Our Team in Saudi Arabia

Mr. Mohamed El Zarkani of Egypt has more than 16 years of experience in Local Economic Development, labour market reform, research and innovation, and safe and orderly management of human mobility. Before his appointment as UN Resident Coordinator in Saudi Arabia, he has served as the Chief of Mission of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in the Kingdom of Bahrain, where he was responsible for providing technical assistance to the Government of Bahrain on all issues related to labour market reform, combatting trafficking in persons, migration environment and climate change, immigration and border governance, as well as migration and development. He has also served as the United Nations Resident Coordinator a.i in the Kingdom of Bahrain from November 2020 until April 2022.

He also oversaw IOM’s technical cooperation programmes with the Human Rights Commission in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratization in the United Arab Emirates. Prior to his current role, Mohamed worked with IOM in Egypt and Kuwait as the head of community stabilization and human development and labour mobility programmes.

Mohamed has also worked with UNDP in Egypt as the national coordinator of a Local Economic Development Programme. Prior to working in the UN system, he worked with Nahdet El Mahrousa, an Egyptian Non-Governmental Organization focusing on promoting a culture of Research and Development for Egyptian youth. A national of Egypt, Mr. Mohamed El Zarkani has a bachelor’s degree in International Relations from Webster University in the Netherlands in 2005. Mohamed is married and has two children.

Jocelyn holds more than 25 years of experience in development and multilateral affairs with UN agencies and Intergovernmental organizations, leading the development of strategic partnerships and coordinating programmes.

He joined UNFPA in 2013 as Regional Strategic Partnership and Resource Mobilization Adviser for the West and Central Africa region. In this capacity, he led the development and implementation of the regional resource mobilization plans and supported the region in achieving its objectives. Since 2021, he has held management positions as Representative in Sierra Leone and in Guinea Bissau, where he joins us from today.

Prior to UNFPA, he worked with the UN Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) in different capacities and spearheaded interagency collaborations. As initiator and manager of the Antwerp International Training Center on Corporate Social Responsibility, he has promoted the principles of the Global Compact with private sector networks and professional organizations in different industry sectors; as Chief of partnerships for the Institute he has led a change management process to streamline and develop partners’ engagement; and as coordinator of capacity development programmes he has managed cross-cutting programmes dealing with international environmental conventions, environmental information system, decentralized south-south cooperation, UN operational satellite services and geographic information systems, and human development in complex areas.

With a background in physics of the environment, Jocelyn started his career as a junior professional with the European Space Agency.

He is married and has four children.

Adel Darwish serves as Director of the ITU Regional Office for Arab States, covering 22 Arab countries. He has more than 20 years’ experience in the field of telecommunications, spanning incumbent operator, startup operator, and regulator. In his different roles, Mr. Darwish has been involved with international relations, including ICANN, GSMA, the GCC Council, the League of Arab States, Arab Regulatory Network (AREGNET), and SAMENA Council.

Mr. Younes was appointed as the head of the UNODC office in Riyadh and as the international coordinator of the Interregional Center of Excellence for Drug Control, Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice on January 1, 2024.

Previously he served for two years as a legal officer in the Counter-Terrorism executive Directorate (CTED) of the United Nations Security Council, covering North East Asia, the Pacific and Canada.

From 2014 to 2021 he worked for the Terrorism Prevention Branch of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) as a Terrorism Prevention and Criminal Justice Officer in Vienna and as a Terrorism Prevention Regional Adviser for the Middle East and North Africa (ROMENA) and Regional Offices for the Gulf Corporation Council Region (OGCCR) (2021)

From 2010 to 2014 he served as a Legal Officer in the International Special Tribunal for Lebanon in the Netherlands.

From 2001 to 2010, he held several judicial positions in the Lebanese judiciary and also served as the Special Assistant to the Director General of the Ministry of Justice in Lebanon. He holds a postgraduate academic degree in law from the Judicial Studies Institute and the Lebanese University in Beirut, and in European and International Security from the University of Geneva.

Ashraf El Nour, a Sudanese national, has been appointed in September 2924 as Head of Office IOM KSA and Director for IOM Islamic Philanthropy Office. He has been with IOM since 1992. He most recently served as the Regional Director for Southern Africa, and before that he was Director of IOM Office to the UN in New York. Ashraf has served in different posts at HQ and in the field, including a secondment to UNDP (2001-2005).

Prior to Dr. Ismail's current position, he occupied the same role in Yemen - which is considered one of the largest WHO operations in the world – for 2 years and in Iraq for 2.5 years. Before moving to Iraq, Dr Ismail worked for 13 years as a leader for the “Essential Medicines and Health Technologies” team in the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office in Cairo, Egypt.

Prior to joining WHO, Dr. Ismail worked as a professor in several academic institutions in Egypt and the USA where he managed to publish many articles in renowned journals and has participated in many national and international conferences. He has over 20 years of experience in clinical and biomedical engineering.

Coupled with his extensive working experience, Dr. Ismail has 3 Masters’ degrees in Public Health from University of Roehampton (UK), Biomedical Engineering from Alexandria University (Egypt), and Business Administration from Arab Academy for Science and Technology. He is also a holder of a PhD degree in Biomedical Engineering from University of Miami (USA).

Judge Hatem Aly, a former Senior Judge and Chief Prosecutor in Egypt, has over 20 years of experience in the areas of criminal justice and crime prevention. He previously served as a Senior Crime Prevention Expert at UNODC Headquarters in Vienna. He was also a Representative for the Siracusa International Institute for Criminal Justice and Human Rights (SII) for the Middle East region and for Afghanistan. He holds a degree in International Criminal Law (ICL) from the Siracusa International Institute for Criminal Justice and Human Rights in Italy as well as an ICL Diploma in International Cooperation in Penal Matters from the International Human Rights Law Institute in Chicago, USA.

Ms Inas Hamad (Egypt) was appointed UNV Regional Portfolio Specialist for Arab States in September 2020. She is based in Amman Regional Office. Before taking this regional position, Ms Hamad served as the UNV Country Coordinator for Egypt. Through her practical knowledge attained during 20 years of experience with the international world of nonprofits, including the World Health Organization, the World Bank, USAID, and Plan International, Ms Hamad has gained exposure in diverse capacities to several development fields. She has been involved in strategic planning, programme management, resource mobilization, and international cooperation. Ms Hamad holds a Master’s degree in Public Administration from the American University in Cairo and Columbia University in New York City, with focused studies on UN Management. She is a certified trainer in gender and development from the Royal Tropical Institute in the Netherlands.

Janneke van der Graaff – Kukler is the Deputy Regional Director of UN-Women’s Regional Office in the Arab States. She has over 15 years’ experience as development practitioner at regional and country level in East and Southern Africa, Asia and the Pacific as well as the Arab States. Ms. Kukler’s profound programmatic background provides her with rich expertise in governance, leadership, and gender statistics. She is a specialist in regional strategic planning, UN coordination, as well as change management, including the implementation of General Assembly resolution 72/279.

Mr Khlaifa has 20 years of experience in relief and development. He has led humanitarian operations in various settings of natural disasters and complex emergencies, including in Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Indonesia, Malaysia, Libya and Pakistan. He Holds an MA degree in English Literature & Humanities from Minia University in Egypt, an MSc in Sustainable Development from the University of London, and a Project Management Diploma from Aalborg Technical School, Denmark.

On 22 May 2022, Ms. Lana Al Wreikat was appointed Deputy Director of the Office of Emergency Programmes and Operations at the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in New York. For nearly a year, she concurrently served as Acting Director, providing global leadership during some of the most complex humanitarian crises in recent years. Her tenure saw UNICEF respond to major emergencies in Gaza, Sudan, Haiti, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Afghanistan, Myanmar, Syria, and Ukraine. She played a pivotal role in advancing global strategies for risk analysis and emergency preparedness and spearheaded innovative approaches to Public Financing for Children (PF4C) in humanitarian and fragile contexts.

Ms. Al Wreikat brings over two decades of strategic leadership within the United Nations and the broader multilateral system, having served at country, regional, and headquarters levels. While much of her career has focused on complex emergencies in conflict-affected and politically fragile states across Africa, Central Asia, and the Middle East, she has also led development-focused work in more stable settings. Her experience includes developing and implementing UN programmes and policies in Iran, Jordan, Syria, Tajikistan, and the Gulf states.

Previously, she served as UNICEF Representative to the Sultanate of Oman, where she aligned the programme with Oman’s Vision 2040, and as UNICEF Special Representative in Libya. Notably, she was the first UNICEF staff member deployed to Libya at the onset of the 2011 conflict, tasked with establishing the organization’s presence and emergency response on the ground.

Throughout her career with UNICEF, Ms. Al Wreikat has led large-scale emergency operations, including multiple Level 3 responses. These include responses in the Horn of Africa, Zimbabwe, and Syria, where she served as Head of the Syria Cross-border Humanitarian Operations from 2012 to 2017. From 2007 to 2011, she was based at UNICEF’s Eastern and Southern Africa Regional Office in Nairobi, where she oversaw regional humanitarian strategy and policy development. In that role, she also represented UNICEF to the Regional Inter-Agency Standing Committee (RIACSO), coordinating responses to crises across Southern Africa.

Prior to joining UNICEF, Ms. Al Wreikat worked with the United Nations University and held a leadership role in one of the largest ICT companies in the Middle East, where she managed key regional education and technology programmes.

Mohammed Khater Zaid, Representative of UNOCHA in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). Khater brings over 22 years of humanitarian knowledge and experience through multiple regions. Khater was recently the Deputy Head of Office for Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Afghanistan. Prior to this, Khater held several positions to include leading the OCHA Regional Office for the Middle East and North Africa (ROMENA) in Egypt; Head OCHA’s Humanitarian Access Unit in Syria; Political Affairs Officer and Advisor to the Special Envoy of the Secretary General (OSESG) in Yemen, Political Advisor to the Chief Mediator of the United Nations Joint Mediation Support Team (UN JMST); Capacity Building Officer for UNHCR in Hungary; Program Director for the International Monitoring Team (IMT) in Philippines; and much earlier with Danish Refugee Council (DRC) in Yemen and Afghanistan, respectively among others.  Khater holds a master’s degree in international law from Vrije University, the Netherlands, and Diplomas in Human Rights from Turku Academy, Finland, and in migration management and development from Maastricht University, the Netherlands.

Ms. Nahid Hussein, UNDP Resident Representative for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. She was the UNDP Deputy Resident Representative for Yemen, the Deputy Resident Representative a.i Somalia, and served at senior positions in Iraq, Pakistan, Sudan, Eritrea, Ethiopia and Kosovo. Ms. Hussein holds a Master’s degree in International Law and Diplomacy, Switzerland, Geneva, and a Law Degree University of Khartoum, Sudan.

Dr. Nizar Haddad, a Jordanian national, holds a Ph.D. and a Master’s degree in Agricultural Engineering from
Belgorod State Agricultural Academy, Russia (1999), in addition to a Master’s degree in Management and Strategic
Studies from Mutah University, Jordan. He also earned a Higher Diploma in National Resources’ Management from
the Royal Jordanian National Defense College in 2011. Dr. Haddad is a Certified Government Excellence and
Transparency Advisor since 2010.

Patrick Daru is the Deputy Director a.i. for the ILO Regional Office for Arab States (ILO ROAS). He was previously a Senior Skills and Lifelong Learning Specialist of the ILO Skills and Employability Branch. He participated as a Core Expert in the standard setting discussion that led to the adoption of ILO Quality Apprenticeships Recommendation, 2023 (No. 208). He was until 2020 the ILO ROAS Senior Skills and Employability Specialist, for more than eight years, and the Country Coordinator for Jordan for over four years. He previously managed the largest ILO project on youth employment in the Asia-Pacific region. In the early 2000’s, he managed two ILO regional projects on forced labour in South Asia and on child labour in Central and Eastern Europe, aiming at increasing the capabilities of at-risk populations. For 10 years before joining the ILO, he managed large scale programmes related to forced displacement in former Yugoslavia, the great lakes region, and the Commonwealth of Independent States, with a strong focus on skills development. He has contributed to and coordinated the publication of numerous ILO research papers and manuals.

Dr. Patrick Goettner works in the Technical Cooperation Section of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and has more than 7 years of experience working on inter-agency coordination and the implementation of trade and development programmes in different countries around the globe.

In the past he worked as UNCTAD’s Regional Coordinator in the field in Samoa for a regional trade and transparency project in the Pacific region. Prior to that he served as International Consultant in the Department of Environment of UNIDO working on programmes with a focus on environmental sustainability issues, green industry, as well as e-waste management.

He holds a Master’s degree in Business Chemistry from the University of Muenster in Germany and a PhD in Economics from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) in Germany.

Safaa El Tayeb El-Kogali is the World Bank’s Country Director for the (GCC) countries (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates) since July 1st, 2023.

Ms. El-Kogali, a Sudanese national, is a leading international development expert with more than 27 years of development experience in strategic leadership, government policy, program management, and research. Ms. El-Kogali, joined the World Bank in March 2000 as a Young Professional in the East Asia & Pacific Region. She has since held various positions across regions in the Bank, including Senior Economist in The Middle East and North Africa, Human Development Sector Leader in Latin America and Caribbean, and Practice Manager for Education in the Middle East and North Africa and in the Eastern and Southern African. She led policy dialogue and programs with governments in over 30 countries and published numerous studies and reports spanning a range of development topics.

Ms. El-Kogali has a Master of Philosophy degree with distinction in Development Studies from the Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex, UK and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania, USA.

Mr. Salah Khaled (Egypt) began his career at the United Nations in 1993 in the Operational Development Assistance Unit (ODAU). He then worked as an Operations Assistant for UNICEF's Cairo Office, before joining UNESCO in 2001 as Head of the Liaison and Procurement Unit for Iraq, based in Amman, Jordan. He served as UNESCO's representative in Southern Sudan for the countries of Maghreb, before being appointed in Yaoundé as Regional Director for the Central African region. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from the American University in Cairo and a Master of Arts degree in Human Development from the Arab Academy of Alexandria, Egypt.

Appointed as the UN Tourism Regional Director for the Middle East office in June 2024, Mr. Samer Al-Kharashi is a distinguished Saudi Arabian diplomat, bringing his extensive expertise to the UN Tourism’s mandate.

Al Kharashi earned a High Diploma in Diplomatic Studies from the Prince Saud Alfaisal Institute for Diplomatic Studies in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (2002) and a Bachelor of Law from King Saud University in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (1999). His education includes notable programs at Harvard University, Cranfield University, and the European School of Protocol, which focus on leadership, international law, and diplomatic etiquette.

His diplomatic career started as an Attaché in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Saudi Arabia in 2000, and he subsequently held leading positions such as Vice Consul for Citizen Affairs at the General Consulate of Saudi Arabia in Geneva (2003-2007), Adviser for the minister assistant of Foreign Affairs (2008-2017), and Chief of Staff to the Deputy Minister for Political and Economic Affairs (2017-2019). Al-Kharashi held the position of the Deputy Head of Mission of the Saudi Embassy in Washington, D.C. from 2019 to 2022.

Apart from his duty as a Minister Plenipotentiary since 2019, he took part in significant international forums and conferences. AL-Kharashi was also involved as a member of Saudi Arabia's delegation to the 63rd session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York (2008), as well as in several other multilateral and bilateral engagements and sub-commissions.

His vast exposure enables him to provide a strategic perspective that is consistent with the UN Tourism’s goals of supporting sustainable tourism development and increasing the region's global tourism competitiveness.

With over 20 years of experience in management, Mr. Dimassi has extensive experience in multi-lateral and international relations, corporate and policy reform, intergovernmental affairs, strategy design and private sector engagement. Mr. Sami Dimassi joined the UNEP Regional Office for West Asia as Director and Regional Representative in 2017. He held several senior positions in the UN System, such as Senior ICT Advisor, Head of the Innovation Branch, Deputy Director of the Science division, Director of Private Sector Engagement, and Acting Director of Corporate Services all within UNEP. A Lebanese-Canadian national, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Information Technology from Ottawa University and a master’s in Management from Waterloo University in Canada

Mr. Sanaullah Malik currently serves as the Project Coordinator at the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). In this capacity, he assumes responsibility for overseeing the day-to-day administrative activities of the project, ensuring the successful implementation of the work plan, and achieving the project objectives. Additionally, Mr. Malik brings extensive expertise as an Aircraft Airworthiness and Certification Expert.

With 25 years of experience in the aviation industry, Mr. Malik has accumulated professional skills in various fields, including aviation and airline management, safety oversight, training, and corporate communication. His expertise in these areas is complemented by his academic background, as he holds degrees in both laws and engineering.

Mr. Alsawi applies his personal insights and 20 years of experience in Government, International organizations, international development and diplomacy to ensure the helping to shape the future of global food security and agriculture in the region.

Prior to his appointment at IFAD, Alsawi was Director General of International Cooperation Department in Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture.

Alsawi was born and raised in Riyadh. He has a Master Degree in Economics, University of Western Australia and Bachelor Degree in Agriculture, King Saud University.

Ms Taina Christiansen is a dual national of Sweden and Denmark, and the UN-Habitat Country Representative designate of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, where she will be responsible for the leadership and management of the Country Programme.

Taina has served the United Nations since 2007. Most recently since 2019, she led the UN-Habitat’s Country Programme in Lebanon. In Lebanon, Taina oversaw a complex humanitarian-development-peace nexus Programme that responded and continues to respond to multiple urban crises facing the country. She managed a portfolio of more than US$ 45 million, focusing on both normative and operational work, spanning many projects including: territorial master planning, national urban policy development, local governance and development, local socio-economic development planning, mobility and transport, neighbourhood upgrading, (heritage) housing reconstruction, basic services upgrading, renewable energy, livelihood support, social stability, urban farming, innovative public space design and climate change adaptation and mitigation – and more.

Prior to assuming this role in 2019, Taina worked at UN-Habitat’s Headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya serving in the Office of the Executive Director, and later in the External Relations Division.

Prior to joining UN-Habitat, Taina served in two United Nations peacekeeping missions from 2013 to 2017, in Mali (MINUSMA) and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO). In both MINUSMA and MONUCSO, Taina worked in the Conduct and Discipline Teams, engaging in the prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse and general misconduct by UN personnel. From 2009-2013, Taina worked with the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS) in Geneva, on addressing HIV in security and humanitarian situations and on national strategic planning on HIV and with the International Trade Centre (ITC) in Geneva, on human resources policies. From 2007-2008, Taina worked with the Mediation Support Unit in the Department of Political Affairs in New York, USA.

Born in Brussels, Belgium, on 13 February 1983, Taina holds a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations and Politics from Mount Holyoke College, Massachusetts, USA and a Master of Arts in International Peace Studies with a specialisation in conflict mediation from the United Nations University for Peace, Costa Rica.

Mr Tamer Hammouda is the Chief Security Advisor for UNDSS in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain has been working with UNDSS since 2004 as Security coordination officer in Darfur, South Sudan, Erbil and Baghdad and Regional Security Advisor for UAE, Oman and Qatar. He holds a Master’s degree in Crisis Management, and Master’s degree in Law and Police science.

Mr Zeeshan Amin is Head of Office a.i. for the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism Programme Office in Baghdad, and non-resident member of the UN Country Team in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. He is also Head of UNOCT’s Strategic Coordination Section, which focuses on coordination and cooperation with UN agencies and partners in key field settings. In this capacity, Mr. Amin also oversees UNOCT’s activities in the Eastern and Southern African region through the UNOCT Programme Office in Nairobi, Kenya.

Mr Amin has almost 20-years of experience working at UNHQ on a wide range of topics, including counter-terrorism and PCVE policy-making, capacity-building, advocacy and inter-agency coordination, as well as on inter-governmental consultations on General Assembly resolutions. Mr Amin has a Masters degree in International Security Policy from Columbia University in New York, and a Bachelors degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.