Our Team in Armenia

Ms. Lila Pieters Yahia, of Canada, obtained her master’s degree in Economics from the London School of Economics, London, UK. She has devoted more than 20 years to public service. She previously served as the United Nations Resident Coordinator a.i. in Equatorial Guinea and in Tunisia, where jointly with the UNCT, she led the support to governments and other partners the implementation of the COVID 19 pandemic response, the SDGs and agenda 2030, and the humanitarian response. Prior to joining the UN Secretariat, in 2020, she held numerous positions at UNICEF in Africa, Europe, and Asia, including Country Representative in Tunisia.

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 Öst holds a Master of Arts in Political Science and Public International Law from the Åbo Akademi University, Finland. She speaks Swedish, English and Finnish. Ms Öst brings more than 30 years of experience in the fields of human rights, international protection and management. Prior to her current position, she has served as the UNHCR Representative in Poland in 2013-2018. Ms Öst joined UNHCR in 1996. Since then, she has worked in a range of field duty stations, mainly in the field of protection for refugees. In 2005-2011, she has also served at UNHCR Headquarters in Geneva.

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. She started her career as a lecturer at Yerevan Polytechnic Institute. Later worked at the Academy of Sciences of Armenia. Over the span of her career, Ms Nasoyan has worked for various development projects funded by USAID and USDA. Ms Nasoyan is in charge of managing FAO’s Programme in Armenia and acts as Officer-in-Charge in the absence of the FAO Representative.

He brings more than 20 years of experience in the field of security, risk and crisis management. Mr. Wyllie joined the UN system in 1999 and served in three Peacekeeping missions for DPKO and covered seven countries as a UNDSS Security Adviser/ Deputy Security Adviser. Prior to current position was the Deputy Chief Security Adviser in Ethiopia. Mr. Wyllie assumed his duties as Security Adviser for Armenia in October 2021.

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 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 2015.

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.