Our Team in Montenegro

Anjet Lanting, a national of The Netherlands, has served as the UN’s Human Rights Adviser in Montenegro since September 2019. Anjet has worked in the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Cambodia, the UN peace mission in Timor-Leste, and with human rights NGOs in The Philippines and Cambodia. She started her human rights work volunteering with Amnesty International in The Netherlands. She has experience in monitoring human rights violations, prison and trial monitoring, human rights capacity building of police and army, and supporting national human rights institutions and civil society in monitoring and advocacy. She has a Master’s in Law and in International Relations.

Danilo Rizzi has been appointed as Regional Representative for the UNODC Regional Office for South-Eastern Europe, on 1 June 2022. He has over 36 years of relevant substantive and managerial experience in national and international positions of increasing responsibility. He has been working with UNODC in different positions, programmes, and offices in the Islamic Republic of Iran and served in the Regional Programme for Afghanistan and Neighbouring Countries, contributing to the achievements of international initiatives such as the Triangular Initiative, the Rainbow Strategy, and the Paris Pact Initiative, since 2007. More recently he served as Global eLearning Programme Coordinator and in the Division for Operations. Prior to his work with UNODC, Danilo Rizzi served with the Ministry of Economy and Finance, Ministry of the Interior, and Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Italy, with multiple national and international assignments including in Asia, Europe, and Latin America. He holds a Master's and Bachelor's degrees in Laws (1994), in Economy and Financial Security Science (2003), and in International and Diplomatic Science (2005).

Ekaterina Paniklova (Kyrgyzstan) has been appointed as UNDP Resident Representative for Montenegro in October 2023. She has 25 years of experience in UNDP. Prior to her appointment in Montenegro, she served as the Regional Programme Coordinator in the UNDP Istanbul Regional Hub overseeing the Regional Programme portfolio and providing advisory services to 17 countries and territory in Europe and Central Asia.
Previously, she held senior managerial positions in the UNDP for Europe and Central Asia and in UNDP in Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Sudan, and worked in various capacities in UNDP in Kyrgyzstan.
Ekaterina holds a Master of Science in Public Policy and Management from the University of London and an MBA from American University-Central Asia in Kyrgyzstan, along with a diploma in history from Kyrgyz State University.

Jaroslaw Ponder is Head of the ITU Office for Europe at the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) (Geneva, Switzerland). Within the last years he has been carrying out numerous projects, activities and initiatives at national, regional and international levels. He has been taking lead role in many international conferences and summits dealing with fostering ICT innovation and development of ICT ecosystem, information society, and advancements of digital economy worldwide, while setting strategies and ensuring their timely implementation.

Mr. Bouchardy, UNHCR’s Representative in Montenegro since 2021, has more than 30 years of experience with the UN. Mr. Bouchardy was UNHCR’s Representative in Belarus between 2013 to 2020. He has held managerial positions both at UNHCR HQ and in the field, such as Senior Operations Manager in the Russian Federation, Head of sub-offices in Iran, Senior Refugee Coordinator in Armenia, and Special Advisor at the Division of Human Resource Management. Between 1992 and 2004, Mr. Bouchardy also served at the Division of Operational Support at UNHCR’s HQ as Head of the Geography Unit, where he introduced the concept of geo-information management. During more than 10 years he covered over 40 operations worldwide, including humanitarian emergencies in the Great Lakes, Kosovo, and Sudan. Prior to UNHCR, Mr. Bouchardy worked for UNEP, UNITAR, and the Ministry of Transport of France - and as a visiting professor and researcher. Mr. Bouchardy obtained his Master’s degree in Geography from the University of Grenoble, France followed by a D.E.A. (post-graduate diploma). He holds a PhD in Sciences and Geography.

After many years of international experience with UNICEF in Iraq, Yemen, Lebanon, Venezuela, and Thailand, Juan Santander, a Spanish and Argentinian national, is the UNICEF Representative to Montenegro from June 16, 2020. Prior to his engagement in Montenegro, Santander served as the Deputy Representative for UNICEF in Thailand and Venezuela. Before that, he worked as the Chief of Social Policy, Planning, Monitoring & Evaluation in Lebanon, Chief of Planning, Monitoring & Evaluation in Yemen and Knowledge Management Specialist in Iraq. Before joining UNICEF, Santander worked for the United Nations Assistance Mission to Iraq and for UNDP in Iraq. Santander holds a Master’s degree in Global Studies from Albert Ludwig University, Germany and he is fluent in English, Spanish, and French.

Michela brings expertise in humanitarian affairs, conflict analysis and resolution, and team management in insecure environments. Before UNOPS, she held various senior positions as a country director with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRIC) in conflict-affected countries in Africa, Latin American and Asia. She also worked in the humanitarian sectors in the UK and Canada, and in the financial sector in the City of London. Michela holds a PhD in International Relations, a Doctorate in Languages and Literature and a Master degree in Development Studies

Michele Ribotta is the Country Representative in Albania, covering Montenegro as non-resident agency. He joined UN Women in 2012 as adviser to the UN System Coordination Division in HQ. In his capacity, he has driven UN Women’s efforts to mainstream gender in the work of the UN Development System at global, regional and country levels.
Before joining UN Women, Mr. Ribotta led the UN Coherence learning team at the UN System Staff College, providing training and facilitation services to UN Country Teams on leadership and strategic planning. Prior to that, he served with UNDP Egypt as Head of the UN Resident Coordinator Office. His career in the UN system started in Bulgaria in 1997 as coordination and human rights officer in the Office of the UN Resident Coordinator.
Mr. Ribotta has a master degree in law obtained at the University of Rome, La Sapienza in 1993. He is married and has three children. He speaks Italian, English, French and Spanish.

Mina Brajovic is the Head of WHO Country Office in Montenegro since its establishment in April 2008. She is responsible for driving the WHO response to the country health needs. She supports policy-making for sustainable health development by providing guidance, building up local relationships to implement technical cooperation, making standards and agreements, and ensuring that public health measures are coordinated and in place during crises.

Mr Gangi is the Deputy Regional Representative of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) for the region of Europe and Central Asia, and de facto head of FAO offices in Bosnia&Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia.
Mr Gangi is a Senior Development Professional who started his career as an engineer developing and implementing irrigation projects in Egypt using state of the art telemetry and communication technology. In 1999, after twelve years of work in development with international multilateral and non-governmental organizations, he joined the Food & Agriculture Organization of the United Nations where he held several senior positions in headquarters, regional and country offices including Cairo, Rome, Budapest, Abu-Dhabi and Tehran. In 2016 he held the position of Deputy Regional Representative for Near East & North Africa Region until 2019 when he was appointed as Deputy Regional Representative for the Europe & Central Asia Region in Budapest.
Mr Gangi, a national of Canada, has a background in engineering, project and financial management, and business administration. He speaks Arabic, English, French, Italian and Spanish.

Ms. Natalia Alonso Cano is joining UNDRR as Chief of the Regional Office for Erope and Central Asia bringing over 25 years of professional experience in international development and partnerships. An agronomic engineer, she has worked 9 years overseas, mostly in India and the Dominican Republic, for the European Union and others on environmental resource management, governance, and disaster preparedness.
Prior to this assignment, Ms. Alonso Cano was Senior Adviser at UNICEF EU Office where she was leading on mainstreaming child rights into EU policy and practice and on strengthening partnerships to achieve positive outcomes for children and young people. Her previous leadership roles in Brussels included serving as Deputy Director at Oxfam International, where she played a pivotal role in advocating for ambitious EU responses to climate change and inequality while steering complex development, humanitarian, and partnership portfolios.
Previous assignments in management, advocacy and strategic communications were at Plan International and Amnesty International. Her technical expertise was sharpened during her experience in the corporate engineering sector.
A Spanish national, Ms. Alonso holds an engineering degree from the University of Madrid.

Nina Krgovic joined ILO as a National Project Coordinator. She was engaged in the creation of Decent Work Country Program. She currently works on topics of social dialogue, employment, labour legislation reform, informal economy. Before joining ILO, Nina was the Deputy Director of the Anti-Corruption Directorate of Montenegro. She also worked for the UNHCR.

Mr. Remy is currently responsible for Libya, Montenegro and Tunisia. Remy leads the design and implementation of medium to longer-term strategies in collaboration with government representatives and other national stakeholders for rural poverty reduction. He manages the design of the IFAD loan and grant portfolios and supports their implementation with a view to maximizing development effectiveness, impact and sustainable development results.
Before joining the Fund in 2006, Remy served as a civil servant for the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation at headquarters - Paris and in different countries, with a last position in Dakar as a Regional Coordinator for Agriculture and Environment for six countries (Senegal, Mali, Mauritania, Gambia, Cap Vert and Guinea).
Remy holds a General Degree in Agronomics from the National School of Rennes-France (ENSAR) and a master’s degree in Tropical Agronomy from the National Center of Tropical Agronomy-Montpellier (CNEARC).

Mr. Šešum is Head of the Antenna in Sarajevo of the Regional Bureau for science and Culture in Europe and responsible for the implementation of UNESCO’s core programmes and activities in Bosnia and Herzegovina. He also supports the development and implementation of programmes and participation in UN development/cooperation frameworks in Serbia and Montenegro, as well as in other countries of the region, as required. Mr. Šešum has an academic background in civil engineering. He joined UNESCO in 1995.

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 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.

Mr. Taeke Gjaltema was appointed as Regional Adviser on Statistics in 2023. Mr. Gjaltema has broad and in-depth experience in official statistics in areas such as modernisation of statistical production, forecasting, modelling, data analysis, and census and survey data collection. He was involved in and managed many capacities building and technical assistance activities in the EECCA region as well as in many countries outside the UNECE region.
Prior to his appointment as Regional Adviser on statistics, he was chief of the UNECE Statistical Management and Modernisation Unit and secretariat of the High-Level Group for the Modernisation of Official Statistics. In this renowned programme, several generic models that are now global standards for official statistics were developed and hundreds of statisticians collaborated on topics such as big data, machine learning, data Integration, new data sources, ethics and modern management practices. Earlier he was the focal point in statistics for the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Before joining UNECE in 2010, Taeke worked at UNECLAC, UNDESA and Eurostat as well as at various National Statistical Offices, Universities, Research Institutes, the Academy of Science, and at private companies. He studied Demography (BSc and MSc), Spatial Sciences (BSc and MSc) and Business and Development Economics.

Thierry Lucas, a French national, is an expert in European and international policy on environment and sustainable development. He is a Senior Policy Expert in the United Nations Environment Programme’s (UNEP) Brussels Office, working on a variety of topics including biodiversity and ecosystems management in the context of the partnership-building between UNEP and the EU institutions, and key EU stakeholders in Brussels. He was also the coordinator of the global Ad Hoc Open-ended Expert Group on marine litter and microplastics. Mr Lucas has over 25 years of technical and management experience with the UN, including expertise in Africa and Asia. Before working for UN Environment Programme, Mr. Lucas was the project manager of an adolescent health programme in Asia of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

Mr. Gjorgjiev has over 24 years of experience at the international, regional and national levels, with extensive knowledge of the region, international experience in procurement across the globe and most recently also experience as Chief of Mission in Azerbaijan. He is experienced Procurement specialist with a demonstrated and successful history of working in the international humanitarian procurement, supply industry and operations. Skilled in International affairs, Policy making, Operations Management, work with Governments, Humanitarian assistance, Public Procurement, Warehouse Operations, Development and with a Master's degree in Economics and an International Certificate on Public Procurement from the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply.
Mr. Gjorgjiev also worked in Amman, Jordan, Nairobi, Kenya, Philippines, Indonesia, North Macedonia, East Timor and short term assignments in DR Congo, Haiti, Colombia, Peru, Afghanistan, Panama, Myanmar etc.

Following the end of a three-year mandate of Peter Lundberg on 31 December 2023, the role of UN Resident Coordinator ad interim in Montenegro will be obtained by Vladimir Gjorgjiev, IOM Chief of Mission in Montenegro, until the appointment of the new UN Resident Coordinator.