Our Team in Armenia

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.

Mr. Penney-Laryea holds a Master’s degree in International Relations and a Master’s degree in Military Studies. He is a security professional with more than 29 years of experience in the field of security operations and crisis management, 15 years of which has been with the UNDSS. Prior to his current position, he has served in different DPKO missions and UN duty stations, including in the UNHQ. Mr. Penney-Laryea has field experiences from Liberia, Rwanda, Lebanon, DPC, Sudan and South Sudan.

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.

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.

Ms Stojkoska has graduated from the University of Pittsburgh, USA. She has extensive work experience in international development, management, and governance. Ms Stojkoska joined UNDP in 2008 and held various positions in different duty stations, including Head of Practice covering Governance, Anti-Corruption Specialist for the Pacific region in UNDP Pacific Office in Fiji from 2015. She joined UNDP in Armenia in August 2019 as UNDP Deputy Resident Representative. Currently she is temporarily taking up UNDP Resident Representative a.i. position.

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.

Mr. Storozhenko holds a Medical Doctor Degree in General Medicine from Ural State Medical Academy and a doctoral degree in Epidemiology and Medicine from Russian Academy of Medical Science. He brings more than 20 years of experience in public health, including experience in emergency settings and conflict-enflamed humanitarian crises, primary health, infectious disease and non-communicable disease prevention and control. Mr. Storozhenko has joined WHO in 2008 and has since worked in a range of field duty stations across the Globe.

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.

Mr. Oksamitniy holds a Ph.D in International Economics from the Moscow State Institute of International Relations. He brings 32 years of experience in international development and management, as well as humanitarian and emergency response. Prior to this assignment, he held leadership positions in UN and multilateral affairs at UNICEF Headquarters in New York. Mr. Oksamitniy assumed leadership of UNICEF Armenia country office in March 2021, he has previously served as UNICEF Representative to Kazakhstan and to Belarus.