Our Team in Azerbaijan

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.

Ms. Bik Lum has been working as the UNHCR Country Representative in Azerbaijan since February 2023. Prior to this assignment, she had been holding senior and leading UNHCR positions such as Head of Sub-Office, Senior Policy Advisor, Senior Protection Coordinator, Senior Project Management Officer in Africa, as well as in Headquarters and in Asia. Ms. Lum has obtained a master’s degree in International Human Rights Law from the University of Nottingham (UK), and in Philosophy from the University of Hong Kong (China). She got her bachelor’s studies at the University of Illinois (USA) and at the Hong Kong University. Ms. Bik Lum speaks Cantonese (mother tongue), Chinese, English, and French.

Dr. Saja Farooq Abdullah has officially assumed her role as the UNICEF Representative in Azerbaijan in January 202.
Dr. Abdullah brings over 26 years of international experience in Management and Humanitarian Coordination, Health and Nutrition, and Early Childhood Development with international NGOs, UN agencies and governments.
Dr. Abdullah worked in UNICEF Türkiye, UNICEF Maldives, the UNICEF Regional Office for the Middle East and North Africa in Amman, Jordan, UNICEF Sudan and UNICEF Yemen, where she led various programmes for children. She also served in UNICEF Bangladesh as Chief of Field Services and coordinated the work of six field offices, from where she joined UNICEF Azerbaijan.
Dr. Abdullah is a national of Iraq. She holds a bachelor's degree in General Medicine and Surgery from the University of Baghdad, a master's degree in Community Health Science from the National University of Malaysia and a postgraduate diploma in Public Health from the University of Basrah.

Dr. Farid Babayev serves as Assistant Representative of UNFPA’s Country Office in Azerbaijan since May 2006. On this position, he is responsible for overall coordination and management of the portfolio of UNFPA-funded programmes under supervision of UN Resident Coordinator and UNFPA Representative. Graduated from Azerbaijan Medical University, Dr. Babayev holds Master Degree in Business Administration from Lucy Cavendish College, Cambridge University and PhD from Azerbaijan Postgraduate Institute. He is fluent in Azerbaijani, Russian, English and French. Married, father of two children.

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.

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.

Mr. Slobodan Tadic assumed his duties as UNDP Deputy Resident Representative in Azerbaijan in May 2024 and has been appointed as Resident Representative ai in November 2024.

Mr. Tadic is an experienced UNDP staff member with 25 years of experience in the UN system. He has developed expertise in strategic programme development and implementation, with a particular focus on mobilizing resources and executing cross-sectoral large-scale programmes, including both economic development and governance.

Slobodan Tadic has headed field offices and has a background that includes strategic programme planning, mobilizing resources, executing large-scale programmes, and establishing functional partnerships with government counterparts and donors. He has experience in leading conflict/post-conflict operations, supporting repatriation efforts, and fostering local economic development in decentralized programme environments. He excels in building consensus by establishing functional relationships with counterparts at all levels and is experienced in providing analysis and empirical data to lead change and restructure critical programmes and operations.
Throughout his career, Slobodan Tadic has held numerous senior positions, including Senior Emergency Crisis Coordinator and Senior Programme Manager at UNDP CO Sudan, and Deputy Resident Representative a.i. at UNDP Turkmenistan. He has also served as RBEC Country Office Liaison and Oversight Unit at UNDP HQ in New York, ARR - Senior Programme Coordinator at UNDP BiH, South-South (East-East) Cooperation Advisor at the
UNDP Istanbul Regional Hub, Recovery Advisor at UNDP Ukraine, and many more.

Slobodan Tadic holds a postgraduate degree in Specialized Studies and a Master’s and Bachelor's degree in Economics from the University of Business Affairs in Banja Luka, BiH, as well as a Bachelor's degree in IT Engineering from the University of Novi Sad, Faculty for Mathematics and Information Technologies, Novi Sad, Serbia.

He speaks English, Serbo-Croatian, Bosnian, Montenegrin, Macedonian, and Russian.

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.