Our Team in Bangladesh

Ms. Lewis brings more than 20 years of experience in international development, peacebuilding, and humanitarian affairs to the position. Prior to her assignment in Bangladesh, Ms. Lewis served as Director of United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) Affairs in the West Bank from 2019; leading a 4,000 strong team in providing essential services and humanitarian aid to more than 850,000 Palestine refugees in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.

Before being assigned to Jerusalem, she was the Deputy Director for Programs for UNRWA Affairs in Lebanon. Prior to working with UNRWA, Ms. Lewis worked with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) where she managed the Global Clusters Coordination section in UNICEF’s Emergency Division. She joined UNICEF from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in 2012, where she focused on humanitarian policy and supporting FAO country offices. Ms. Lewis has worked with the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Geneva, building UN and NGO partnerships, and supporting the roll out of the humanitarian reform agenda. Ms. Lewis has also worked for both OCHA and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in the occupied Palestinian territory, the United Nations Mission in Kosovo and various NGOs in Tajikistan, Afghanistan, and Albania.

She holds a master’s degree in international relations and European Studies from the University of Kent, Canterbury, as well as a bachelor’s degree in Economics from San Francisco State University.

Dr. Bardan is WHO Representative to Bangladesh as of December 2017.

Previously, Dr. Bardan was the Regional Advisor and Team Lead for Country Health Emergency Preparedness and International Health Regulation at the WHO South East Asia Regional Office, New Delhi. Before joining WHO, Dr. Bardan was the Health Coordinator in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and Public Health Officer in Sudan with UNICEF.

Dr. Bardan is a Medical Doctor who received his postgraduate in tropical medicine and hygiene at London University and has completed his master’s degree in Public Health from the National University of Singapore.

Dom Scalpelli, current WFP Representative, has over 31 years of experience in operational management, leadership and fundraising, in the context of international development, humanitarian and peace & conflict.

Previously, he was WFP’s Food Systems Summit Coordinator. He has been WFP Resident Representative in Myanmar; alongside being Deputy Humanitarian Coordinator & Founding Chair of the UN Nutrition Network in Myanmar. He was the Director ai and Deputy Director of WFP Government Donor Relations, and WFP Resident Representative in Malawi. He was also the UNRC ai and FAO Representative ai for extended periods in Malawi. He also carried out duties in various roles in wartime and post-war Mozambique, in wartime Angola, in São Tomé e Príncipe, and WFP’s Operations Dept in Rome.

Dom graduated from the University of Melbourne in Australia with a master’s degree in engineering science (Development Technologies) and a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering. He is fluent in Portuguese and Italian and has a working knowledge of French.

Dr Jiaoqun Shi is Representative for Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in Bangladesh. Dr Shi will lead the planning and implementation of FAO programmes in the country.

He joined FAO in 2019 as Senior Compliance Advisor to the Deputy Director-General at FAO headquarters in Rome, Italy. since January 2021, he had been serving as Special Adviser at the FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (RAP) in Bangkok, Thailand.

Jiaoqun Shi started his career in 1988 as Researcher in the Xiangfan division, Government of China, in Xiangfan, China. From 1996 to 2004, he served as Deputy Director of Personnel in the Appointment Division at the Ministry of Finance in Beijing, China. Between 2007 and 2010, he was Director of the General Division at the Ministry of Finance in Beijing, China. In 2009, he worked as Deputy Prefecture Governor for the Tujia and Miao Autonomous, Government in Xiangxi, China. From 2010 to 2016, he served as Deputy Director-General of the General Office at the Ministry of Finance in Beijing, China. Between 2016 and 2019, he was Deputy Representative at the Permanent Representation of the People’s Republic of China to the three United Nations Rome-based Agencies (RBAs) in Rome, Italy.

Dr. Shi, a national of China, holds a Master of Laws and a Bachelor of Arts in History from Wuhan University, and a Doctor of Philosophy in Law from the National Academy of Governance in China.

Dr Valantine Achancho is IFAD’s Country Director for Bangladesh, effective from July 2024.

Dr Achancho leads the IFAD’s Bangladesh country portfolio advocating for and enhancing national government programmes that strengthen climate resilience in vulnerable rural communities through infrastructure and climate-smart agriculture, while enhancing access to finance, technology, and markets for smallholders and marginalized groups to diversify the economy and create rural jobs.
Before coming to Bangladesh Dr Achancho served as IFAD Country Director and Representative for the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Republic of Congo from 2020 to 2024, and previously held the same position for Niger, Burkina Faso, and Chad.
He also served as IFAD Country Program Officer for Cameroon and Gabon, and Programme Officer for the Indian Ocean region, contributing to rural development projects in the Sahel and Congo basin, mobilizing co-financing, and strengthening partnerships with governments, donors, and civil society to improve rural livelihoods.

Before joining IFAD in 2011, Dr Achancho served as Deputy Director of farmers’ professional organizations and cooperative movement, and senior engineer in charge for prospective analysis and agricultural policies in the Ministry of Agriculture in Cameroon. His earlier positions include national coordinator for Agence Française de Développement (AFD) funded project, visiting lecturer at the Faculty of Agronomy of the University of Dschang in Cameroon, and consultant for IFAD, the World Bank and European Union operations.

Achancho holds a PhD in Sociology for Development from Paris Institute of Technology for Life, Food and Environmental Sciences (AgroParisTech, France), a master's degree in tropical and subtropical Agronomy from CNEARC, Montpellier, France, and a master’s degree in agricultural economics (Ingénieur Agro-économiste) from the University of Dschang, Cameroon.

Dr. Saima Khan is the Country Director of the UNAIDS Country Office in Bangladesh. She joined UNAIDS in 2012.

Prior to that, she worked in various capacities with UNICEF, Save the Children, the World Bank, icddr,b, etc. Dr. Saima has actively applied innovation and strategic thinking in the field of preventing HIV, while upholding the human rights aspects of disease prevention efforts.

She has an MBBS from Dhaka Medical College and an MPH from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. She has also completed Certificate Courses on Health and Human Rights from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg’s School of Public Health and on the AIDS Epidemic Model from the East-West Center, Hawaii.

Sue Vize officially took up her functions as the Head of Office and UNESCO Representative to Bangladesh in November 2023 and was in charge since mid- July 2022 of the UNESCO mandate in Bangladesh covering Education, Sciences, Culture, Communication and Information as well as Social and Human Sciences program.

Prior to this she was the UNESCO Regional Adviser for Social and Human Sciences in Asia and the Pacific based in Bangkok. She is also a qualified teacher and trainer, and founding Principal of FNQ Training, a community based TVET organization working with Aboriginal communities and the unemployed in north Queensland, Australia.

Sue holds a PhD in community natural resource management from the University of Melbourne and a master’s in social science from RMIT University, both in Australia.

Fathima Nusrath Ghazzali has been IOM’s Deputy Chief of Mission in Dhaka, Bangladesh, since 1 May 2020. She is currently the agency's acting Country Representative.

Ms Nusrath started her career with IOM in 2014 in Afghanistan. She was the agency’s Head of the Migration Management Division in 2016, where she was instrumental in building and expanding the Immigration and Border Management portfolio in Afghanistan and extending technical assistance to the Government of Afghanistan on labour migration, including promoting diaspora engagement. Before joining IOM, Nusrath was attached to the UN Resident Coordinator’s Office in Sri Lanka, supporting post-conflict development programmes, and with the EU Delegation for nearly six years as a Senior Programme Manager, managing the post-tsunami and post-conflict reconstruction and development portfolios in the country.

She holds a master’s in development studies from the University of Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Mr. Felipe has over 18 years of professional experience acquired within diverse national and international environments.

He started his career in 2005 as an agent of Rio de Janeiro's Harbor Guard. In 2008 he joined Rio de Janeiro State Police Department (PMERJ) where he led the 4th Company of the 20th Battalion and co-led the 1st Company of the 27th Battalion in Rio de Janeiro City. He also worked as the Deputy Commander of the Community Policing Unit in the city of Duque de Caxias, and as the Deputy Chief of the Planning Section of different operational units.

Felipe was deployed to the UN Peacekeeping Mission in Haiti from 2014 to 2016. He also worked for INTERPOL from 2019 to 2024, first at the Strategic Planning Unit in Lyon, France, and more recently as a Criminal Intelligence Officer at the Maritime Security Unit in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire and in Nairobi, Kenya.

Felipe graduated from Rio de Janeiro State Police Officer’s School in Brazil, holds a Bachelor of Law degree and a master's degree in international public administration and politics.

Gitanjali Singh is the UN Women Representative in Bangladesh effective July 2022.

An Indian national, Ms. Singh brings over twenty years of experience in the field of women’s human rights and gender equality with expertise on the implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), across the development-humanitarian continuum. Prior to her assignment to Bangladesh, she served as the Deputy Country Representative and Head of Office a.i. of the UN Women Nepal Country Office. She has been with UNIFEM and UN Women since 1998, serving in the South Asia Regional Office including as the focal point for Bhutan and Maldives.

She holds a master’s degree in applied psychology with a specialization in Clinical Psychology from Delhi University and a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Lady Sriram College in India.

Jesmul Hasan, a development professional with over two decades of experience, is the Country Relationship Manager for UNCDF in Bangladesh.

He plays a coordination role with the UN Resident Coordinator's office, other UN agencies, and the Government. Before joining UNCDF, he worked for DFID, CIDA, UNHCR, ILO, and Save the Children. He also worked as an academic, human rights activist and for print media. He has several publications on human rights issues.

He is a graduate of the Harvard Kennedy School and a lawyer from Dhaka University, Bangladesh.

Mr. Watabe is currently serving as the Representative Ad Interim for UNFPA in Bangladesh.

He has more than 25 years of international experience in development cooperation and humanitarian action. As the UNFPA Deputy Representative, he has been providing program leadership for sustainable development and humanitarian response, with a focus on promoting sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), addressing gender-based violence, supporting adolescent and youth empowerment, and working with demographic data and intelligence since August 2022. Prior to this role, he held the position of UNFPA Deputy Representative in Malawi. Earlier in his career, Mr. Watabe served as the Head of Office in Japan for UN OCHA and as a Humanitarian Affairs Officer for the Asia-Pacific region based in New York. He also worked with UNHCR in Zambia and Geneva, as well as with OHCHR. He began his professional career at the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA, formerly Overseas Economic Cooperation Fund), where he managed Official Development Assistance (ODA) projects for Bangladesh in rural and infrastructure development and poverty reduction.

Mr. Watabe holds a master's degree from the London School of Economics and Political Science in Social Policy and Planning in Developing Countries, as well as a bachelor's degree from Japan’s Waseda University in Political Science.

Ms. Rana Flowers joined the UN Country Team in Bangladesh on August 5, 2024, as the Country Representative for UNICEF Bangladesh.

A native of Australia, Ms. Flowers brings more than 35 years of experience in international development, child development, and policy advocacy. Prior to this appointment, she served as a UNICEF Representative in Vietnam, China, Cambodia, Mongolia, and Belize. Ms. Flowers also previously worked in child development and policy advocacy in Australia and the United Kingdom, before joining UNICEF.

Ms. Flowers holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration, as well as a Bachelor’s degree in Social Work & Arts, majoring in Psychology.

Ms. Sonia Mehzabeen has more than 20 years of professional experience in both private and development sector in different fields of Operations and Project Management. Before joining UNV Bangladesh, she was with UNDP Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific as Management Specialist based in Bangkok. Prior to that, she worked with UNDP Timor-Leste and Bangladesh Country Office as Operations Manager. She also worked with UNDP Maldives, Nepal and Malaysia Country Office operations as well as with the Bureau of Policy and Program Support in UNDP Corporate HQ at New York on short term assignments. In her early years of career, she worked with Private sector Multinational Organizations in the Oil and Gas and Telecom sectors.

She holds a master’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Dhaka.

Stefan Liller, a Swedish national, is a development worker with 20 years of experience in serving the United Nations at headquarters, regional and country office levels in Asia, Latin America, Europe and Africa.

Prior to taking up his current assignment in Bangladesh, he served as UNDP Resident Representative in Uruguay ; before that he was UNDP Deputy Resident Representative in Moldova. He has worked in conflict & post conflict in the context of low, middle and high-income country contexts. He has programmatic and policy experience in a number of thematic areas including, socio-economic development, gender, development finance, energy and environment, governance and rule of law. He has a proven track record of turning innovative ideas into programmes, advocating for the SDGs. He also has experience from the private sector.

He holds a Master of Laws and a Master of Business Administration and Economics, both from Stockholm University.

Sudhir Muralidharan, UNOPS Country Manager

With more than 33 years of experience, including 17 years in the international development sector, Mr. Sudhir Muralidharan is serving as Country Manager for UNOPS in Bangladesh.

Trained as a Chartered Accountant and Cost & Management Accountant by profession, he brings his expertise in programme and portfolio management, supervision of multi-functional and multi-disciplinary teams, supervision of fiduciary aspects of loans and grants, and quality assurance. Mr. Muralidharan joined UNOPS Sri Lanka in November 2015 as the Head of Support Services for the UNOPS South Asia Region and continued to carry out the duties of this role in addition to his country management responsibilities till the end of 2019.

He joined UNOPS as a Senior Financial Management and Systems Specialist for the Global Fund Local Fund Agent (LFA) programme in China in 2005. In 2009 he took over as the Regional Financial Management & Systems Specialist for the LFA Programme in the Asia Pacific region. He was later appointed the Deputy Regional Coordinator for the UNOPS LFA Program for 6 countries in the Asia Pacific region. From 2010- 2014, he functioned as the UNOPS Quality Assurance Lead for the LFA Program in Asia Pacific before moving to UNOPS Cambodia as the Risk and Compliance Advisor for the Global Fund Principal Recipient.

Before joining UNOPS, Mr. Muralidharan functioned as a Financial Management, Loan Administration and Procurement Consultant for International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) based in Rome, covering the Asia Pacific Region. Prior to this, Mr. Muralidharan ran his own accounting and audit practice in New Delhi, India.

An Indian national, Mr. Muralidharan is fluent in English, Hindi and Malayalam languages.

She has spent over 35 years in human rights and humanitarian work — as an NGO advisor, with the United Nations, and as litigating counsel in Indian courts. She brings a breadth of experience addressing situations of internal displacement, refugees and asylum-seekers, statelessness, and migration. Across her work, she demonstrates a strong partnership approach, working closely in support of national and local stakeholders, especially affected communities, together with the United Nations and international organisations. This is her second posting to Bangladesh, having served as the UN Coordinator establishing an inter-agency response to the Rohingya refugee crisis in Cox’s Bazar in 2018.

Most recently, Ms. Rizvi was the Principal Advisor on Internal Displacement to the High Commissioner in Geneva, leading a system-wide strengthening of UNHCRs IDP response across the world. She has been instrumental in supporting the development of the UN Secretary General’s Action Agenda on Internal Displacement. In November 2022, she aided the UN Country Team and the Resident Coordinator in Afghanistan to develop solution-oriented approaches to forced displacement.

She has served with UNHCR in operations including Iraq during the Mosul conflict, Afghanistan, and Darfur-Sudan. She established emergency response and humanitarian coordination mechanisms in Syria and Kyrgyzstan during the early stages of the conflict, and served as UNHCR’s Policy Adviser on Asylum and Migration in Geneva during the Mediterranean Crisis, working with the Global Migration Fora and on the Sustainable Development Goals.

An Indian national, Ms. Rizvi holds degrees in law and in economics, from Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), India (1979-86) and spent over a decade as a practicing lawyer in India working on corporate and criminal law and engaged in probono human rights interventions. She also served as Additional Standing Counsel for the Union of India in administrative matters and taught law as a part-time lecturer in New Delhi prior to joining the UN.

Mr. Poutiainen has worked with ILO for 20 years in the Philippines, Switzerland, Cambodia, Thailand, and Bangladesh. During his time with ILO, he has been involved in community-based development, child labor, indigenous people’s issues, livelihoods promotion, and peace and development initiatives.

In recent years, Mr. Poutiainen has specialized in developing and running efforts aimed at addressing working conditions, labor rights and managing industry improvement processes in global supply chains.

Mr. Poutiainen is a Finnish national and has a master’s degree from France, Aix-Marseille University; and an advanced master’s degree from Finland in General History and Social Policy.

Mr. Zaman, a national of Bangladesh, was appointed as Country Representative of UNIDO in Bangladesh from May 2017.

Prior to his appointment, he worked as Head of UNIDO Operations in Bangladesh from 2010 to April 2017. Before joining UNIDO, Mr. Zaman worked for the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector arm of the World Bank Group, where he developed the agribusiness programme for IFC advisory component. Throughout his career, Mr. Zaman has been involved in inter-agency collaboration with UN sister organizations and international and national NGOs.

Mr. Zaman completed his undergraduate studies and an M. Sc in Agricultural Economics from Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh. He also completed a master’s and PhD in Agricultural Marketing from Hokkaido University, Japan.