Our Team in Tajikistan

Mr. Adham Musallam of Jordan has devoted more than 25 years to public service. He previously led some of the UN World Food Programme’s largest operations such as Yemen and Sudan.
His other UN assignments included serving as Deputy Humanitarian Coordinator in Sudan where Mr. Musallam was responsible for strategic advocacy and coordination of humanitarian action in Darfur. He also worked in such high profile operations as Kenya, Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and executed with excellence his duties as Deputy Emergency Coordinator in Yemen and Senior Liaison Advisor in Turkey.
He obtained his bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and Psychology from the University of Jordan.

A national of Armenia, Aghasi Harutyunyan joined FAO in 2009 and has since worked for FAO Armenia in Yerevan (until 2011) and the Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia in Budapest (until 2016), where he was part of the Field Programme Team covering FAO operations in several Balkan, Caucasian, and Central Asian countries.

Aghasi moved to Moscow in February 2016 and was one of the first staff of the-then newly opened Liaison Office. Over the years, he helped build networks of collaboration with Russian governmental and non-governmental (academia, NGO, and private sector) counterparts, promoting its mandate among a wide range of stakeholders; as well as identifying opportunities for FAO’s cooperation with partner organizations, including the UN Common System and the Eurasian Economic Commission.

In July 2024, he assumed the function of the FAO Representative as interim in Tajikistan.
Aghasi’s educational background is in International Relations. He is fluent in Russian, English, and Armenian (mother tongue), and has basic knowledge of Farsi and Spanish.

Ms. Aidai Kurmanova started her assignment as the Head of Central Asia Office in Almaty in 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 the design and implementation of policies on sustainable economic development. She developed strategic documents on the 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 a Master's degree in Development Economics from the International University of Japan and Public Governance from the Academy of Management under the President of the Kyrgyz Republic.

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 taken the role of the Director (Officer-in-Charge) for the UNESCO Almaty Regional Office as of 1 April 2023 and the Director of Regional Office in Almaty and UNESCO Representative to Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan as of 6 June 2024.

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).

Mr. Arthur van Diesen has been officially appointed as the new UNICEF Representative in Tajikistan in September 2023. Prior to this, he served as UNICEF Representative in Kazakhstan, as Regional Social Policy Adviser for the Middle East and North Africa, and as Deputy Representative in Tajikistan.
Arthur van Diesen is a social policy and development expert with 30 years of experience in applied social research and monitoring and evaluation. He has lived and worked in Africa, South and Central Asia and the Middle East. His career has engaged him with the United Nations, bilateral aid agencies and international NGOs in both an advisory and management capacity. He holds a master’s degree from Tilburg University in the Netherlands and specializes in social policy, social protection, poverty analysis, gender equality, women's empowerment, civil society development, and monitoring and evaluation.

Dr. Aziza Hamidova has over 25 years’ experience in the humanitarian and development sector in Tajikistan. She has a strong policy and programmatic background, particularly in achievement of the MDGs and more recently advancing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the SDGs, and hands-on experience in a range of development issues. She is a medical doctor and holds a PhD Degree in internal diseases awarded by Russia’s Supreme Attestation Commission. Prior to joining UNAIDS in Tajikistan, she worked for UN Women as the Country Programme Manager. Her previous positions included managerial posts with UNFPA, UNDP, WHO, USAID, etc. She if fluent in Russian, Tajik and English.

Freya brings 20 years of diverse operational and leadership experience from the UN, inter-governmental and non-governmental sector. She served in Georgia, Armenia, Liberia/West Africa, Iraq and in HQ positions in Vienna and New York, managing complex development, humanitarian and partnership portfolios. A native of Germany, Freya holds an MScEcon in International Politics from the University of Wales and a BAhons in History and Russian from Trinity College Dublin. Freya is fluent in German, English, Russian and French.

Mr. Hafiz Kalandarov joined UNOCHA as National Humanitarian Affairs Officer in March 2023. He brings over 10 years of experience in climate change adaptation, disaster risk reduction, emergency preparedness a nd response, and administration/finance from his previous role at the UN World Food Programme. In addition, he has 2 years of experience as a Programme Manager at Caritas Switzerland, where he led the coordination of the country programme portfolio projects and mobilized resources and partnerships for continued growth.

Hafiz holds a B.Sc. in Information Technology from the Eastern Mediterranean University of Northern Cyprus and an M.Sc. in Environmental Protection and Sustainable Use of Natural Resources from the Institute of Water Issues, Hydropower, and Ecology of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Tajikistan. He speaks Tajik, Russian, English, Italian, and Turkish languages.

Mr. Ivan Saleyeu was appointed Head of the UNHCR National Office in Tajikistan in April 2024. Previously, he served as Head of the UNHCR National Office in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan (2023-2024), Senior Protection Officer in Almaty, Kazakhstan (2022-2023), Head of several Field Offices in Ukraine (2016-2022), Protection Officer in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan (2014-2016), Protection Officer in Moscow, Russian Federation (2011-2014), Protection Officer in Vladikavkaz, Russian Federation (2010-2011), and Associate Protection Officer in Minsk, Belarus (2003-2010). Overall, Mr. Saleyeu’s UNHCR career spans over 20 years, during which he has served in various leadership capacities across five countries, including non-family duty stations.
Before joining UNHCR, Mr. Saleyeu worked with DELOITTE & TOUCHE LLP, UNDP, and DJEM Bank.
Mr. Saleyeu holds a master’s degree in international law (LL.M. with honors, John Marshall Law School, Chicago, 1999) and two University diplomas in Law and Computer Science. He is an international law and protection expert with extensive experience in inter-agency coordination, working with refugees, asylum-seekers, stateless people, and IDPs.
Mr. Ivan Saleyeu is fluent in English, Belarusian and Russian (native) and has advanced knowledge of Ukrainian.

Mr. Jamshed Kazi is a former senior Police Officer from the Police Service of Pakistan. He has over 28 years of national and international experience as a Police Commander and as a Security Advisor in the UN Security Management System.
Mr Kazi joined the Police Service in 1993 as an Assistant Superintendent. He joined the UN Mission in Bosnia Herzegovina in 2000. Mr Kazi was appointed as Deputy Commissioner UNPOL in UNAMSIL in 2004 and worked as Deputy Chief and Chief of Security for Special Court of Sierra Leone from 2005 to 2007. In 2007, he joined UNMIS as Security Analyst and Chief of Staff for the Principal Security Advisor and was also responsible for coordination with the host government National Security Service. During the 2010 referendum for South Sudan, he moved to Juba to set up the Regional Operations Centre. With the establishment of UNMISS, from 2011 to 2017 he was appointed as Deputy CSA /Admin and Operational Support. From 2017 to 2021, he served as Security Advisor, UNDSS Uganda and worked closely with Agencies and 1.3 million refugees from South Sudan, DRC and other neighboring countries. Mr Kazi also worked as Security Advisor to SRSG MINURSO, Western Sahara in 2016 on temporary deployment where he helped in reorganization of the Security Section and advising during the crisis situations.

Mr Kazi has a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics and Political Science and MA in International Relations (Pakistan), MSc in Security Risk Management from University of Leicester (UK) and MA in Refugee Protection and Forced Migration Studies from University of London (UK).

Mr. Lenni Montiel (Venezuela) has been appointed as UNDP Resident Representative for Tajikistan as of 1 January 2022.

Prior to this appointment, Mr. Montiel served as UNDP Deputy Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean (2017-2021). Before that, he served at the UN Secretariat as Assistant Secretary General for Economic Development in UNDESA (2015-2017), where he also served as Sherpa of the Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon to the G20. Mr. Montiel was Director for Economic, Social and Development Affairs at the Executive Office of the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon (2012-2014).
Mr. Montiel holds a PhD in Public Policy from the University of Birmingham, UK (1998); and a MA in Legislative Studies from the University of Hull, UK (2005). He got an MSc combined with his First degree in Economics at the USSR, in the Belorussian State Institute of National Economy (1985). He graduated with distinction.

He speaks Spanish, Russian and English.

Malika had been serving as a Program Development Specialist/Design, Gender and Social Inclusion at the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Tajikistan Mission/U.S. Embassy for the past 12 years (April 2012 to February 2024). In 2020 she co-chaired the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility (DEIA) Council at the U.S. Embassy, Dushanbe. In 2023, Malika was appointed as one of the two the U.S. Embassy Federal Women’s Program Co-Coordinators to advance women’s role in the workforce internally.

Malika has more than 17 years of experience working for international organizations and programs. Prior to joining USAID/Tajikistan in 2012, she worked for projects funded by the European Commission, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the Delegation of the European Union to Tajikistan. She also worked at U.S. Embassy/USAID’s Gender Office in Afghanistan the winter of 2016-17.

Dr. Nargis Rakhimova graduated from the Tajik State Medical University in 1994. Her educational background includes a diploma in Pediatrics, a master’s degree in Reproductive health and a PhD in Public Health. During almost 25 years of her professional experience in the social and international development sectors, she has worked on different projects for UNFPA, WHO, Asian Development Bank, the Ministry of Health. She has more than 10 years of experience with UNFPA. She has been acting Assistant Representative since 2018 and was appointed Acting Representative in July 2020. She has strong knowledge and skills in strategic positioning and high-level advocacy and introducing the innovative evidence-based programmes that resulted in accelerating the Government commitment to the SDGs and significantly increasing UNFPA visibility in Tajikistan. She has strong experience in coordinating and leveraging the resources of government and development partners, building strategic alliances and mobilizing additional resources to UNFPA areas of work.

Mr. Parviz Najmidinov (Tajikistan) joined the UNRCCA in December 2021. Prior to this appointment, Mr. Najmidinov worked at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Tajikistan (2012-2021). His career began in the State Unitary Enterprise "Tajdipservice" under the Tajik Foreign Ministry as a specialist (2008). He holds a Degree in International Relations from the Tajik National University (2007) and a Postgraduate Diploma in Economics from the Diplomatic Academy of the Russian MFA (2012).

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.

Rimma Sabayeva has about 15 years of experience with UNV in different positions (2008-2023), contributed towards UNV’s national, sub-regional and regional programme development, partnerships building and volunteer mobilization in Europe and Central Asia; engaged with development of new strategic partnerships in humanitarian responses and crises, sustainable development through UN-UNV collaboration and integration of volunteerism in UNSDCFs, UN programmes and projects, UNV Policies, including the partnership with the Government of Kazakhstan in successful piloted UNV Full Funding Programme, adoption of the National Volunteerism Law and other initiatives for development of the volunteer infrastructure in Kazakhstan.

She started her professional journey in the UN from the UNDP Finance Kazakhstan in 2008. Before joining the UN she was working in management positions with local universities and the private sector.
She has a Master’s Degree in Education and a Bachelor’s degree in Economics.

Sobir Aminov serves in the capacity of National Coordinator in Tajikistan for ILO since 2009. Prior to that he used to work in the capacity of National Project Coordinator (2008-2009) and Programme Assistant (2007-2008) for Anti-trafficking and Regional Labour Migration project for the same agency. Sobir's education background includes diploma from Institute of Entrepreneurship and Service in Dushanbe, Tajikistan on Finance and Credit and various of relevant training programmes.

We are delighted to announce that Mr. Victor Lutenco has officially assumed the position of Chief of Mission at IOM Tajikistan.
Victor has close to 20 years of experience in running development programs with a special focus on migration. He is coming now from Lagos, Nigeria where he wore the double hat of the Head of Sub-Office and Senior Programme Coordinator (Migration Management) supporting MHD operations that delivered in 2023 a quarter of global IOM caseload and managing return and reintegration of about 500 migrants monthly. Before that he led the IOM team in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia where he focused on leveraging internal migration for development. Elected to the municipal council of the capital city of Moldova – Chisinau – Victor worked on implementing participatory budgeting, developed public-private partnerships and strategies in the fields of education, social protection and economic development. He was among the founders of the Institute for European Policies and Reforms, which rapidly became one of most influential think-tanks in Moldova. He has also founded and led the Diaspora Relations Bureau as the central agency within the Government of Moldova liaising with Moldovans abroad and worked as Senior State Adviser of two Prime-Ministers of Moldova focused on social development portfolios. Victor started his career by developing and implementing programs to prevent human trafficking with civil society and IOM in Moldova and then took over management of population and development portfolio of United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Country Office in Moldova.
Victor speaks fluently in English, Russian, Italian, and Romanian, has master’s degrees from the Harvard Kennedy School and Moldova State University, and was a Fulbright/Humphrey fellow at the University of Minnesota.
Victor was awarded by the President of Mongolia with the Order of the Polar Star for supporting the return of over 1,000 vulnerable Mongolian migrants stranded abroad due to COVID-19.

Dr. Victor Olsavszky is a Romanian physician specialized in Public Health, holding a master’s degree in management of social and health services and a Ph.D. in medical science. His career in Public Health began in the Ministry of Health of Romania as Director of the Department for International Cooperation. From January 2016 to December 2020 Dr. Olsavszky was representing the WHO in Bosnia and Herzegovina, managing the WHO country office in Sarajevo. In 2020 on behalf of WHO, Dr. Olsavszky was leading the international support for fighting the COVID-19 pandemic in BiH. From January 2021 Dr. Victor Olsavszky represents the WHO in Tajikistan as WHO Representative /Head of WHO Country Office.