Our team in Yemen

Lieutenant General (retired) Abhijit Guha is the Head of the United Nations Mission to support the Hudaydah Agreement (UNMHA) and the Chair of the Redeployment Coordination Committee (RCC). General Guha brings 39 years of national and international military experience to this position.

Dr Ismail has been recently reassigned to occupy the role of WHO Representative and Head of Mission in Yemen - which is considered one of the largest WHO operations in the world - in January 2021. Prior to this recent reassignment, Dr Ismail occupied the same role in Iraq for 2 years. Before moving to Iraq, Dr Ismail worked for 13 years as a leader for the “Essential Medicines and Health Technologies” team in the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office in Cairo, Egypt. His duties involved assisting countries in developing national strategies and programs; designing regional tools/guidelines; promoting intersectoral collaboration with relevant institutions; and strengthening national capacities in this special area. Pushing the agenda of “Health Technology Assessment” for better informed decision-making in health was one of his strongest achievements.
Prior to joining WHO, Adham worked as a professor in several academic institutions in Egypt and the USA where he managed to publish many articles in renowned journals and has participated in many national and international conferences. He has over 20 years of experience in clinical and biomedical engineering.
Coupled with his extensive working experience, Adham has 3 Masters’ degrees in Public Health from University of Roehampton (UK), Biomedical Engineering from Alexandria University (Egypt), and Business Administration from Arab Academy for Science and Technology. He is also a holder of a PhD degree in Biomedical Engineering from University of Miami (USA).

Ali is the National Program Coordinator of the International Labour Organization (ILO) in Yemen since October 2012. During his tenure, he has contributed to enhance the engagement with constituents and development partners. He came to ILO after six years working with international organisations as expert in economics, results-based planning, monitoring and evaluation. Ali holds a Master's Degree in Public Administration from the University of Jordan.

Dr Anna Paolini is UNESCO Representative in the Arab States of the Gulf and Yemen and Director of the UNESCO Doha Office since September 2013. Prior appointments include Head of Office in Uzbekistan and Jordan. She holds a MA in Architecture and in Urban and Regional Planning, a post-graduate degree in Development Cooperation and a Ph.D in Territorial Engineering.

Mr Auke Lootsma has been serving in Yemen as the Resident Representative since February 2019 and as the Country Director since August 2016. Previously, he has served in Rwanda, Ukraine, Sudan, and Uganda. He holds a Master of Science in Business Administration and Development Economics.

With 20 years of experience in humanitarian response, development and migration management, Christa provides strategic guidance for IOM’s work in Yemen. During 14 years in DFID, she established a track record in improving large-scale programming in contexts like Afghanistan and Pakistan. Prior, Christa held positions in the British Red Cross and the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Ms Cristina Albertin is the UNODC Regional Representative for the Middle East and North Africa. With a UN career spanning 28 years, Ms. Albertin joined UNODC in 1994, serving in Peru and Vienna before becoming UNODC Representative in Bolivia, South Asia, and Nigeria.

In 2014, Dina established the UNWomen presence in Yemen, leading UN Women’s engagement in Women Peace and Security and Humanitarian action. Dina holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration and International Management and a Bachelor's degree in Economics. She has served in several representation and senior positions with UNWomen as well as UNFPA and UNESCO.

Fayyaz brings a wealth of construction/engineering, development, and project management experience of more than 20 years in all facets and phases of the projects to his current role. In particular, he has valuable experience and knowhow in successfully implementing projects and programmes within post-conflict and emergency settings. He is a recipient of the UN Core Values award.

Mr Gadain joined FAO in 2006 as Water Coordinator for the Somalia Water and Land Information Management project (SWALIM) based in Nairobi, Kenya. From 2013 to 2016, he served as Chief Technical Advisor of the FAO SWALIM project in Nairobi. From 2016 to 2019, he was FAO Representative in Egypt.

Jean-Nicolas has worked for more than 21 years with the UN in the areas of Human Rights (OHCHR), Peacekeeping (DPKO) and Child Protection/Education (UNICEF) at Headquarters and in the field (Cameroon, DRC, Uganda, Afghanistan, the MENA region) before joining UNHCR in Lebanon as Deputy Representative for Protection and Inter-Agency Coordination and most recently as UNHCR Representative in Canada. He worked on emergency responses in Iraq, Libya and Syria and specialized in the protection of civilians, transitional justice, women’s rights, elections and poverty eradication.

Mr Kareem Ismail is the IMF resident representative for Iraq and Yemen. He previously worked in the IMF’s Strategy, Policy, and Review Department on emerging markets and low-income countries, and in the African department. During that time, he helped design and implement programs including in fragile states, and co-authored policy papers on IMF lending. He holds a Ph.D. from the Johns Hopkins University.

Laurent Bukera joined WFP in 1994 as a Programme Officer in Burundi and has worked in Uganda, Sudan and Senegal as well as at the Headquarters in Rome. He most recently served as Country Director in Somalia. Laurent speaks French, English, Italian and Spanish.

Mr. Nestor Owomuhangi, a national of Uganda, brings with him more than 25 years of experience in the humanitarian and development sector, much of which has been with UNFPA and the UN system.

Nestor joined the UNFPA Yemen Country Office in July 2018 as Deputy Representative. Prior to Yemen, he served as Deputy Representative for UNFPA Iraq Country Office from 2014 to 2018. Nestor worked as the International Programme Specialist for the UNFPA Country Office in Lesotho from 2008 to 2014 and as a National Programme Officer at UNFPA Uganda Country Office from 1999, initially on secondment to UNHCR as a Reproductive Health Focal Point.

Prior to joining the UN, Nestor has worked with various national institutions and international NGOs in Uganda.

Nestor holds a Master’s Degree in Population and Reproductive Health from Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda.

Philippe Duamelle, UNICEF Representative to Yemen
Mr. Philippe Duamelle, a French national, assumed his responsibilities as UNICEF Representative to Yemen in October 2020. Previously, he served as UNICEF Representative to Turkey, Egypt, Sri Lanka and Benin.
Mr. Philippe Duamelle also worked as Executive Officer in the Office of the Executive Director at UNICEF Headquarters.
Joining UNICEF in 1995, Philippe Duamelle worked in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and the Eastern and Southern Africa Regional Office in Kenya.
Prior to joining UNICEF, Philippe Duamelle served with the United Nations Department of Humanitarian Affairs in Iraq and the United Nations Development Programme in Turkey.
He holds a graduate degree in Management and Development from the Ecole Supérieure de Commerce et de Développement, Lyon France; and a Master’s in Public Administration from the Harvard John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, USA.

Renaud Detalle (France, 1965) has over 25 years of professional experience in the fields of human rights and development.
Renaud Detalle received the diploma and an advanced research degree from the Paris Institute of Political Studies (Sciences-Po) as well as a degree in history form the Sorbonne university, he was an exchange student at Freie Universitaet Berlin in 1988-1989.
From 1990 to 2002 he worked in Yemen where he taught at Sanaa University, before undertaking academic work at the Centre Français d'Archéologie et de Sciences Sociales (CEFASt) and as a consultant for various organizations (UN, World Bank, Save the Children, Oil companies).
Renaud Detalle works since 2002 for the United Nations and took assignments in conflict zones such as Sudan, Somalia, Afghanistan and Libya as well as tours in Geneva. Renaud Detalle also served at the UN Human Rights Regional Office for the Middle East and North Africa, in Beirut, from 2009 to 2015.
From February to December 2020 Renaud Detalle was Deputy Chief of the Human Rights Office of the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq and took his position of Representative in Yemen of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in January 2021

Mr. Sajjad Mohammad Sajid joined UNOCHA Yemen as the Head of Office in January 2021 coming from Ethiopia where he occupied a similar position with UNOCHA since March 2019. Before joining UNOCHA in July 2017 as Deputy Head of Office in Yemen, he served as the Country Director in Yemen and the Regional Humanitarian Coordinator for Asia & Pacific in Bangkok for Oxfam International. During that time, he coordinated response to major emergencies across Asia, Africa and Middle East. He was the Country Representative for Christian Aid UK in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, as well as Regional Emergency Manager for South Asia and served in various capacities with national organizations and the Government of India. He brings 24 years of experience in the field of international development and humanitarian affairs.

Mr Wael Al-Ashhab, a Jordanian National, has a degree in Civil Engineering with more than 30 years of experience, including in programme management, policy development, urban planning, design and implementation of infrastructure projects. He started his career with UNICEF in 1999 and joined UN-Habitat in 2007.