Our Team in Timor-Leste

Dr Arvind Mathur is a results-oriented leader, a team player who encourages initiative, promotes open communication and transparency, and helps accelerate progress toward sustainable gains in healthcare diplomacy and leadership.
Dr Mathur has long experience with the WHO South-East Asia Regional Office and the Country Offices in India, DPR Korea, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh and, most recently, Maldives. He has been actively involved in policy advocacy, programme management, relationship-building, partnership-development, and technical assistance to the Member States within the Region and beyond. At a global, regional and country-level he has been an active contributor as a member on various Expert Groups and Task Force Teams to formulate and implement technical guidelines, especially in maternal and reproductive health.
Before joining WHO, Dr Mathur worked for several years with International Organizations including Aga Khan Foundation as Health Program Manager for India and Bangladesh; and CARE International as its first State Coordinator for the state of Bihar. He also worked as a Scientist with the Human Nutrition Unit of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India.
He is a Medical Graduate with a post-graduate degree in Community Medicine from LLRM Medical College, Meerut, India and Diplomat in the same field with specialization in Maternal and Child Health, with courses in Hospital Administration, Area Development and Management from Asian Institute of Management, Manila, Philippines, Negotiation Skills, Results-based Management and Primary Health Care.

Ms. Olufunmilayo (Funmi) Abosede Balogun-Alexander has more than 30 years of international development and humanitarian experience, including leading policy and programmes and experience with government, UN, international NGOs and on board of not-for-profit organizations to drive impact and results. She has a proven track record leading successful UN interagency coordination and resources to support governments in developing and implementing transformational initiatives, including conducting successful elections, facilitating constitutional reviews, supporting the inclusion of marginalized communities' voices in developing Peace Agreements, strengthening institutions, including for gender-responsive budgeting and promoting women's leadership in the public sector and in elected positions. She has facilitated innovative financing from the private sector for Second Chance Education for 'out of school' women and girls to develop new skills.

Ms. Balogun has led solutions on inclusion and equality in development and humanitarian, with a focus on gender equality, sexual and reproductive health and rights and Gender-Based Violence. She has successfully established and maintained strategic partnerships with governments, intergovernmental commissions, bilateral donors, media and the private sector for innovative financing and programming.
She was, until her appointment, UN Women's global Head for Humanitarian Action, where she led UN Women's global response to the humanitarian crisis. Prior to this, she was UN Women's Country Representative to South Sudan, Deputy Country Representative, Ethiopia and Director, External Relations and Advocacy, International Planned Parenthood Federation, Africa Region.
Ms. Balogun has a master's degree from the Institute of Development Studies (IDS), University of Sussex, UK and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Lagos, Nigeria. She has two children.

Ms. Jacqueline de Groot was appointed Country Director and
Representative for the World Food Programme in Timor-Leste on 20
September 2024, where she oversees the organization’s multi-million
dollar operations, in support of the government’s efforts to improve the
country’s food security and nutrition situation.
Throughout her 20-year career span with WFP, Jacqueline has served
both in Headquarter capacities and in the field.
Prior to moving to Timor-Leste, she was Deputy Country
Director for WFP Laos, Head of Programme for WFP in Jordan and held
various positions in WFP’s Headquarters in Rome, including as Special
Assistant to the Assistant Executive Director for Resource Management
and in oversight functions. Prior to working for WFP, Jacqueline worked
for UNESCO and the Dutch government.
Jacqueline is a Dutch national. She holds a Masters in
Psychology from Leiden University. She speaks English,
French, Dutch and Italian.

Throughout her 17 plus years at IOM, Jewel Ali has built a reputation for developing and maintaining strong relationships with governmental agencies and international organizations.
Ms Ali has served as the Head of Office and Country Representative for the United Nations International Organization for Migration (UN-IOM), Trinidad and Tobago for the past 14 years.
She has many years of experience in the direct implementation and supervision of national and sub regional projects in a variety of thematic areas, including countering human trafficking, countering migrant smuggling, border management and regional security, migration and development, and humanitarian and emergency contexts.
She is a certified trainer who has led Migrant Protection Assistance and Countering Human Trafficking sessions and related Training of Trainers Programs in Trinidad & Tobago and other Caribbean islands.
Ms Ali is a national of Trinidad and Tobago and holds a BSc in Management Studies from the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus.
Prior to her tenure at IOM, she was a Researcher at the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean and a Researcher/Data Manager at the University College London (UCL) 2002. She is married and a mother of two.

Katyna Argueta, a Honduran national, has been appointed as UNDP Resident Representative in Timor-Leste in October 2023. She joined UNDP as an Adviser at the Honduras Country Office, later becoming a Human Resources Coordinator within the framework of the Office's realignment. Later, she served as Deputy Country Director in Panama (2009-2012), Deputy Country Director in Haiti (2013-2015), Country Director in Mexico (2016-2018), and Resident Representative in Brazil (2019-2023).



A career diplomat with the rank of Ambassador, before joining the UNDP, she worked in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Honduras as Alternate Representative of the Mission of Honduras to the Organization of American States in Washington; General Director of Foreign Policy; Chief of Staff of the Minister; Second Secretary in the Honduras Embassy in the United Kingdom; and as Protocol Officer. In the private sector, she has held the positions of Director of Public Relations and Communications; Manager of Corporate Planning; and Director of Human Resources in the financial sector. Katyna Argueta has management and administration studies and is a graduate of the "Andres Bello" Diplomatic Academy in Chile. She is fluent in Spanish, French, English, and Portuguese.

Ms. Maki Katsuno-Hayashikawa brings experience of nearly 30 years with UNESCO, UNICEF and JICA, at global, regional, and country levels. She assumed her role as the Director of UNESCO Multisectoral Regional Office in Jakarta, and UNESCO Representative to Indonesia, Brunei Darussalam, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Timor Leste in July 2023. Prior to her current assignment, she served as the Director of the Division for Education 2030 at UNESCO Headquarters overseeing UNESCO’s global programmes on Gender and Inclusive Education, Higher Education, Education in Emergencies and led the global SDG4 coordination mechanism. In addition, during 2022, she served as the Executive Secretary of the Secretariat for the Transforming Education Summit convened by the UN Secretary-General in September 2022. Ms. Katsuno-Hayashikawa holds Master’s degrees in Educational Planning from the Institute of Education, University College London, and in Early Childhood Education from the South Australia University; and a Bachelor’s degree in International Relations from the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Marco Kamiya is UNIDO Representative for Indonesia, Timor Leste and ASEAN Affairs.
He was Chief of the Division of Digital Transformation and AI Strategies at UNIDO in Vienna. Chief of
the Urban Economy and Finance Branch at UN-HABITAT in Nairobi, Kenya. Senior staff at CAF
Development Bank for Latin America in Caracas and the Inter-American Development Bank in
Washington, DC. Senior economist for a development consulting firm in Tokyo.
He speaks English, Japanese, Spanish, and Portuguese and publishes on development. He studied
International Development at Harvard University (MPA-ID) and possesses a PhD in Economics.

Since January 2020, Mr. Ximenes is in charge of the UNV Field Unit as the UNV Country Coordinator, overseeing over 50 UN Volunteers and managing day-to-day operations. He ensures that the UNV Field Unit is operational in three domains including mobilizing volunteers, advocating for volunteerism, and pursuing the integration of volunteerism across policy, legislation, and programming. Mr. Ximenes is engaged with other Volunteer Involving Organizations and government partners to establish the first National Volunteer Scheme in the country. Mr. Ximenes graduated from the University of Adelaide in 2015 with a degree in Psychological Science.

Ms. Suren brings over 25 years of experience in national and international development and humanitarian work. She is committed to advancing sexual and reproductive health and rights, promoting gender equality, and empowering adolescents and young people.

Throughout her career, Ms. Suren has led UNFPA programmes in Mongolia, China, South Africa, DPRK, and Zimbabwe. Her leadership roles included serving as Deputy Representative in China, South Africa and Zimbabwe and as Acting Representative for China, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives. Before joining UNFPA in 2001, she worked for the Government of Mongolia, managing population programmes.

Ms. Suren's professional expertise spans programme design and management, policy advocacy, demographic analysis, data-driven development, partnership building, and resource mobilization. She is known for her ability to lead complex programmes in diverse and challenging environments.

Academically, Ms. Suren holds a Master of Arts in Development Studies from the Institute of Social Studies (Netherlands), a Master of Science in Economics with Statistics from the National University of Mongolia, and a Post-Graduate Diploma in Population Studies from the International Institute for Population Sciences (India).

Ms. Suren is married and a mother of two children. Her appointment as UNFPA Representative to Timor-Leste underscores her dedication to advancing the organization's mission of ensuring rights and choices for all.

Nishtha Satyam was appointed as the Head of Office for Timor-Leste in UN Women, the entity of the United Nations that is dedicated to working towards Gender Equality and Woman's Empowerment in September 2021. She was the former Deputy Country Representative for UN Women in India and served as the Officer in Charge starting January 2018. As the youngest woman to head a country office for UN Women amongst 193 countries, Nishtha Satyam is an unapologetic feminist, a trained economist with a keen interest in applied macroeconomic and fiscal policy. In her long-standing career in the United Nations, she has managed the UN Women Office for a geo-politically diverse group of countries including India, Bhutan, Maldives and Sri Lanka. Nishtha has also served as the Private Sector Partnerships Specialist with the Office of the Resident Coordinator of the United Nations and UNDP.
Nishtha holds a Master's Degree in International Business from the University of Nottingham, UK and a Bachelors in Economics from Delhi University.

Dr. Palmira is an internationally recognized Senior Expert in Quality Infrastructure and Competitiveness with a Comprehensive and Systemic Approach, with over 25 years of professional experience in 65 countries, with special emphasis in the South-East Asia Region.
Her extensive career included Leadership and Top Management positions in international organizations (EU, UNIDO) and private enterprises, and the implementation of multiple projects in an articulated and participatory/collaborative way, with a wide range of public and private organizations and activity sectors/value chains. Her Specialized Areas are: Quality Infrastructure, International Trade, Quality Management and Excellence, Strategy, Social Responsibility and Sustainability, with focus on Innovation and Strategic Communication.
She is Professor of “Strategies for Managing Competitiveness” at Eastern Finland University in Finland since 2009, and Professor of “Leadership Abilities” at EAE Business School in Barcelona since 2022, with extensive experience in research and in awareness and training programs. To date, she has delivered more than 160 conferences in 24 countries, and authored over 170 publications, including eight books in her field of expertise. She speaks several languages.
Dr. Palmira is PhD in Economics and Business, with comprehensive training in Engineering; Master’s Degree in Logistics and International Trade; Master’s Degree in Business Administration; and Master’s Degree in Finance. She also has Executive Education in Business Management (ESADE), Leadership in Innovation (STANFORD), Negotiation and Influence (STANFORD), Strategies of Sustainability for the Industry (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MIT), Strategic Communication (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MIT), Neurosciences for Management (MIT), Higher Education Teaching (HARVARD), and Business Writing and Storytelling (The Economist).

Ms. Patrizia DiGiovanni is the UNICEF Representative to the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, effective June 2024.
Prior to her appointment in Timor-Leste, she was the UNICEF Representative in North Macedonia and has also served in different capacities with UNICEF Offices in Kenya, Ethiopia, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, India and Philippines.
She brings over 28 years of experience of working with partners to protect children from the harmful effects of poverty, adversity, and exclusion.
Ms. DiGiovanni is an Australian national, who holds a master’s degree in legal studies (International Law and Human Rights), from the University of New South Wales, a bachelor’s degree in social science from the University of Western Sydney and an Associate Diploma in Community Studies (Youth Work) from the Milperra College of Advanced Education, Sydney.

Rajendra Aryal is appointed as FAO Representative in Indonesia in mid-August 2021. Prior to his current appointment, he was FAO Representative in Afghanistan since September 2018; and he was the Senior Programme Advisor for Resilience Building in FAO Emergency Operations Division in Rome, Italy from 2015 to September 2018. Since mid-March 2003, he has held various positions within the Food and Agriculture Organizations of the United Nations (FAO), such as senior programme advisor for global Food Security Cluster (gFSC) in Italy; Senior Resilience Manager for Eastern Europe in Serbia; Deputy Representative in South Sudan; Senior Resilience Coordinator in Pakistan; Senior Regional Recovery Coordinator for Asia in Thailand; Representative a.i., in Sri Lanka and Maldives; Senior Rehabilitation and Recovery Coordinator in Indonesia; Recovery Coordinator in Bangladesh, and Area Manager in Afghanistan. Mr. Aryal also worked as Programme Officer with UNCDF/UNDP and GIZ International Services. He has nearly 26 years of work experience that also includes his experience with public and private sectors. He holds a Master’s degree in Civil and Infrastructure Engineering from Leibnitz University, Hannover, Germany, and a bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from National Institute of Technology, Trichy, India.

Ms. Simrin Singh was appointed as the new Director of the International Labour Organization (ILO) Country Office for Indonesia and Timor-Leste in February 2024. Previously, she served as the Director for the ILO Country Office for Sri Lanka and the Maldives for six years from 2017 to 2023. Prior to that, Ms. Singh has worked across ILO since 2000 in Tanzania, Geneva, South Asia, and the Regional Office for Asia and Pacific. Ms. Singh holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Anthropology and Sociology from Connecticut College in the USA and a Master’s Degree in International Development Studies from the George Washington University, USA.