hamburg, Germany. He has been appointed as Director (Officer-in-Charge) for the UNESCO Almaty Regional Office as of 1 April 2023.

Before joining UNESCO, Dr Amir Piric worked for various institutions such as the Nordic Institute for Studies on Innovation based in Oslo in 2004, and the Government of New Zealand from 1996 to 2004. He holds a PhD in Public Administration as well as s Masters in European Society, Science and Technology from Roskilde University (Denmark).

Dr Piric holds dual citizenship (New Zealand and Serbia).

Representative in the Kyrgyz Republic

Dr. Liviu Vedrasco

WHO
Representative to the Kyrgyz Republic
 
Prior to his current assignment, Liviu led a WHO unit in WHE at HQ (2020-2023) that orchestrated simulation exercises and emergency response reviews. Prior to that Liviu served WHO in Myanmar (2013-2014), Sierra Leone (2014-215), and Thailand (2014-2020).

From the start of the COVID-19 pandemic throughout 2020 Dr. Vedrasco served as COVID-19 Coordination Liaison for Asia Pacific in Bangkok. At the peak of the Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone (11/2014 – 3/2015) Dr. Vedrasco coordinated the WHO emergency response operation that helped end the Ebola epidemic.

Prior to WHO, Liviu held leadership roles with UN agencies, philanthropies, and NGOs including Chief of Party for the USAID PREPARE pandemic preparedness project in D.C. (2009-2011); UN Pandemic Readiness Adviser with UNOCHA, Dakar (2007-2009); Health Adviser with the International Rescue Committee, Thailand (2004-2007); Country Director with the International Medical Corps, Georgia (2002-2004); Regional Director for Central and Eastern Europe with Carelift International, PA, USA (1999-2001) and Programs Director with the Open Society Foundations, Moldova (1994-1997).

Dr. Vedrasco was awarded a Master of Public Health by the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health (1999) and a Medical Doctor degree by the Moldova State University of Medicine and Pharmacy (1996). He is fluent in English, Russian, and French in addition to his native Romanian.
Dr. Patrick Goettner works in the Technical Cooperation Section of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and has more than 7 years of experience working on inter-agency coordination and the implementation of trade and development programmes in different countries around the globe.

Dr. Patrick Goettner

UNCTAD
Programme Management Officer
 
Dr. Patrick Goettner works in the Technical Cooperation Section of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and has more than 7 years of experience working on inter-agency coordination and the implementation of trade and development programmes in different countries around the globe.

In the past, he worked as UNCTAD’s Regional Coordinator in Samoa for a regional trade and transparency project in the Pacific region. Prior to that he served in the Department of Environment of UNIDO working on programmes with a focus on environmental sustainability issues, green industry, as well as e-waste management.

He holds a Master’s degree in Business Chemistry from the University of Muenster in Germany and a PhD in Economics from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) in Germany.
UNOPS

Freya von Groote

UNOPS
Director, UNOPS Austria Multi-Country Office
 
Freya von Groote brings 25 years of diverse operational and leadership experience from the United Nations, the inter-governmental and non-governmental sector. She has served in Iraq, Georgia, Armenia, Liberia/West Africa and in HQ positions in Vienna and New York, managing complex development, humanitarian and corporate partnership portfolios.

She has been appointed Director of the UNOPS Austria Multi-Country Office (AUMCO) in 2019, leading a team of professionals supporting UNOPS’ work in Central Asia, Western Balkans, the South Caucasus, Turkiye, as well as on Austria based partnerships.

Freya holds an MScEcon in International Politics from the University of Wales, Aberystwyth, and a BAhons in History and Russian from Trinity College Dublin.
Mr. Andrey Seleznev

Mr. Andrey Seleznev

UNODC
Head of the UNODC Programme Office in the Kyrgyz Republic
 
Mr. Andrey Seleznev started his duty as the Head of the UNODC Programme Office in the Kyrgyz Republic in 2018.
He brings more than 25 years of experience in leadership and management, fight against crime, illicit drugs, and terrorism, and holds a profound knowledge of Kyrgyzstan and the Central Asian region.
Prior to his appointment to the UNODC, Mr. Andrey Seleznev served as the head of the department in the Federal Financial Monitoring Service of the Russian Federation (Financial intelligence). In 2012 was appointed as a Deputy Executive Secretary of the Eurasian Group on Combating Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism (EAG). In this position, Mr. Seleznev strengthened national anti-money laundering and counter-financing of terrorism (AML / CFT) regimes in Central Asia countries. He devoted over ten years to fighting corruption through AML/CFT activities.
Mr. Seleznev has led several review programs to assess Central Asian states' compliance with the international AML/CFT standards, including mutual evaluations of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, coordinated the work of the EAG on combating crime and terrorism with the UN CTC, UNODC, OSCE, CSTO, RATS SCO, and ATC CIS.
Earlier, Mr. Seleznev worked in the region with crisis/emergency response throughout his career. From 1999 to 2001, he took part in the peace support operation on the territory of Kosovo * based on UN Security Council Resolution 1244.
Mr. Seleznev held a Master's Degree in Social and Behavioural Science from the Russian State Social University, where he studied human resource management. He also received additional education in project management at the Moscow State Technical University, named after N. Bauman.
Mr. Hans Friedrich Schodder

Mr. Hans Friedrich Schodder

UNHCR
UNHCR Representative for Central Asia
 
 
 
Previously, Mr. Hans Friedrich Schodder served as Representative of UNHCR in Serbia, including one year as Resident Coordinator a.i. of the United Nations. In 2012-2015 Mr. Schodder was Deputy Chief of Mission of UNHCR in India, Senior Emergency Coordinator of UNHCR for the Syria Crisis (2014) and Representative of UNHCR in Kyrgyzstan (2008-2012). Mr. Schodder began his career with UNHCR in 1991 in Hong Kong, followed by subsequent assignments in Viet Nam, as Senior Liaison Officer of UNHCR to the OSCE in Vienna (1996- 2001) as well as Senior Protection Officer of UNHCR in Ukraine, in Sudan, and in Sri Lanka (2001-2008). He is married with two children and graduated with a BA (hons) in Social Anthropology and Vietnamese Studies from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London.
Mr. Kojiro Nakai

Mr. Kojiro Nakai

WFP
Representative and Country Director
 
Mr. Kojiro Nakai, a national of Japan, has over 20-year experience of working in WFP. Before coming to the Kyrgyz Republic, Mr. Nakai worked as Deputy Emergency Coordinator for the Cox’s Bazar operation, WFP Bangladesh. Mr. Nakai also served in several management positions in WFP, including Head of Office in Pakistan, Sudan and Myanmar, as well as Donor Relations Officer at Headquarters in Rome, Regional Bureau in Johannesburg and Liaison Office in Tokyo. Before joining WFP in 2001, Mr. Nakai worked in the Japanese private sector, as well as the Japanese embassy in China. Mr. Nakai has a Master’s degree in Public and International Affairs from University of Pittsburgh, USA. He is married with two daughters.
Mr. Mirlan Mamyrov

Mr. Mirlan Mamyrov

UNRCCA
UNRCCA Political Affairs Officer
 
Mr. Mirlan Mamyrov represents UN Regional Center for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia in Kyrgyzstan since September 2015 and works in the area of peacebuilding, conflict prevention, and political analysis with focus on dialogue, mediation and human rights. Prior to this appointment Mr. Mamyrov served as the Project Manager of the Peacebuilding Fund Secretariat in the Kyrgyz Republic. He gained professional work experience in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kyrgyz Republic (1999-2001), OSCE mission to Croatia (2001-2003) and UN system (2003-2017).
Mr. Ronny Lindstrom

Mr. Ronny Lindstrom

UNFPA
UNFPA Representative for Kazakhstan, and Country Director for Turkmenistan and Kyrgyzstan
 
Mr. Ronny Lindstrom has officially assumed his role as UNFPA Representative for Kazakhstan, and Country Director for Turkmenistan and Kyrgyzstan in March 2022.
Before joining the EECA region, Mr. Lidstrom had been working as a Representative in Timor-Leste since January 2018.
Mr. Ronny Lindstrom started his career with UNFPA in Central Asia as Programme Officer covering the Central Asian Republics based in Uzbekistan. He also worked in the Asia and Pacific Division and the Division of Management Services, where among other duties, he served as the secretary of the Contracts Review Committee. He then worked as UNFPA Deputy Representative in China and was then seconded to the CEB Secretariat under the office of the Secretary-General in Geneva before returning to UNFPA in Dili, Timor Leste.
Originally from Sweden, Mr. Lindstrom holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and History from Delta State University (USA), an MA in Political Science from Mississippi State University (USA), an MSc degree in Political Science from the University of California (USA), and Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of California, Riverside (USA).
Samir Bejaoui

Mr. Samir Bejaoui

IFAD Country Director (Kyrgyz Republic and Republic of Moldova) Near East, North Africa and Europe Division
 
Samir Bejaoui is Country Director for the Kyrgyz Republic and the Republic of Moldova. Since 2010, Bejaoui managed several portfolios in a wide range of contexts from fragile and post-conflict to lower-middle income countries. He has an extensive experience on public procurement, value chain development and farmers organizations support.
Mr. Viorel Gutu

Mr. Viorel Gutu

FAO
Sub-Regional Coordinator for Central Asia FAO Representative in Turkey FAO Representative a.i. in Kyrgyzstan
 
A national of Moldova, Viorel Gutu is FAO's Subregional Coordinator for Central Asia and FAO Representative for Turkey and Uzbekistan. He joined FAO in 2014 as the head of FAO Tajikistan office, leading the country office in establishing productive relations with the national government and with key donors including the European Union and Japan International Cooperation Agency. Before joining FAO, Gutu was Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Food Industry in Moldova. In this position, he was responsible for the coordination, monitoring and evaluation of strategic policy implementation in agriculture and rural development. He also served as economic affairs officer with the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor, where he dealt with peacekeeping operations, poverty alleviation and prevention of the emergency situations. He holds a doctoral degree in economics.
Ms. Aidai Kurmanova

Ms. Aidai Kurmanova

UNEP
Head of Subregional office for Central Asia
 
Ms. Aidai Kurmanova started her assignment as the Head of Central Asia Office in Almaty on 2nd February 2019. She has 21 years of experience in the field of sustainable development. Prior to joining UNEP, she worked as the State Secretary of the Ministry of Economy of the Kyrgyz Republic for five years. Her main areas of expertise include design and implementation of policies on sustainable economic development. She developed strategic documents on green economy, e-governance, small and medium enterprise. She led the process of nationalizing the Sustainable Development Goals in the Kyrgyz Republic. She has significant practical work experience with the Parliament of the Kyrgyz Republic in improving the environment for business and has promoted draft laws on economic growth. She holds Master degrees on Development Economics from International University of Japan and Public Governance from the Academy of Management under the President of Kyrgyz Republic.
Ms. Alexandra Solovieva

Ms. Alexandra Solovieva

UNDP
Resident Representative
 
Ms. Solovieva has been appointed as the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Resident Representative in the Kyrgyz Republic in August 2023. She brings over 25 years of experience working with the UN across countries of Asia and the Pacific, Europe, other regions, and at Headquarters.
Prior to joining UNDP Kyrgyzstan, Ms. Solovieva served as UNDP Resident Representative in the Republic of Belarus from 2019 to August 2023, leading the UNDP development mandate and providing integrated support for SDG achievement in the country. Ms. Solovieva supported digital transformation, green economic transition, inclusive employment generation, climate and environment resource management, gender equality, and health system strengthening, bringing international knowledge and expertise.
During 2018-2019 Ms. Solovieva was the Chief of the External Relations and Communications Section at the United Nations Volunteers in Bonn, where she advised key stakeholders on UNV global agenda on volunteerism for SDGs and led strategic partnerships with Member States, inter-governmental, nongovernmental, and financial institutions, civil society, academia, media, and the private sector. Since 2014 Ms. Solovieva managed five global programmes on volunteer infrastructure, peace, youth, basic social services, and community resilience at the United Nations Volunteers. She led its Regional Offices in Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Latin America, and the Caribbean.
From 2011 to 2014 Ms. Solovieva served as the Deputy Country Director (Programme) at UNDP in the Republic of India. She delivered development support services, and measures to strengthen national capacities, provided policy advice, and coordinated the preparation of key UN and UNDP frameworks and programmes contributing to national development priorities including governance, human development, social protection, livelihoods, disaster risk reduction, HIV, inclusion, and others.
From 2003 to 2011 Ms. Solovieva held several positions at UNDP Headquarters including Programme Specialist in the Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific, and Management Specialist in the Bureau of Management. Ms. Solovieva started her career in Laos as UNDP Small-Grant Programme Coordinator, Head of the UN Resident Coordinator’s Office in that country, and served as a United Nations Volunteer on the ground.
Ms. Solovieva holds a Master of Public Administration degree from the University of Colorado in Denver, a Master of Oriental Studies, and a Bachelor of Oriental and African Studies degree from Moscow State University, Institute of Asian and African Studies. She speaks Russian, English, French, Thai, and Lao languages.
Ms. Bermet Moldobaeva

Ms. Bermet Moldobaeva

IOM
Head of Office
 
Mrs. Moldobaeva started her career at IOM in 2001 and has advanced in her career at IOM. Since 2002 she has been acting as an Officer-in-Charge at IOM Office in Kyrgyzstan and since 2010, she has in parallel assumed a position of the Regional Coordinator on Counter-Trafficking program in Central Asia.
Cristina joined UNICEF in 2002 in Angola and she also served in UNICEF DPR Korea (North Korea), UNICEF Swaziland and UNICEF Afghanistan country offices at various positions.

Ms. Cristina Brugiolo

UNICEF
Deputy Representative-Programmes
 
Cristina joined UNICEF in 2002 in Angola and she also served in UNICEF DPR Korea (North Korea), UNICEF Swaziland and UNICEF Afghanistan country offices at various positions.

Since November 2014 till November 2022 she worked at UNICEF Guinea-Bissau, UNICEF Pakistan, and UNICEF Libya country offices in the capacity of Chief of Field Office and Deputy Representative Programmes.

Since November 2022 she is Deputy Representative for Kyrgyzstan Country Office.

A national of Italy, she speaks fluently English, French and Portuguese, has working knowledge of Spanish.
Before her UNICEF experience, Ms. Brugiolo worked for United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) in Italy and Tunisia and for several NGOs based in Italy.
She holds the following Master Degrees: Education and International Development (2009, University of London – UK), Humanitarian Assistance (2001, ECHO and University La Sapienza – Italy) and Diplomatic Relations (1999, University of Padova – Italy). Her first University degree is in International Relations – Human Rights Protection (University of Padova – Italy).
Ms. Indira Kadyrkanova

Ms. Indira Kadyrkanova

ITC
ITC National Programme Manager
 
Indira Kadyrkanova holds MS in Economics (Texas A&M University, USA), MBA (Academy of Management under the President of the Kyrgyz Republic), Diploma of Graduate Course in Law (the Kyrgyz State National Juridical Academy), Diploma of Graduate Course in Mathematics (Kyrgyz State University). Worked in projects of the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, USAID, SECO, EU, UN agencies. Has more than twenty years project management experience in development programmes in various sectors of the Kyrgyz economy, i.e. financial, agricultural, trade, gender equality.
Regional Representative of the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights for Central Asia

Ms. Matilda Bogner

OHCHR
Regional Representative of the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights for Central Asia
 
Matilda Bogner has worked in the UN system since 2006. Before coming to Central Asia, Ms. Bogner headed the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine for 4 yearsThis is her second appointment as the head of the Regional Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in Central Asia. Previously, she also headed the Regional Offices of OHCHR in the Pacific region and in South-East Asia. She also headed the Human Rights, Transitional Justice and Rule of Law Division of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya and was Senior Human Rights Advisor for the UN in Belarus. Prior to that, she worked on human rights for nine years in the Europe and Central Asia region and speaks Russian fluently. She has a legal education and also worked as a criminal defence lawyer in Australia.
Ms. Meerim Sarybaeva

Ms. Meerim Sarybaeva

UNAIDS
Country Manager
Ms. Sarybaeva assumed her functions as UNAIDS Country Manager in 2014. Prior to joining UNAIDS, she worked at UNDP Social development dimension in charge of HIV issues. Before that from 2002-2010 Meerim has worked for UNDP HIV Programme covering issues of coordination, human rights and legislation.
Ms. Natalia Mochu is the Regional Director of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) for Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). She represents ITU in the CIS region, overseeing actions, projects, and initiatives for 9 countries. Her portfolio focuses on developing infrastructure, promoting innovation, cybersecurity, smart cities, digital inclusion, and accessibility.

Ms. Natalia Mochu

ITU
Regional Director, ITU Regional Office for the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS)
 
 
 
Ms. Natalia Mochu is the Regional Director of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) for Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). She represents ITU in the CIS region, overseeing actions, projects, and initiatives for 9 countries. Her portfolio focuses on developing infrastructure, promoting innovation, cybersecurity, smart cities, digital inclusion, and accessibility.

Ms. Mochu holds a bachelor's degree in mathematics and informatics, as well as a master's degree in information technology from the State University of Moldova.

Prior to joining the ITU in February 2020, Natalia served as Senior Manager for Global Stakeholder Engagement for Eastern Europe and Central Asia at the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). From 2012 to 2018, she held the position of Deputy Head of Laboratory at the Radio Research and Development Institute (NIIR) in Moscow. Between 2006 and 2012, Natalia worked for the Executive Committee of the Regional Commonwealth in the field of Communications (RCC), notably as the RCC Executive Committee Deputy Director General from 2008 to 2012. She started her professional career with the Ministry of Information Development of the Republic of Moldova in 2002.

Natalia has actively participated in ITU high-level conferences and meetings, including ITU Plenipotentiary Conferences, Councils, and Sectoral Conferences. She has also made significant contributions to the activities of RCC working bodies, the European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administrations and others.

Solomiya Omelyan

Ms. Solomiya Omelyan

UNIDO
Chief of the Regional Bureau for Europe and Central Asia
 
Ms. Solomiya Omelyan joined UNIDO in 2007. In her current capacity as Chief of the Regional Bureau for Europe and Central Asia, Ms. Omelyan is responsible for determining regional strategies and programmatic priorities for UNIDO’s services in 27 countries of the region while ensuring that the Organization responds to the specific industrial development needs and requirements of its Member States.

Prior to joining UNIDO, Ms. Omelyan worked as a Policy Consultant at the United Nations Environment Programme’s Vienna Interim Secretariat of the Carpathian Convention (2005-2007) where she implemented regional projects in the area of sustainable development of the mountainous regions. She also worked in the Embassy of Ukraine in Austria, the Committee on Industrial Policy and Entrepreneurship at the Parliament of Ukraine in Kyiv and different academic and research institutions.

Ms. Omelyan obtained her master’s degree with honours in international economics and international relations from the Ivan Franko National University of Lviv and her M.A. (Magister Artium) from the Ukrainian Free University in Munich, Germany. She is the President of the Ukrainian Club at the Vienna International Centre.
Ms Ulziisuren Jamsran

Ms. Ulziisuren Jamsran

UN Women
Representative
Ms. Jamsran has 20 years of professional experience in international development, strategic and managerial leadership in gender and women’s issues in Moldova, Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan, and Kazakhstan for UNDP, UNIFEM and UN Women. Ulziisuren Jamsran worked as the UN Women Representative in Moldova, and Palestine.