Our Team in Ukraine

Ms. Brown brings more than 25 years of experience in humanitarian affairs and recovery programmes, with a particular concentration on complex emergencies and a thematic focus on operations, programme development, coordination and interagency relations.

Since 2019, Ms. Brown served as Deputy Special Representative for the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA), and as United Nations Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator.

Prior to this, she worked at the World Food Programme (WFP) headquarters in Rome, first as Director of the Emergency Preparedness and Supportive Response Division and then as Director of Policy and Programmes.

From 2013 to 2016, Ms. Brown was WFP's Director for West and Central Africa, based in Dakar, Senegal, serving 20 countries. She spent most of her career in the field with WFP, covering a range of situations in Afghanistan, Iraq, Kenya, Niger, and Somalia. She has also worked with non-governmental organizations in Haiti and Cambodia. Ms. Brown has also served in New York.

Ms. Denise Brown holds a master’s degree in Children’s Development from Purdue University in the United States.

She is fluent in English and French.

Mr. Rhodes Stampa is on surge to Ukraine as the Deputy Humanitarian Coordinator. He has primarily been involved in response operations over the past 20 years and amongst other roles has previously served as the Deputy Humanitarian Coordinator for humanitarian response operations in Mozambique, Haiti and the Philippines and as the Senior Coordinator for the immediate response to the Rohingya Refugee Crisis. Mr. Rhodes Stampa holds a master’s degree in Disaster Management from the University of Leicester.

Anh Nguyen is the Chief of IOM, the UN Migration Agency, Mission in Ukraine since 2019. Previously he headed Migrant Protection and Assistance Division at IOM Headquarters in Geneva. Before this, Anh Nguyen was the Senior Regional Migrant Assistance Specialist with the IOM Regional Office for South-Eastern, Eastern Europe and Central Asia. While posted in Ukraine until 2011, as the IOM Deputy Chief of Mission and Senior Programme Coordinator, he managed IOM’s largest Counter-Trafficking Programme. Before joining IOM, Anh worked in the private sector where he held director-level positions for Pacific Gas and Electric Company based in California, USA and Altitude Software based in Lisbon, Portugal. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Biology from the University of California, Santa Cruz and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln.

Erika Kvapilova (PhD) assumed her responsibilities in Ukraine in August 2020. She served as the first UN Women Representative in Georgia from 2013 till 2020. Before joining UN Women in Georgia, Erika served as the UN Women Regional Programme Director for South Eastern Europe. Between 2005 and 2009 she worked as Programme Specialist, supporting UN Women/UNIFEM programming in the Western Balkans and Turkey. Before joining the UN, she spent over 15 years in social policy and welfare research, participated in international comparative research teams and published on social policy and gender issues. In the early 2000s she was the Director of the Research Institute for Labour and Social Affairs and the International Center for Family Studies in Bratislava affiliated with the Ministry of Labour, Social Studies and Family in Slovakia, and served as the gender adviser to the Minister of Labour and Social Affairs.

Esteban Gerardo Sacco, an Argentine national, is in Ukraine since April, leading the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the country since the start of the war. Esteban has over 25 years of field experience in complex humanitarian emergencies across Africa and the Middle East. Mr Sacco is passionate about protecting the human rights and basic needs of the most vulnerable communities affected by humanitarian crises and conflicts. He holds

Masters’ Degrees in Filosofia and in Humanitarian Affairs from the Fletcher School, Tufts University.

Mr. Gianni Volpin is UNOPS Ukraine Country Manager. Mr. Volpin brings with him a wealth of expertise in the international arena, in particular humanitarian and development fields, and in the private sector. He has worked for more than two decades with the International Committee of the Red Cross in many countries occupying several key managerial positions at the country level, regional level as well as at Headquarters in Geneva. Mr. Volpin speaks Italian, English, French, and Portuguese.

UNFPA Representative in Ukraine, Country Director for Belarus since September 2019

Started his collaboration with UNFPA in 1996, joining the organization in 1999 as Programme Officer in the Latin American and Caribbean Division at Headquarters, which included detail assignments in Guatemala and Haiti. In 2004, took up the position of Deputy Director for the English and Dutch Speaking Caribbean, Jamaica where he was responsible for coordinating the delivery of UNFPA programme activities in 15 countries and 7 non-independent territories. He assumed the position of UNFPA Representative to Bolivia (2009), Egypt (2013) and Brazil (2015), leading the respective UNFPA teams through periods of significant political change and working as part of the UNCTs to advance the Agenda 2030 and the SDGs. Prior to working for UNFPA, was a consultant to local public institutions in the context of a number of European Union regional development initiatives.

Dr. Jarno Habicht is WHO Representative and Head of the WHO Country Office in Ukraine since November 2018. Dr. Habicht 's past experience includes working in the UN system, namely WHO, where Dr. Habicht has worked for the past few decades. Since 2003, Dr. Habicht has headed WHO Country Offices in Estonia, Republic of Moldova, Kyrgyzstan and Ukraine. As the Head of a WHO Country Office, he has experience managing WHO teams to ensure ongoing dialogue on health issues, providing targeted assistance in the development of health systems and key health issues, and responding to health crises in complex political, economic and geopolitical situations. Dr. Jarno Habicht graduated as a medical doctor and received a PhD in public health and health services research from the University of Tartu, Estonia. He has worked for the Estonian Health Insurance Fund, as well for the Ministry of Social Affairs in Estonia, and at the same time he has carried out research on equity in access to health services and financial protection.

Karolina Lindholm Billing joined UNHCR in 1999, as Associate Protection Officer in the then-Liaison Office for the Baltic Countries, which was located in Riga and covering Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Since then, she has worked for UNHCR in various management, legal and protection policy functions, in field operations in Africa, Europe and the Middle East, and at UNHCR’s Headquarters in Geneva.

Her latest assignments in UNHCR include Deputy Representative (protection) in Lebanon, Deputy Regional Representative for the Nordic and Baltic Countries, Senior Protection Officer in Zambia, Senior Liaison Officer (Human Rights) in the Division of International Protection at UNHCR’s Headquarters and Protection Officer in North Macedonia.

Karolina holds a Master’s in Law degree, with a specialization in human rights and refugee law from the University of Stockholm. She speaks Swedish, English and basic French, is married and has three children.

From September 2019 and until March 2022, Ms. Fouani served as UNDP Deputy Resident Representative to Ukraine.

Before joining UNDP Ukraine, Ms. Fouani was the Country Liaison and Coordination Specialist for Western CIS and South Caucasus at the UNDP Regional Bureau for Europe and CIS (2017-2019) in New York, covering Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine.

Between 2012 and 2017, Manal served as the Head of the Strategic Advisory and Advocacy unit in UNDP Syria working on resilience building and early recovery programme focusing on infrastructure rehabilitation, economic recovery and livelihoods and social cohesion. Within the context of the multi-dimensional operational solutions for the Syria crisis, Manal worked as the Early Recovery Advisor and Whole of Syria Early Recovery Cluster Coordinator (Syria/Turkey/Jordan hubs) in close collaboration with the HCT and UN leadership. She initially joined UNDP Syria as the Chief Technical Advisor for a Decentralization and local governance project in 2011.

Manal started its engagement with UNDP in 2004 in Lebanon working on social development, conflict prevention, recovery and peace building, including the 2006 recovery and reconstruction response.

Before joining UNDP, Manal worked for UNICEF, Mines Advisory Group and Mercy Corps - among other aid agencies - on mine action, M&E and local development issues in Lebanon, Iraq and Switzerland.

Ms. Fouani holds a Master’s Degree in Poverty Reduction: Policy and Practice, with emphasis on Development Management from the University of London, SOAS and a BSc. in Medical and Social Work from the Faculty of Public Health at the Lebanese University in Beirut.

A native Arabic speaker, she is fluent in English and French.

Mr. Morar arrived in Ukraine in June 2015 after working with the Department of Political Affairs at UN headquarters in New York. He has been working with the UN in several capacities since 2004, including in his previous assignment as UNSMIL-ED Head of Field Office and Head of External Relations in Libya (2012-2014). He worked with the UN Missions to Iraq (2004-2006; 2010), Afghanistan (2014), Republic of Moldova, Algeria, Guyana and with EU missions in Georgia (2008-2009) and Sudan (2011). Prior to joining the UN, he was Minister Counselor with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Romania (2000-2012). He was an assistant professor of Political Science at the University of Bucharest (1997-2003) and a foreign policy expert with the Romanian Presidency (1997-1999). Mr. Morar has a PhD in Political Philosophy, a Masters in Political Science, and has published four books and over 70 articles in the fields of political science and international relations.

Matilda Bogner has worked in the UN system since 2006. She headed the Regional Offices for OHCHR in Central Asia, the Pacific and South East Asia. She also headed the Human Rights, Transitional Justice and Rule of Law Division of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya and most recently was the Senior Human Rights Advisor for the UN in Belarus. Prior to that, she worked on human rights for nine years in the Europe and Central Asia region and speaks Russian fluently. She has a legal education and also worked as a criminal defence lawyer in Australia. She is married and has four children.

Mr. Hollingworth has worked for the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) for over 20 years. In May 2022, he became Emergency Coordinator for WFP’s support to people affected by the war in Ukraine. Prior to this appointment, he served as Representative and Country Director in South Sudan from 2019 to 2022; as Representative and Country Director in Sudan from 2016 to 2019; as Deputy Regional Director for the Middle East, North Africa, Central Asia and Eastern Europe, with an emphasis on supporting country offices facing large-scale and complex emergencies, and as Representative and Country Director for WFP operations in Syria, from 2013 to 2015. Throughout his WFP career, Matthew has served in many challenging settings, including Afghanistan, Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya and Pakistan, with extensive experience in logistics and emergency response. Mr. Hollingworth holds a Master of Science degree in Supply Chain Management from Cranfield University (UK), a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy and Politics from Southampton University (UK), and an International Diploma in Humanitarian Assistance from the Royal College of Surgeons (Ireland).

Murat Sahin stepped into the position of UNICEF Representative in Ukraine in July 2021. Prior to joining UNICEF’s office in Ukraine, Murat served as Head of Office in Kosovo (2018-2021) and Deputy Representative in DPR Korea (2016-2018). In his earlier career, Murat served the organization as adviser and specialist responsible for WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) and Education programmes at UNICEF Headquarters and in multiple duty stations including the DPRK, Tajikistan and Turkey. He has been with the organization since 1999. Mr. Sahin is a national of Turkey and passionate about supporting the realization of the rights of all children and giving his best to his work and family.
Mr. Sahin has a postgraduate degree in business research methods from Edinburgh Business School, a Master’s degree in Business Administration from Bilgi University in Istanbul, and a Civil Engineering degree from Middle East Technical University in Ankara.

Mr. Pierre Vauthier is a French national with a master's degree in Agroeconomics, an engineer from INP Toulouse. He has been serving the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations for 22 years in various positions at FAO Headquarters, regional, sub-regional and national offices.



Mr. Pierre Vauthier has worked in more than seven countries, including the Central African Republic (CAR), the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Ethiopia, South Sudan, and Mali. He has been working on strengthening and re-establishing FAO’s operations and programmes, formulation of the emergency and rehabilitation strategy, the analysis of food security and the implementation of the programme, including the development of a joint resilience and rehabilitation programme, FAO, UNICEF, UNDP and WFP.

Prior to joining the FAO team in Ukraine, for two years Mr. Vauthier has been leading L3 emergency response in Mali, working for the programme development on rural women's economic empowerment, Liptako Gourma conflict mitigation and resilience programme.

Mr. Raman Hailevich joined the UN Country Team in Ukraine in September 2018 in the capacity of the UNAIDS Country Director. He had previous been a Regional Adviser at the UNAIDS regional office in Moscow (2013-2018, 2007-2010), UNAIDS Country Coordinator in Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan (2010-2013), a Programme Development Advisers at the UNAIDS headquarters in Geneva (2002-2007) and UNAIDS country adviser in Belarus (2000-2001). Mr. Hailevich came to work for the UN in 1998 and had previously worked for a local university. Before joining the UNAIDS in 2000, he worked as a project manager for the UNDP office in Belarus. Mr. Hailevich holds a Masters in Education from the Minsk State Pedagogical School and a Masters in Drug Control Policies from the Imperial College of London University. Mr. Hailevich is a national of Belarus and speaks Russian, English and French.

Sergiy Savchuk has been representing ILO, the UN specialized agency for the world of work, since 2013. From 2001 through 2012, he headed development cooperation projects focusing on labour law and labour administration reform, social dialogue and gender equality at work in Ukraine. Before joining ILO, Sergiy worked for the Federation of Trade Unions of Ukraine, where he held the position of the Deputy International Secretary to enhance solidarity with the international trade union movement, as well as collaboration with the ILO on issues pertaining to protection of workers’ rights. He holds a Master’s Degree in foreign languages and literature from the Kyiv National Linguistic University and currently follows advanced studies in labour law.

Yuriy Savko is the Country Coordinator of the UN Volunteers Programme. Before that Yuriy was working as an expert and a senior consultant for IFIs (WB, EIB). He has got more than 20 years of experience of working for civil society projects and organizations, as well as for projects supported by international organizations (CBIE, CIDA, and GIZ). Yuriy has also acquired extended experience in healthcare sector, including his job as Deputy Minister of Ministry of Health in 2014-15 where he was responsible for European integration issues. Yuriy holds a diploma from the L’viv Polytechnic National University.