Our Team in Azerbaijan

Mr. Dmytro Shlapachenko is currently serving as the United Nations Resident Coordinator 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. Shlapachenko brings more than 28 years of experience in diplomacy, international cooperation, political and socio economic affairs, development coordination, peacebuilding, and strategic planning to his current role.
From July 2021 to June 2026, he served as the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Turkmenistan. Prior to that appointment, he most recently worked at UN Headquarters in New York as Team Leader for the Horn of Africa and the United Nations Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS), with the Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs (DPPA) and the Department of Peace Operations (DPO). Over the course of his UN career, he has also held leadership positions in Iraq, Kosovo, New York, Somalia, Tajikistan, and Vienna, contributing to complex political processes and development initiatives in diverse contexts.
Prior to joining the United Nations, Mr. Shlapachenko worked with the U.S. Peace Corps and the Organization for Security and Co operation in Europe (OSCE). He also began his career as a writer on international affairs in his home country, reflecting his longstanding commitment to global issues.
Mr. Shlapachenko holds a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in international journalism, as well as a doctorate in international relations, from the University of Kyiv, Ukraine; a master’s degree in political science from the Central European University in Budapest, Hungary; and a master’s degree in international relations from the London School of Economics and Political Science in the United Kingdom. He also completed a fellowship in international journalism and public policy at Duke University in North Carolina, United States.

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.