Our Team in Syrian Arab Republic

Amanya Michael Ebye has spent 31 years working in the humanitarian assistance field. His humanitarian career started in 1993 in Uganda where he served as a Field Program Manager for a UNHCR funded program for Rwandese refugees in Western Uganda. From 1994 to 1997 he worked in Rwanda supporting communities that had survived the genocide.

In 1997 he joined ActionAid and served as the Humanitarian and Peace Building Coordinator for Uganda.

In 2001 he was appointed IRC as Field Coordinator in Tanzania to oversee a multi sectoral program for Burundian and Congolese refugees in Western Tanzania.

From 2003 to 2005 he served as IRC Country Director for Tanzania and from 2005 to 2007 he served as the Director of the IRC’s Darfur multi sectoral programs in Sudan – one of the IRC’s largest and most challenging relief operations at the time– providing multi sectoral assistance to over one million IDPs in Darfur.

From 2007 to 2010, he served as the IRC Regional Director for the Middle East supporting programs in Jordan, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and the OPT.

From 2012 to 2016 he served as IRC Regional Director for DRC overseeing a program that provided assistance to 2.5 million displaced and vulnerable Congolese through its multi sectoral program.

In March 2017 he joined UNRWA as Deputy Director for Programs in Syria. UNRWA is mandated by the UN General Assembly to provide quasi-state social and relief services for about 450,000 refugees in Syria. UNRWA employs 4,000 staff in Syria with a robust humanitarian assistance program across the country.

In February 2019, he was appointed Field Director for the UNRWA Program in Syria.

A native of Uganda, Amanya received his B.A. in Social Work and Social Administration and an M.A. in Social Sector Planning and Management from Makerere University in Uganda.

Sudipto Mukerjee is an Architect and Town Planner with more than two decades of experience in international development. He is a joint recipient of the International Society of City and Regional Planners (ISoCaRP, Netherlands) and IKEA Foundation sponsored International Urban Ecology Award.

Sudipto has previously worked with the Government of India (1992-1997), UK Department for International Development (1998 - March 2005 as Infrastructure and Urban Advisor) and UN - Habitat (2005-2009, Head of Country Office).

He joined UNDP in September 2009 in the Iraq Country Office and has since worked as Country Director at Sierra Leone (August 2013 - October 2016) and Resident Representative in UNDP Bangladesh (October 2016 – August 2022). He has now been re-assigned to the Syrian Arab Republic as the UNDP Resident Representative.

Sudipto possesses significant experience in UN Country Programming and UNCT Coordination and is in the UN Resident Coordinator’s Pool.

Iman Shankiti, a National of Saudi Arabia, is currently the WHO Representative a.i for Syria. She started her career with the organization in Iraq in the emergency team. She served in Sudan and Afghanistan before joining the WHO Regional Office as Manager of operations in the health emergency team. She holds a BSc in pharmacy from Jordan University and a Master’s in health system management from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

Kenneth Crossley is Country Director and Representative for the World Food Programme (WFP) in Syria, a position he assumed in August 2022. In this role, he provides supervision, strategic guidance, and support for WFP Syria operations.
Mr. Crossley brings more than 25 years of experience in the humanitarian and development field, working for the United Nations, government agencies and academia, and spent 20 years of his career working with the World Food Programme.
Prior to this appointment, Mr. Crossley served as Director of the WFP Cash-Based Transfers Division, where he was responsible for leading the design and implementation of humanitarian cash assistance programmes, transferring US$ 2.5 billion of purchasing power annually to 45 million people, across 70 countries. Prior to this role, between 2015 and 2017, Mr. Crossley was Deputy Director of the WFP Policy and Programme Division, leading on Cash-Based Transfers, Social Protection and Safety Nets, Climate Risk Management, and Country Capacity Strengthening.
Mr. Crossley began his career with WFP in 2002 as Regional Donor Relations Officer based in Johannesburg. Since then, Mr. Crossley has served in key senior positions, including Deputy Director of US Government Relations based in Washington, Deputy Country Director in Cambodia, and Chief of the WFP Hunger Solutions, based in Rome.
Before joining WFP, Mr. Crossley worked as Senior Program Officer for the Canadian International Development Agency based in Kenya, and as Peacebuilding Officer for UNICEF Operation Lifeline Sudan. He also taught Philosophy and Political Science at the Trinity Western University, Canada.
Mr. Crossley holds a Master’s Degree in Philosophy from the University of British Columbia.
A national of Canada, he is married and has two children.

Muriel Mafico brings 32 years experience in development work from diverse programming contexts in Southern Africa and the Eastern Caribbean. She has extensive UN experience having joined UNICEF Zimbabwe in 2001 as Communication and Advocacy Specialist and subsequently as Head of Strategic Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation.
From 2008, Muriel held several UNICEF Deputy Representative posts in Eswatini (2008-2014), the Multi-Country Programme in the Eastern Caribbean covering 12 countries and UK Overseas Territories (2014-2019) and South Africa (2019-2023).
Ms Mafico holds a Master of Development Management and a Bachelor of Arts degree.

Mr. Yasumasa Kimura is Representative of UNICEF for the Syrian Arab Republic (May 2023), where he provides strategic and operational leadership of the UNICEF Country Office and programme in one of the world’s most complex and protracted crises and advocates for the rights of children in Syria guided by the UN’s Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Prior to joining the Syria Country Office, he served as Deputy Representative (Programmes) of the UNICEF India Country Office (2021-2023), one of UNICEF’s largest programmes in the world, serving over 460 million children through 14 field offices covering 25 states and two union territories, where he was responsible for overall programme planning, implementation, and oversight.
Mr. Kimura also served as Representative ad interim of the UNICEF India office between November 2021 to October 2022.
During his tenure, Mr. Kimura oversaw UNICEF’s large scale COVID-19 response efforts in support of the Government of India during the peak of the public health emergency in 2020-2021. He was also responsible for the development of the new country programme 2023- 2027, accelerating and strengthening UNICEF’s technical and policy support to India at the national and state levels.
Mr. Kimura has over 25 years of experience with UNICEF. He has previously served as the Director of the UNICEF Public Partnerships Division in Tokyo (2016-2020) and as the UNICEF Regional Chief of Private Fundraising and Partnerships (2012-2015) in the East Asia and Pacific Regional Office in Bangkok, where he led the private sector partnerships for country offices in the region. He also led the promotion of Child Rights and Business
Principles with the private sector in the region. Prior to this, he was the Regional Fundraising Specialist of the Private Fundraising and Partnerships Division also in the UNICEF East Asia and Pacific Regional Office.
Prior to his posts in Bangkok, Mr. Kimura was with UNICEF HQ in New York working as Brand Development Officer for the Private Sector Division where he supported National Committees in Asia in developing programmes, strategies, and partnerships, such as leading the establishment of the pledge programme in Japan, ROK, and Hong Kong and contributing to its substantial growth. He started his career in UNICEF in 1997, holding several posts in New York.
Mr. Kimura holds a Master of Arts in International Development and Social Change from Clark University (U.S.A).

Since May 2021, Mr. Takabayashi served as a Programme Management Officer, Human Settlements in UN-Habitat Syria. Before joining UN-Habitat Syria, Mr. Takabayashi was Programme Management Officer, Human Settlements in UN-Habitat Myanmar (2019-2021) and UN-Habitat Afghanistan (2015-2019) working on urban development and resilience programmes with focus on sustainable urban development, community driven development, climate change and disaster risk management.
Before joining UN-Habitat, from 2001 to 2015, Mr. Takabayashi worked for Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), served as Advisor for Capital Market, Deputy Director for Planning in Asia and the Pacific and ASEAN partnership, Deputy Director for Indonesia and several other positions managing technical cooperation and loan programmes and policy dialogue.
Mr. Takabayashi holds a Master’s Degree in Environment, Development and Policy from University of Sussex in UK, and a Master’s Degree in International Development Study from National Graduate Policy Institute in Japan.

Mr Joseph McCartan (Joe) is the Chief of the UN Mine Action Service Programme in Syria. Prior to this he was the FAO Regional Security Advisor for Asia and Pacific, a Civil–Military Co-ordination Officer with UNOCHA and spent 5 years as the Programme Manager for the OPCW Mission in Syria. He has also been, consecutively, a British Army Officer, an Exhumations Officer with the Office of the High Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina, deployed by the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office to the Joint Military Commission and the International Military Advisory Team in Sudan before joining the UN Mine Action Service in Sudan as Chief of Staff and then Deputy Director. He has also deployed to Iraq as UNOPS Deputy Director before returning to UNMAS to establish the programme with the UN Interim Security Force, Abyei. He holds a BA (War) from King’s College, London and a MA (Security, Violence and Terrorism) from Queen’s University, Belfast.

Peter Ekayu, a national of Uganda, UNOCHA’s Representative to the African Union based in Addis Ababa, has joined the OCHA Syria Office, as Head of Office. Peter has over 20 years of humanitarian experience at both Headquarters and field levels. Peter has worked as Deputy Head of Office OCHA Somalia, Deputy Head of the IASC Secretariat and Deputy Head of Office for OCHA Nigeria. He also previously worked in Syria as OCHA Head of Office a.i. and Head of Strategic Planning and Coordination Unit, 2013-2015. During his assignment period to Syria, Peter facilitated the development of the Whole-of-Syria approach. He has worked with UNICEF, UNWOMEN and OCHA in several humanitarian contexts including Yemen, South Sudan, Liberia and Ethiopia. Before his UN and international career, he worked as a child protection specialist with Save the Children, refugee rights advocate and a pro-bono lawyer in Uganda. Peter is a graduate of Makerere University Kampala in Uganda, with a Bachelor of Law (LLB) and post graduate degree in law.

Mr. Watanabe has served as Country Coordinator since February 2023, representing the International Labour Organization (ILO) in Syria. Before his current assignment, Mr. Watanabe served at the ILO Headquarters, Sudan Programme Office, and the International Training Centre (ITC) of the ILO, all in the capacity of crisis response programming and capacity building support through the world of work, guided by its Recommendation No. 205 on Employment and Decent Work for Peace and Resilience.
Before joining the ILO, Mr. Watanabe worked for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, most recently as an advisor/researcher at the Permanent Delegation of Japan to the OECD in the field of official development assistance (ODA) policies and statistics.
Mr. Watanabe holds a master’s degree from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies.

Mr. Sami Dimassi joined UNEP Regional Office for West Asia as Director and Regional Representative in 2018. 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.

Ms Costanza Farina is the Director of the UNESCO Regional Bureau in Beirut and Representative of UNESCO to Lebanon and Syria as of March 18, 2021. Before this, Farina was the UNESCO Representative in Jordan and performed as UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in Jordan and Libya. She has over 30 years of experience with the UN, occupying different senior positions in Qatar, Geneva and Palestine. Farina holds a master’s degree in Oriental Languages and Cultures from the Istituto Universitario Orientale in Italy.

Ms Cristina Albertin is the UNODC Regional Representative for the Middle East and North Africa. Working for UNODC since 1994, Ms Albertin has served in different capacities in Peru and at UNODC Headquarters in Vienna (Regional Section Latin America and the Caribbean) before becoming a Representative in Bolivia, South Asia, and Nigeria. Before joining UNODC, she worked for three years with the World Food Programme in Bolivia.

Mr Dimiter Chalev (Bulgaria) has been appointed by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights as her Representative / Head of the OHCHR Office for Syria since January 2019.
Dimiter Chalev has 30 years of professional experience, 19 years of which with the United Nations in Bishkek, Brussels, Bujumbura, Geneva, Pristina and Tunis. He served as the Head of the OHCHR Tunisia Office from 2012 to 2017 and as acting Resident Coordinator between September-December 2016. He has been Coordinator of the Secretariats of several United Nations Commissions of Inquiry. Dimiter Chalev was the Chief of Europe and Central Asia Section in Geneva (2010 -2012), Acting Regional Representative for Europe in Brussels and Acting Regional Representative for Central Asia in Bishkek in the period 2008 - 2010. He previously occupied various positions within OHCHR including Deputy Coordinator of Europe, North America and Central Asia Unit (2006 – 2010) and Human Rights Officer in the Africa Team at OHCHR in charge of the field operations in Burundi and Sudan (1999 – 2006). Before joining OHCHR, Dimiter Chalev occupied the position of Senior Expert in the Direction “International Organizations and Human Rights” of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria and worked in the Bulgarian Permanent Mission to the Council of Europe in Strasbourg from 1992 to 1995. He is fluent in English and French and has good knowledge of Russian.
Dimiter Chalev holds a diploma in International Civil Service from the International Institute for Public Administration, Paris, France and Masters in Systems Engineering from the Technical University, Sofia, Bulgaria.

Emmanuel Kalenzi is the UNIDO Representative and Head of Regional Office for Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. He has over 20 years of experience in development work, both in the public and private sectors as well as in international cooperation, and over 15 years with UNIDO. Mr. Kalenzi holds a Master of Business Administration from Wageningen University, a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture from Makerere University and is currently working on his PhD research.

Mounir Tabet who is a national of Canada took up his official functions as deputy executive secretary of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) in September 2018. Mr Tabet was the UNDP country director for Iraq from 2016 to 2018 and oversaw the program on stabilization and transition. Prior to joining UNDP, Mr Tabet worked with the North-South Institute and the International Development Research Centre in Ottawa, and the University of Ottawa.
Mr Tabet is an Edward S. Mason Fellow, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University where he obtained a Master's degree in public administration. He also holds a Master's degree in economics from the University of Ottawa.

Mr Omar Ebrima Njie, a national of The Gambia, has been appointed as Country Director of the IFAD portfolio in Syria since April 2021. Prior to this assignment, Mr Njie worked for 10 years as the Senior Audit Officer in the Office of Audit and Oversight at IFAD Headquarters in Rome.
Mr Njie holds a Master of Business Administration degree in finance and entrepreneurship from the University of Louisiana at Monroe (Louisiana, USA), a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration degree from Berea Colleague (Kentucky, USA). He also earned several professional certifications in finance, accounting and audit, public procurement and information technology, with a long-standing experience in the rural development, government and private sector organizations in various countries in the region, the Asia and the Pacific Islands, USA, and across several countries in Africa. He has worked for more than 24 years in contributing to the efficiency and effectiveness of development-related projects, coordinating and leading teams in various areas of development work and private sector industries in banking, electric utilities and energy services and aviation.