Our Team in Armenia

The UN Secretary-General has appointed Françoise Jacob of France as the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Armenia as of April 2024.
Ms. Jacob brings 30 years of experience in humanitarian and development work. She was the UN Resident Coordinator in Serbia from 2019 to 2024. From 2017 to 2019, she served as UNOPS representative to the EU institutions in Brussels. She was the UNOPS director for South Asia (2011-2017). She held management positions with UNOPS, UNRWA, ECHO(EU), NGOs and the private sector in Afghanistan, India, the Middle East, East Timor, Sudan, Montenegro, Uganda, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
As Resident Coordinator, Francoise has been a strong advocate for accelerated action on climate change, pollution and the loss of bio-diversity, promoting the concept of the just transition in order to reduce inequalities in times of fundamental transformations required in our social and economic systems. She has spearheaded extensive work on human rights, peace building and governance.
She holds a Master of Business Administration from ESSEC, in Paris. She is a yoga teacher and an enthusiastic mountaineer.

Ms. Petrosyan is the head of the UN Department of Public Information Yerevan Office since June 2020. During her service at the UN, she has been in charge of the office heading the communications and public information mandate, as well as leading the UN Communications Group. Ms. Petrosyan is engaged in the work of the RCO as well.
Ms. Petrosyan is an award-winning communications strategist that has built a strong track record of innovation ecosystem knowledge and an ability to design and translate integrated marketing communications across all levels. She is a keynote speaker and researcher in the field of neuromarketing and has been published in various international academic journals and books. Prior to her current position she has held various roles with local and international foundations, universities, communications agencies, and startups.
Ms. Petrosyan holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration and Economics, Marketing, PR and Advertising from the University of Sheffield, Master’s degree in Linguistics and Intercultural Communication, Information and Public Communication Technologies and a Bachelor’s degree in Foreign Language and Literature, Pedagogy from Brusov State University.

Fabrizio Zarcone brings more than two decades of development experience to the role, including leadership positions across Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, and Sub-Saharan Africa. Earlier in his career, Zarcone worked in the Middle East covering the West Bank and Gaza, managing critical budget support operations.
Before his appointment to Armenia, Zarcone served as Country Manager for Thailand. Prior to that, he was Country Manager for Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, and the Slovak Republic, where he led a wide-ranging portfolio of technical assistance projects. He has also served as Country Manager for Costa Rica and El Salvador, overseeing lending and advisory services for both countries.
Zarcone holds a Ph.D. in Management Sciences from Escuela Superior de Administración y Dirección de Empresas (ESADE), and a Master’s Degree in European Economics and Law.

Dr. Ghassan Khalil holds a Doctorate in International Public Law and a Master’s degree in International Business Law from Paris V - Sorbonne University (both degrees Summa Cum Laude), and a Maitrise in Law from the Lebanese University.

Dr. Ghassan Khalil is a senior UN official, academic and international expert in child rights, international human rights law, education management, social policy, and legal reform, with more than 30 years of experience in the field of development, academic leadership, and management. Throughout his career, Dr. Ghassan served in multiple governmental, regional and international development senior consulting roles, as well as lectured in more than 50 universities in different countries, focusing on international law, human rights, strategic planning, and intercultural diversity.

His work has taken him to more than 70 countries, contributing to various fields, mostly in child rights. Dr Khalil held many positions in UNICEF, serving as Representative in Greece, Georgia, Senior Advisor to UNICEF Regional Office for Middle East and North Africa, and Special Representative in Libya.

Ms. Ter-Minasyan has been in the office since May 2007. Before that Ms. Ter-Minasyan worked as Gender Adviser for the UN Country Team and was leading the process of engendering Armenia’s Poverty Reduction Strategy, strengthening capacity of national stakeholders to plan and monitor implementation of government commitments to gender equality and women's human rights. Before that (2001-2006) she worked for UNIFEM as Project Coordinator for the regional (South Caucasus) peace and security programme. In 1999 – 2000, Ms. Ter-Minasyan worked for UNDP preparing Development Cooperation Reports for Armenia.

Ms. Meliouh is an accomplished humanitarian leader with nearly two decades of experience in emergency operations, programme management, and strategic leadership across complex crisis settings.
Prior to her current assignment, she served as Head of Programme and Operations for WFP in Syria, where she oversaw a large-scale humanitarian response supporting over 6.5 million people annually.
She has held senior leadership roles in WFP operations across the Middle East and Africa.
Ms. Meliouh holds a Master’s degree in Business Management from the University of Salford in Manchester, and a Bachelor’s degree in Banking from Ecole Superieure des banques in Algeria.

Lusine Sargsyan is a Human Rights Lawyer with more than a decade of experience in prevention and response to gender-based violence and human rights protection. She has an LLM in International Law from the University of Glasgow and a BSc in Jurisprudence from Yerevan State University.

Ms. Sargsyan has a proven track record in leading national and subnational GBV programs at UNFPA Armenia and contributing to legislative reforms in Armenia at the Human Rights Defender’s Office. She is skilled in policy drafting, international relations, and capacity building, with consultancy experience for UNDP, Council of Europe, and Save the Children. She was awarded for excellent performance by the Human Rights Defender of Armenia and delivered a TED Talk on gender-based violence and human rights protection.

Monica Sandri is the UNHCR Representative in Armenia. She first joined on mission status in September 2024.
Previously, she served as UNHCR Representative in North Macedonia.
During her 26-year career with UNHCR, Monica Sandri worked in multiple regions and duty stations located in Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America. Notably, she served as Representative in North Macedonia, Venezuela and Eritrea. Prior these assignments, she also served as Head of Sub-Office in Chad, as well as at the HQ in Geneva, Afghanistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia.
Prior to joining UNHCR in 1999, Monica Sandri served as Head of Mission and Regional Coordinator for Nuova Frontiera, an NGO operating in the South Caucasus region. She later joined the OSCE in Bosnia and Herzegovina for two years.
Ms. Sandri holds a MPhil in International Law from the University of Florence. She also pursued studies in human rights and European Law at the London School of Economics and Political Science.
Ms. Sandri speaks Italian, English, French and Spanish.
Ms. Sandri holds a MPhil in International Law from the University of Florence. She also pursued studies in human rights and European law at the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Natia Natsvlishvili has over 20 years of experience in development.
Natia Natsvlishvili assumed her role as Resident Representative of UNDP in Armenia in September 2021.
From December 2018 to August 2021 she served as Resident Representative a.i. at the UNDP Turkmenistan Country Office. She led a diverse team of national and international staff and consultants in realization of the cooperation priorities between UNDP and Turkmenistan in support of the country’s Sustainable Development aspirations. Ms. Natsvlishvili has promoted UNDP’s positioning as a partner of choice for government and other development stakeholders, as well as led the doubling of the Country Office portfolio in volume and diversity.
Prior to her duties in Turkmenistan, Ms. Natsvlishvili served as Assistant Resident Representative, Head of Programme at UNDP Georgia Country Office (2014-2018). She was leading the programme team composed of 4 portfolios covering Democratic Governance, Economic Development, Energy and Environment and Crisis Prevention and Recovery. During 2007-2013, Ms. Natsvlishvili led the Governance portfolio in UNDP Georgia, overseeing large-scale development projects. Before joining UNDP, Ms. Natsvlishvili worked as Economist at the International Monetary Fund office in Tbilisi, OSCE Mission to Georgia and National Bank of Georgia. Ms. Natsvlishvili has in-depth academic experience, and was delivering various courses in leading Georgian universities during 2002-2010.
Natia Natsvlishvili holds a Master’s degree in Public Policy from Harvard University, Kennedy School of Government (2002), and Master in Physics and Mathematics from Tbilisi State University (2000).

Ms Hovhannisyan holds a Master’s degree in Biochemistry. She brings 11 years of experience in employment and social protection, skills development and labour rights. Ms Hovhannisyan's main areas of expertise include design and implementation of employment policy and labour rights. She contributed to development of policy papers, legal regulations on labour and employment. Prior joining the ILO, Ms Hovhannisyan was the Deputy Head of the National Employment Service. She started her assignment as the ILO National Coordinator in 2005.

Raimund Jehle, a German national, has a PhD in agricultural economics. Prior to joining FAO, Mr. Jehle was a farmer, held several positions in academia and worked as a consultant for the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs in Brussels. Since joining FAO in 1999, he has served in various positions at FAO headquarters in Rome and, as of 2007, in the Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia in Hungary. Parallel to his current position of FAO Representative in Armenia, Mr. Jehle is also appointed as a Regional Programme Leader for Europe and Central Asia.

In 2021 Roza Babayan was appointed as Country Director of the UNAIDS Joint Programme in Armenia.
Before this appointment, and since 2017 Ms. Babayan was working at UNAIDS National Programme, as a consultant. Ms. Babayan has been working in public health for more than 17 years. She started her career in the Ministry of Health Sanitary and Antiepidemic Inspection (current National CDC) and continued in 2006 in the Ministry of Health Legal department as a Lawyer. In 2008, Ms. Babayan became the Head of Legislation improvement and analysis Division. Ms. Babayan previously worked as a consultant in different working groups for WHO, UNAIDS, UNICEF, UNFPA, CH2M HILL, USAID, Council of Europe office in Yerevan, Joint Global Fund, World Vision Armenia, and Open Society Foundation-Armenia. She worked on include health policy development, health care and human rights protection in prisons in Armenia, biosafety policy and regulatory reforms, sexual and reproductive health rights, healthy lifestyle, maternal and child health rights, health human resource development, legislation on international health regulations, palliative care, tobacco control and HIV/AIDS policy.
Starting from 2013, she was the Head of Health Law and Bioethics Department of the “National Institute of Health named after academician S. Avdalbekyan”. Ms. Babayan is a co-author of the Medical Law course for postgraduate doctors and has been teaching this course to doctors and clinical residents since 2013.

Sergey Shipilov is in the office from September 2023.
Mr. Shipilov commenced his career in the United Nations in 1992 and worked as a DPKO UN Police Officer in Bosnia, Croatia, and Kosovo. In 2001 he was appointed as a Deputy Chief UN Police Training Section in DPKO UN HQ in New York. In 2005 he joined UNDSS and worked in Sri Lanka, Iran, Gaza, Armenia, and Iraq. Mr. Shipilov has two Master’s Degrees: in Teaching and Law.

Dr․ Siddhartha Datta, an Indian national, holds a medical postgraduate degree in Community Medicine with a Master’s in Public Health from Manchester Metropolitan University, UK. Over the past 20 years working at subnational, national and regional levels, Dr. Datta has served in three WHO Regions and brings the experience of understanding the varied needs of the health systems in the Member States. Working in three WHO Regions, he has led the outbreak management of a wide range of infectious diseases and led the COVID-19 and mpox vaccination roll-out in the WHO European Region. He has worked extensively with national governments, local and international NGOs, UN partners, and national and international stakeholders in challenging settings and environments.

Previously, Dr. Datta served in the National Polio Surveillance Project (NPSP), WHO India, until 2009. He joined WHO Papua New Guinea in 2010 and thereafter served in WHO Lao PDR as Immunization Team Lead until 2016. Upon his relocation to WHO Europe in 2016, he served as Technical Officer in the Accelerated Disease Control team and acting Team Lead of Immunization and Surveillance Data in the Vaccine-preventable diseases and Immunization programme. Between Jan 2019 and June 2024, he served as the Regional Adviser, leading the Vaccine-preventable diseases and Immunization programme in the WHO Regional Office for Europe. In addition to this role, during 2021 and 2022, Dr․ Datta served as the acting Director of the Division of Country Health Programmes in the WHO Regional Office for Europe covering the areas of communicable diseases, control of antimicrobial resistance and Behavioural and Cultural Insight.

Mr. Shkolnikov has been in the office since July 2011. Prior to this assignment he held a number of positions in the intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations focusing on human rights and good governance in Eastern Europe and Central Asia.
From 2009 to 2011 he was a Senior Fellow at the Jefferson Institute with offices in Belgrade, Serbia and Washington, DC. From 2008 to 2009 he held the post of the Director of the Europe Office of Freedom House in Budapest, Hungary where he was responsible for the publication of Nations in Transit, an annual survey of democratic reform in 29 countries from Central Europe to Central Asia. From 2004 to 2008 he was the Head of the Democratization Department, Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE/ODIHR) in Warsaw, Poland. From 1995 to 2004 he was the Adviser on Migration and Freedom of Movement at OSCE/ODIHR. From 1989 to 1994 he held the position of Resident Research Consultant at the RAND Corporation in Santa Monica, California while he was working on his doctoral dissertation.
Dr. Shkolnikov published a number of articles and policy briefs on human rights, governance, and migration in the former Soviet region and its neighboring states. He earned his Ph. D. and Master’s Degree in Public Policy Analysis at the RAND Graduate School of Policy Studies in Santa Monica, California.

Mr. Zhirayr Edilyan was appointed as the UNIDO Country Representative in Armenia as of September 2024. Mr. Edilyan brings 25 years of experience in nonprofit leadership and development work.
Previously, during 2021-2024 he led the Mayors for Economic Growth (#M4EG) Facility with the United Nations Development Program in Armenia, where an innovative methodology based on system thinking and human centered design was introduced and implemented.
During 2013-2021 he served as the Country Director for World Vision Armenia.
In 2010 he has been awarded with the Atlas Corps Fellowship and became a part of multicultural and dynamic non-profit leadership development facility in Washington DC.
In 2006-20010 he served as the Executive Director at the Civic Development and Partnership Foundation.
As a development professional, Mr. Edilyan is passional in promoting sustainable change, institutional transformation and intersectoral partnerships. Mr. Edilyan, a national of Armenia, holds degrees in Economics and Management from Yerevan State University, Indiana University and the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.