Our Team in Armenia

Mr. Niels Scott has more than 30 years of experience in international cooperation, development coordination, humanitarian assistance, crisis management and peacebuilding support, which he has acquired at the United Nations and externally. Prior to serving as United Nations Resident Coordinator in Armenia, he served as United Nations Resident Coordinator in Liberia, ad interim Resident Coordinator in Indonesia and Burundi. He served also as the United Nations Resident Coordinator and Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Programme in Georgia. He held leadership positions with the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), including Head of Office in Libya, Côte d'Ivoire and Haiti and Chief of OCHA Humanitarian Coordination Support Section and Chief of OCHA Disaster and Vulnerability Policy Section. He also served as Head of the Regional Office for Darfur with the United Nations Mission in the Sudan (UNMIS) and Head of the OCHA Darfur Cell.
Prior to joining the United Nations, Mr. Scott worked with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) for 15 years, including as Operations Coordinator, Representative for Haiti, Head of Regional Delegation for West and Central Africa and Deputy Head of the Regional Delegation for Central Asia, Head of Delegation in Georgia, Relief Coordinator in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Logistics Officer in Croatia. He also served with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) as Programme Coordinator in Croatia and held other positions in the non-governmental and private sectors. Mr. Scott has a degree in social science and politics from the University of Edinburgh in the United Kingdom.

Ms Simonyan holds a Master’s degree in International Relations and Journalism from Moscow State University after Lomonosov. She brings more than 25 years of experience in international development and management coordinating technical assistance for inclusive and sustainable industrial development. She joined UN system in 1994 and was working as UNDP Portfolio Manager being responsible for different sectors including Environment and Sustainable Energy, Agriculture and Rural Development, Sustainable Human and Women Development. Since 2005 till now she is working as UNIDO Country Representative.

Ms Petrosyan holds Master degrees from the University of Sheffield and Brusov State University. She 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. Ms Petrosyan 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 Weigand holds a Master’s degree in International Economic Studies from Maastricht University, the Netherlands. She brings 20 years of experience in international development, particularly, in social policy and social protection. Prior to current position, Ms Weigand held leadership positions in UNICEF Country Offices in Iran and Turkmenistan and was UN Resident Coordinator ad interim to the Republic of Turkmenistan between December 2020 and July 2021.

Ms Nasoyan holds a Master’s degree in Foreign Languages and Literature from Yerevan State University. Also she has a Certificate of Achievement in the field of Management Development Programme from Harvard Business Publishing School and has completed three years of distance learning in Agronomy at the Armenian National Agrarian University.
Gayane Nasoyan joined FAO in 2001. In 2010, she assumed the post of Assistant FAO Representative, becoming in charge of managing and coordinating FAO’s Programme in Armenia. Prior to joining FAO, she worked at Yerevan Polytechnic Institute and the Academy of Sciences of Armenia. Ms Nasoyan has extensive experience in working for various development projects funded by USAID, USDA, UNDP.

Ms Ter-Minasyan holds a Master’s degree in Mathematics from Tbilisi State University. She has been serving in development and humanitarian field for over 20 years and has been advocating for migrants’ rights, their protection, highlighting the contribution of migration to development during her service with the IOM since 2007. Prior to her assignment, Ms Ter-Minasyan worked as Gender Adviser to the UN in Armenia and was leading process of engendering Armenia’s Poverty Reduction Strategy. She also worked for UNIFEM regional South Caucasus peace and security programme focused on women’s participation in peacebuilding processes.

Ms Milosevic holds a PhD in Molecular Genetics, University of Belgrade and Master’s in Business Management and Leadership, Harvard School of Business. She has very rich experience working as Emergency Coordinator and Head of Logistics. Since 1998 Ms Milosevic is heading various managerial posts in several WFP Offices managing programmes, operations and emergency responses. Before assuming current post she was the Chief Business Modelling and Strategy Adviser in WFP HQs, Rome.

Dr. Tawilah is a medical doctor and Family Medicine Specialist with a Master of Public Heath / Health Services Administration from the American University of Beirut (AUB), Lebanon. Dr. Tawilah brings about 30 years of international public health experience of providing policy and strategy advice to national governments in coordination with health development partners. She has worked in WHO’s Eastern Mediterranean, South-East Asia and Europe Regions, serving as WHO Representative in Djibouti, Iran, Indonesia, North Macedonia and Oman. Dr. Tawilah began her extensive WHO career as a medical officer in 1990 in her home country, Lebanon.

Ms. Belani is a Malaysian national, who studied Law at the University of London and speaks six languages. She has around 25 years of experience with UNHCR in the fields of human rights and international protection. Prior to her current position, she has served as the UNHCR Deputy Chief of Mission in India. Previously, Ms. Belani has held various positions in UNHCR offices in Ethiopia, South Sudan, South Africa, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Iraq and Thailand. In addition, she has served as a senior advisor for the response to the Syrian refugee crisis.

Ms Natsvlishvili holds a Master’s degree in Public Policy from Harvard University, Kennedy School of Government, and a Master in Physics and Mathematics from Tbilisi State University. She has extensive work experience in international development, management, and governance. Prior current assignment, Ms Natsvlishvili held various leadership positions in UNDP Georgia and Turkmenistan. Before joining UNDP, she worked with different international and UN agencies, including the IMF, OSCE. Ms. Natsvlishvili assumed her duties as the UNDP Resident Representative in Armenia on 22 September 2021.

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.

Ms Babayan holds a Master degree in Sanitary Expertise and Veterinary Medicine from Armenian Academy of Agriculture and a Master degree in Law from Moscow Law Institute. She has overall 17 years of working experience in the field of public health contributing to the development of health policies in the following areas: health care and human rights protection in prisons, sexual and reproductive health rights, HIV/AIDS policy related issues etc. Prior her current assignment, Ms Babayan worked with different international and UN agencies, including WHO, UNAIDS, UNICEF, UNFPA, USAID, COE, ADB and others.

Ms Harutyunyan holds a degree in linguistics and a Master degree in Comparative Legal Studies from the American University of Armenia. She has been working in the field of human rights with a focus on women’s rights and gender equality, since early 2000s. Prior joining UNFPA, Ms Harutyunyan worked at the OSCE for nine years and in NGO sector in the area of human rights. In 2013, she joined UNFPA as a National Programme Analyst. In September 2019, Ms Harutyunyan was appointed as UNFPA Assistant Representative in Armenia and since January 2020 assumed the UNFPA Armenia Head of Office position.