Our Team in Islamic Republic of Iran

Adnan Alshabibi is a dedicated professional with a diverse background in security and administration. Born in 1981, in Yemen, Adnan has over 12 years' work experience in the UN Security Management System and Peacekeeping operations in different countries.
Before joining the DSS team in Iran, Adnan worked as Security Specialist, heading the security team of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Libya, a position he had held since November 2022. Prior to this role, he served as the Head of Security Team for UNDP in Sudan for over four years. He had also served as a Security Associate for UNDP in Yemen after having served as part of the Peacekeeping Officers with the United Nations Mission in Darfur, Sudan (UNAMID. This is in addition to various roles within his home country security forces.
Adnan holds a Master of Business Administration from the Lebanese International University and a Bachelor’s degree in English language from Sana’a University, Yemen. He also earned a diploma in military studies. He is certified in Hostage Incident Management besides a number of professional security qualifications in Security Management and Analysis.

Alexander Fedulov has worked in the drug control field for more than 26 years, including senior managerial positions with UNODC in Kyrgyzstan, Iran and in the Federal Drug Control Services of the Russian Federation. He was FDCS Representative in the Republic of Austria with a diplomatic post as the Counsellor of the Embassy Russian Federation in Austria. He was a Chief of Unit, Department of International Cooperation FDSC of the Russian Federation and Chief of Forensic section at the police service of the Forensic Department of Moscow Main Directorate of Interior, Ministry of Interior. During his law enforcement service at the Ministry of Interior (MoI) of the Russian Federation, he served as member of the UN peace keeping contingent of the Russian MoI in Bosnia and Herzegovina in UNMIBH (UN Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina) in 2000-2003. Among different positions within the UN peacekeeping mission to BiH, the latest was the IPTF Chief of Logistics of the UN Field Mission at HQ of UN mission to BiH in Saraevo. He holds a PhD in Political Science.

Ms. Ayna Seyitliyeva joined UNFPA Iran in February 2024 in the capacity of International Programme Coordinator and will act as the Officer in Charge (OIC) until the arrival of the new Representative. In her last assignment, she worked for nearly five years as the Head of Office in UNFPA Turkmenistan carrying programme and management functions, working closely with the government and UNCT, as well as international development partners. She brings more than 20 years of extensive and diversified experience in leadership, programme management, and advocacy & communication. Prior to joining UNFPA, she worked for 12 years for UNICEF Turkmenistan as a Cross-Sectoral Programme Specialist leading the social development, communication, and youth programmes, and covering the Partnerships and Resource Leveraging portfolio. In her earlier UN career (2001-2006), she coordinated an advocacy and communication component with UNFPA Turkmenistan. Ms. Seyitliyeva graduated from the London School of Economics and Political Science, UK (2006-2007). She holds a Master of Science in Media and Communication with a focus on Behavioral and Social Science. She is the UK Chevening Scholarship Programme Alumna. She also holds a university degree from the Turkmen State University with a Diploma in World Economy and International Relations.

Ayshanie Medagangoda-Labé, from Sri Lanka, assumed the role of Resident Representative ad interim for UNDP in the Islamic Republic of Iran in October 2024. She is a seasoned development professional with over 25 years of leadership and management experience across various country contexts, including Low-, middle- and high-income counties.

Her expertise spans policy advisory, program management, and research, with a focus on public and private sector collaboration. Within the UN/UNDP She served as Resident Representative (and stepping in as acting UN Resident Coordinator) in Nepal; Country Director ai/Deputy Country Director in Nepal (2018- 2019), Deputy Resident Representative in Morocco (2012-2018) and Algeria (2008-2012). Prior to that, she held policy advisory, portfolio management and coordination positions in Agriculture, Climate, Food Security, Rural Development, Development effectiveness/ UN (Bangladesh) and, crisis and Tsunami Emergency Coordination, (Sri Lanka) as well as research and teaching in Vietnam and Belgium.

Ayshanie holds a Msc in Agro-Economics, Sociology and Rural Development from the Faculty of Agriculture, Gembloux/(Liege), Belgium. Completed Executive Education programmes (IMD Lausanne, Switzerland/INSEAD Paris-France). Speaks Sinhalese, English French and is a debutant in Arabic and Spanish.

Mr. Chongguang Liao, born in 1963, has been assigned as FAO Representative ad interim to the Islamic Republic of Iran in May 2024. His academic achievements include earning an MBA from Renmin University of China in Beijing in 2002, along with a diploma in crop production and farming systems from Taegu University in the Republic of Korea. He also holds a Bachelor of Agronomy degree from South China Agricultural University in Guangzhou, China, obtained in 1984.
Mr. Liao’s professional career spans across various roles within the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). From 2011 to 2024, he served as the Field Programme Officer for the Field Programme and Country Support Group at the FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (RAP) and provided operational support to FAO field programme in the region. He also acts as Budget Holder for regional projects and Thailand projects. Prior to this, he held the position of FAO Representative ad interim/Officer-in-Charge for various missions in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao) between 2010 to 2023.
In 2010, Mr. Liao worked as a Programme Officer at the FAO Representation for China, DPRK, and Mongolia, further enriching his expertise in agricultural development and promoted the FAO South-South Cooperation Programme. Before joining the FAO, he served as Deputy General Manager at Kangda Agriculture International Co. in Beijing, China, in 1990. His earlier career includes a significant tenure as a Programme Officer at the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) in Beijing, China, spanning from 1984 to 1998.

Dr Fardad Doroudi has been working in the United Nations since 1999; serving as UNAIDS Country Director since 2009. He got his doctorate in Medicine from Iran University of Medical Sciences in 1992. Dr Doroudi got his Education Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates Certificate in 1998 from the United States. He continued his studies in the field of Advanced Leadership and Management in Health Care and also Clinical Trial Research at McMaster University, Canada. Dr Doroudi completed Master of Public Health with Tehran University of Medical Sciences. Dr Doroudi has two decade of work experience in different United Nations agencies in various positions. Dr Doroudi has conducted researches in various fields at both national and international levels and published books and articles in the field of medicine and management. Dr Doroudi has served as facilitator and lecturer in various international conferences and workshops. Dr Doroudi has also performed as consultant to various international entities.

Ieng Srong is the UNESCO Representative to Islamic Republic of Iran since December 2023. Prior to joining this position, he exercised from 2019 to 2023 the functions of Chief of the Human Resources Strategic Support Section in the Bureau of Human Resources Management, leading the development and update of human resources strategies, policies and procedures and providing strategic and operational leadership of the Human Resources Strategy and UNESCO strategic transformation initiatives falling under the Section's purview.
Meanwhile, from May to September 2021, Ieng Srong was entrusted with a short-term assignment in UNESCO Antenna in Myanmar with the functions UNESCO Representative and Education Senior Programme Specialist.
From 2016 to 2019, Ieng Srong exercised the functions of Secretary of the 1970 Convention on the fight against the illicit trafficking of trafficking of cultural property and of the Intergovernmental Committee for the return and restitution of cultural property, while assuming the responsibilities of Chief of Movable Heritage and Museums Section in the Sector of Culture of UNESCO.
Prior 2016, Ieng Srong occupied divers functions and responsibilities in the Education and Culture Sectors and well as in UNESCO’s central services.
Ieng Srong holds a master’s degree in international law and a post graduate degree in International Administration from the Sorbonne University, Paris (France).

Ms. Lalini Veerassamy is the Chief of Mission of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in the Islamic Republic of Iran since January 2023. Ms. Veerassamy has been with IOM for 14 years and previously with the International Labour Organization (ILO), the Office of High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), and UNESCO. She has assumed several senior positions in IOM, namely as Chief of Mission in Ireland (2019-2022), Chief of Mission in Djibouti (2016-2019), Head of Programme in Tunisia, and Chief of Mission for the Western Indian Ocean Islands (2008-2014).

Ms. Veerassamy is a Lawyer Member of the Quebec Bar Association since 2006 and completed her studies at the University of Montreal and the University of Geneva. She has completed a course on International Politics with LSE, a training on strategic thinking with Harvard Business School, and a training on UN Women in Leadership with UNSCC.

She was awarded Officer of the 12 June by the Prime Minister of the Government of Djibouti in 2019 for exemplary support to the authorities and vulnerable migrants in Djibouti.

Letizia Rossano was appointed as the Director of the Asia and Pacific Centre for the Development of Disaster Information Management, APDIM, in ESCAP in March 2019. Ms Rossano is a permanent staff member of the United Nations Secretariat with over 24 years of service. Between April 2014 and February 2019 she was the Chief of Resource Mobilization in UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, UNDRR. In 2014 and 2012, she was assigned as the only humanitarian advisor to the Syria mediation efforts of the Joint Special Representative for Syria, Mr. Lakhdar Brahimi, and the Joint Special Envoy for Syria, Mr. Kofi Annan. In 2013 Letizia headed the System-wide resource mobilization unit in the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Geneva. Between 2010-2011 she held the position of Senior Coordinator for the Mid-Term Review of the Hyogo Framework for Action with UNDRR, then UNISDR, in Geneva.
At the UN Headquarters in New York, in 2005-2009 she headed the IASC/ECHA Secretariat in OCHA and served from 2002 to 2005 with the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) as the Special Assistant to the Director of the United Nations Mine Action Service, dealing with issues related to antipersonnel landmines and cluster munitions.
Between 1999 and 2001, Letizia served with OCHA Afghanistan, based in Islamabad, Pakistan as Emergency Coordination Officer. She started her career at the United Nations in 1994 as an Associate Expert/JPO with the then UN Drug Control Programme where, for two years, she worked in the Regional Office for South Asia, based in New Delhi, India. Letizia’s professional experience prior to joining the UN was in external relations and communications.
Letizia holds a Masters degree in Humanitarian Action and Conflict Resolution from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University, (1999); received a full Language Fellowship from Mount Holyoke College, in the United States where she lectured Italian and obtained a Certificate in Leadership and Complex Organizations (1991); and holds a degree in Political Science from the University of Bari, Italy (1989). Letizia is fluent in English; Italian (her mother tongue) and French and speaks conversational Urdu/Hindi.

EDUCATION:

• 1994-1998 Master’s degree in Statistics, Baghdad University, Baghdad, Iraq
• 1991-1995 Bachelor’s degree in Statistics, Baghdad University, Baghdad, Iraq

SUMMARY OF EXPERIENCE:

March 2022 – December 2023: Country Director/Representative, WFP, Libya
January 2022 – March 2022: Acting as Deputy Country Director, WFP, Iraq
August 2019 – December 2021: Head of Yemen Office in Jordan, WFP, Yemen
October 2017 – July 2019: Senior Government & Interagency Relations Officer and head of Area Office, WFP, Sudan
October 2014 – September 2017: Senior Government Liaison Officer & Head of Area Office, WFP, Sudan
December 2012 – September 2014, Deputy Country Director and Senior Programme Coordinator, IOM, Sudan
April 2010 – November 2012, Darfur Coordinator, IOM, Sudan
April 2007 – March 2010, IDP Tracking and Monitoring Coordinator, IOM, Sudan
February 2005 – March 2007, Monitoring & Evaluation Officer, WFP, Sudan
June 2004 – January 2005, Project Officer-Registration specialist, IOM, Sudan
March 2003 – May 2004, Data Analyst, IOM, Iraq
January 2001 – February 2003, Data Analyst Assistant, UN-HABITAT, Iraq
September 1998 – December 2000, Lecturer at Al-Rafidain University, Iraq

Ms Niki Tavakoli is the Head of UNOCHA Humanitarian Advisory Team in the Islamic Republic of Iran since mid-April 2024. In the realm of international development and humanitarian affairs, she stands as a seasoned professional with a long career within the United Nations System. Her expertise spans across various programme on sustainable development, Disaster Risk Reduction, development- humanitarian nexus, and cross-cutting issues. Ms Tavakoli holds a master’s degree from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE).

Mr. Ricardo Rodriguez (Spain) was appointed as Head of UNAMI Liaison Office in Tehran on January 27th, 2024. Mr Rodriguez has served for more than 25 years in different UN missions in complex political and security environments. His work has included positions as Civil and Political Affairs Officer in the UN missions in Tajikistan, Kosovo, Sudan, Darfur and Afghanistan. His latest assignments were as Head of Regional Offices in Afghanistan (UNAMA-Southeast Region from 2013 to 2016) and in Iraq (UNAMI-Kurdistan Region from 2016 to 2024). Mr Rodriguez holds a Master’s Degree in Oriental Studies from Baku University and completed several postgraduate studies. including international law, international relations and Business Management in Spain. He is fluent in English, Russian, Persian, Serbo-Croatian, and his native Spanish languages.

Dr. Robin Nandy has been appointed UNICEF Representative in the Islamic Republic of Iran as of August 2021, responsible for leadership, management, strategic advocacy, resource mobilization and delivery of the country programme of assistance for children.
Prior to this, Dr. Robin Nandy was the Principal Adviser and Chief of Immunizations at UNICEF Headquarters during Dec 2015 - July 2021 where he was responsible for providing strategic vision and oversight over all aspects of UNICEF’s engagement in the global immunization arena. From 2011 to 2015, he was Chief of Child Survival and Development at UNICEF Indonesia, where he oversaw UNICEF’s multisectoral engagement in health, nutrition, WASH & HIV in the country. Previously, Dr. Nandy led the Global Polio Eradication Initiative at UNICEF Headquarters from 2010 to 2011 and was the Team Leader for Health in Emergencies from 2006 to 2011.
Dr. Nandy is a Medical Epidemiologist and Public Health Physician with an extensive background international public health, particularly in the areas of maternal, newborn & child health; immunizations and in humanitarian health and outbreak responses. He has been directly involved in a number of high profile humanitarian disaster and outbreak responses over the last two decades.
Before joining UNICEF, he worked as a Medical Epidemiologist at the Global Immunization Division of the US Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta from 2002 to 2006. Previous to this, he worked with the International Rescue Committee (IRC) both at country and headquarters level, as well as for the Indian Government in the Republic of Maldives. He also spent four years as a Medical Officer in various hospitals in Delhi, India, from 1990-1994.
Dr. Nandy obtained his medical degree from Mysore University, India, in 1990 followed by a Master of Public Health at the Nuffield Institute for Health, Leeds, UK, in 1996. He also completed the Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) Fellowship at the CDC (2002–2004).

Dr Syed Jaffar Hussain (Pakistan) has been reassigned as WHO Country Representative and Head of Mission, Islamic Republic of Iran effective 1 April 2021. Prior to joining as Head of Mission Iran, Dr Hussain was working as Chef de Cabinet, WHO Regional Office EMRO 1 July 2019-31 March 2021. Prior to that, Dr Hussain has worked as WHO Representative/Head of Mission Libya (September 2015-July 2019) and Head of Mission Tunisia (May 2016-Feb 2018). During this period Dr Hussain took the responsibility of Resident/Humanitarian Coordinator a.i. for a period of six months. Before joining Libya office, Dr Hussain worked as WHO Representative/Head of Mission for Iraq 2010-2015 including covering Syria for some time. His previous work assignment include serving as Regional Adviser Health Promotion/Violence, Injuries and Disabilities, WHO Regional Office for EMR since 2003. Dr Hussain holds a Doctorate in Public Health from Belford, United States, and a Master Degree in Hospital and Health Services Management from the University of Leeds, United Kingdom and Medicine Degree from University of Peshawar, Pakistan. Prior to joining WHO Regional Office, Dr Hussain held the positions of Project Officer Child Health, UNICEF, Pakistan, WHO Technical Officer Child Health, Pakistan, and Health Coordinator in UNHCR, Pakistan/Afghanistan, from 1997 to January 2003. His government assignments include Assistant Director of the EPI, Assistant District Health Officer, Deputy Medical Superintendent Psychiatric Hospital, and National Programme Manager Lady Health Programme for Primary Health Care and Family Planning from 1990 to 1997. Dr Hussain worked extensively in emergency settings, particularly focusing on post-emergency health system strengthening as well as health issues of refuges and migrants in the Region and beyond. Dr Hussain served as Regional Ombudsperson 2006-2010. Dr Hussain has led many UN leadership initiatives with UN staff college, World Bank and WHO and the author of numerous publications in international journals.

Dr. Yumiko Ishikawa-Takashima has joined UNHCR Iran as Representative in August 2023. She has more than 24 years of experience working with UNHCR, having served in a range of functions, including in relevant senior leadership and management roles in Sudan, Thailand, Myanmar, Kenya, Uganda, Syria, Tokyo, and Geneva Headquarters, with her most recent post as Deputy Representative in Kabul, Afghanistan. Dr. Yumiko Ishikawa-Takashima is a national of Japan and holds a Doctorate in International Relations/Political Science from Gakushuin University of Japan with a focus on reintegration and durable solutions for the Afghan refugee situation.