Our Team in Azerbaijan

Mr. Nasar Hayat is currently serving as the United Nations Resident Coordinator a.i. in Azerbaijan, leading and coordinating the work of the UN Country Team and strengthening the partnership between the United Nations and the Government of Azerbaijan in support of national development priorities and the Sustainable Development Goals.

Mr. Hayat brings more than 25 years of leadership and management experience across the United Nations system, diplomacy, and international development. Since July 2023, he has served as the Representative of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and Head of the FAO Partnership and Liaison Office in Azerbaijan.

Prior to his assignment in Azerbaijan, Mr. Hayat served as FAO Country Representative in the Lao People's Democratic Republic. He has also held several senior public-sector and diplomatic positions, including Deputy FAO Representative in Pakistan, Deputy High Commissioner of Pakistan, and Chargé d’Affaires in the Maldives.

Throughout his career, Mr. Hayat has worked extensively on UN project management, agricultural and rural development, land rights, human rights, and gender equality initiatives with governments, donors, and international organizations. His areas of expertise include climate change adaptation, sustainable natural resource management, efficient water use, and animal disease control.

Mr. Hayat holds a Master’s degree in Law and Development from the University of Melbourne, Australia.

Ms. Anna Soave was formally appointed Head of UN-Habitat’s Country Office in Azerbaijan in early April 2024, but has been working in Baku since mid-2023. She is an urban development practitioner with more than 25 years of international experience with a particular focus on post-conflict contexts, low-income informal settlements, and dilapidated historic neighbourhoods. Prior to this appointment, she has worked for many years in Iraq, implementing for UN-Habitat several urban recovery and institutional development programmes, and in Afghanistan, as an urban planner for the Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC), and project manager for a US-based consultancy company. Anna holds an MSc in Building & Urban Design from the Development Planning Unit (DPU) of the Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL, in London, and a degree in Architecture from the Politecnico di Torino, Italy.

Dr Hande Harmanci took office as WHO Representative and Head of Country Office in Azerbaijan in August 2018. Prior to her appointment, Dr Harmanci worked in various positions in WHO Headquarters in the areas of human resources for health, pandemic preparedness, influenza and viral hepatitis. Previously, she was a professor of public health and community medicine in Marmara University, Istanbul. Dr. Harmanci graduated from Hacettepe University Medical School and holds Doctor of Public Health Degree. She is an amateur ceramicist.

Kaori Ishikawa is Country Representative in Georgia and Liaison for South Caucasus at UN Women. Prior to her assignment in Georgia, she was the Head of Office for UNFPA Mongolia. Ms. Ishikawa served in a number of UNFPA Country Offices and Sub-Offices with large and complex operations, including Lao PDR, Yemen, Indonesia, Afghanistan and Myanmar. She also served in UNFPA Arab States Regional Office (ASRO) in Cairo and Gender, Human Rights and Culture Branch of Technical Division of UNFPA HQ in New York as Gender Specialist.

Mr. Lars Johan Lönnback is the Chief of Mission ad interim at IOM Azerbaijan, as well as Chief of Mission at IOM Georgia, which is Country Office with Coordination Function for Armenia, Azerbaijan and the Republic of Moldova.


Lars has worked with IOM for over 15 years, designing and implementing strategies to manage migration in multiple contexts including in development, emergency and post-crisis settings in Europe and Asia Pacific region.


Prior to Georgia, Lars served as the Chief of Mission in Moldova for the past five years, playing an instrumental role in IOM's response, overseeing the provision of humanitarian assistance and support to Ukrainian

refugees. His career at IOM began as Head of Division and Senior Migration Policy Advisor at the headquarters in Geneva. He later served as Senior Migration Policy Advisor on Migration and Development at the IOM Regional Office for Asia Pacific in Bangkok, Thailand.

Mr. Nasar Hayat took office as representative of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and Head of FAO Partnership and Liaison Office in Azerbaijan in July 2023.

Mr. Nasar Hayat has more than 25 years of leadership and management experience. He previously served as the FAO Country Representative in the Lao People's Democratic Republic. Active in various fields, Mr. Hayat has held many positions in the public sector, including diplomatic posts as Deputy FAO Representative in Pakistan, Deputy High Commissioner of Pakistan and Chargé d'affaires in the Maldives.

He has also worked on UN project management, agricultural development, land rights, human rights and gender issues for donors and international organizations. During his tenure, Mr. Hayat worked in important areas such as climate change adaptation, efficient water resources management, and animal disease control.
Nasar Hayat holds a Masters in Law and Development from the University of Melbourne, Australia.

Olga V. Koulaeva was appointed Director of the ILO Decent Work Team and Country Office for Eastern Europe and Central Asia on 1 November 2016. Since February 2010, she had served as a Senior Employment Specialist at the ILO DWT/CO for Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Ms Koulaeva graduated from the Moscow State University Department of Economics and holds a Ph. D. in Economics. She is fluent in English and Swedish. In 2002-2005, she was Financial Manager and Project Director with the Swedish National Labour Market Board and the Swedish Public Employment Service.

Dr. Shkolnikov is the Senior Human Rights Adviser for the South Caucasus, OHCHR, since July 2011. Prior to this, he held positions with various European civil society organizations. He served as the Head of Democratization Department and the Adviser on Migration and Freedom of Movement at OSCE/ODIHR in Warsaw. Dr Shkolnikov also held the position of Resident Research Consultant at the RAND Corporation in Santa Monica, California. He earned his Ph. D. and Master’s Degree in Public Policy Analysis at the RAND Graduate School of Policy Studies in Santa Monica.