Our Team in Belarus

Dr. Rasul Baghirov assumed the post of the UN Resident Coordinator in Belarus on 30 March 2024. Dr. Baghirov, a national of Azerbaijan, has more than 25 years of extensive experience within the spectrum of human development, particularly in pivotal sectors such as health, education, and social protection. His contributions have been instrumental in aiding countries in both natural and man-made disaster response efforts, alongside his dedication to fortifying communities' resilience in confronting such challenges. Prior to his appointment as United Nations Resident Coordinator in Belarus, Dr. Baghirov led the Country Strategy and Support Unit within the Director-General's Office at the World Health Organization (WHO) headquarters in Geneva. His primary focus was on bolstering WHO's leadership capabilities at the country level. Among his array of experiences, Dr. Baghirov has also made significant contributions while serving with the World Bank Group, where he played a key role in both its lending and non-lending operations. Dr. Baghirov holds professional degrees in medicine, general management, and health economics from universities spanning Baku, London, Nottingham, and Aberdeen. He has been honored with several awards, including the esteemed Takemi Fellowship at Harvard School of Public Health.

Arman Harutyunyan has served as UNHCR Representative in the Russian Federation since October 2024. He is currently overseeing UNHCR’s engagement in both the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus. He brings more than three decades of experience with UNHCR across headquarters and field operations. Prior to his current assignment he led the Transformation and Change Service (2020-2024), following assignments as Senior Change Management Adviser (2017–2020), Chief Risk Officer (2013-2017), Senior Budget Adviser (2011-2013) and Senior Programme Budget Officer (2009-2011). Earlier, he managed UNHCR programmes in Afghanistan as Senior Programme Officer based in Kabul (2007-2009), and previously held a range of change management, resource/programme management, and emergency preparedness and response positions in Geneva and Yerevan (1994-2007), including multiple emergency deployments worldwide (1999–2005). Mr. Harutyunyan holds an M.A. in International Economic Relations from Yerevan State University and professional certifications in Risk Management (Institute of Risk Management, UK) and Strategic Thinking (IMD Business School of Management, Switzerland).

A national of Spain, Belén Sanz has more than 20 years of experience in development policies, with special emphasis on gender equality and women's rights policies and evaluation of public policies in international fields. Prior to joining UN Women Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia, Belén Sanz served as UN Women's Representative in Mexico between 2017 and 2024, where she led flagship initiatives to advance gender equality in partnership with Mexico, such as the historic Generation Equality Forum, the Global Alliance for Care, and the Spotlight Initiative to end femicide. Between 2013 and 2017, Belén Sanz served as UN Women's Representative in Colombia, where she accompanied the historic peace process in Colombia, supporting women's participation and promoting a gender-sensitive approach to peacebuilding. During February - August 2016, she served as the Resident Coordinator, a.i., of the United Nations System in Colombia. Before joining UN Women Colombia, Belén Sanz served as the First Evaluation Director of UNIFEM, and later UN Women, from the organization's headquarters in New York. Her main functions under this responsibility were the evaluation of policies and programs and creation of strategies in different regions of the world, including the consolidation of evaluation as an strategic function for accountability, learning and the definition of evidence-based policies. In addition to this, she assumed the role of the Chair of the United Nations Evaluation Group, promoting a human rights and gender approach in the United Nations system evaluation, which earned her many awards. Prior to joining the United Nations, she worked as Head of Development Policy Evaluation at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of Spain, where she led the development of the Evaluation System in Spanish cooperation, and previously as Advisor of gender programs and policies in the same entity. Belén Sanz holds two Master's degrees, one in Anthropology from the University of London, and another in Public Policy Evaluation by the Universidad Complutense de Madrid. She graduated in Social Anthropology from the National School of Anthropology and History of Mexico. She has served as a speaker and a lecturer at various academic institutions and in international forums focusing on International Cooperation, Public Policy Evaluation, Human Rights and Gender Equality Policies.

Dmitry Mariyasin was appointed Deputy Executive Secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Europe on 1 March 2021. Prior to joining UNECE, Mr. Mariyasin was the Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Armenia (since December 2018, after being Deputy Resident Representative in 2017-2018) leading a team of 120 people. From 2011 till 2016 he was the Regional Partnership Advisor and Team Leader in the UNDP’s Bureau for External Relations and Advocacy covering the Europe and the CIS region, based in Istanbul. In this function, he led a team of 20 that supported UNDP’s partnerships with new development donors and partners in the region, including strategic partnerships with Czech Republic, Kazakhstan, Romania, Russia and Slovak Republic. Earlier, Mr. Mariyasin had worked in the UNDP Regional Support Center in Bratislava, Slovakia (2011-2014), the Regional Bureau for Europe and the CIS at UNDP headquarters in New York (2008-2011); and in the UNDP Country Office in Moscow, Russia (2002-2008). Mr. Mariyasin holds a PHD in Economics from the Moscow State University, a Masters in Public Administration degree from New York University (Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service), as well as a degree in public administration from the Moscow State University and in international economics from the Russian Foreign Trade Academy. Mr. Mariyasin is a national of Russian Federation, is married and has two sons and one daughter.

Dr Sergei Diorditsa, MD, PhD, took up his duties as WHO Representative in Belarus/Head of the WHO Country Office in Belarus from 17 August 2022. Prior to this appointment, Dr Diorditsa served as WHO Representative in Mongolia from 2017 to 2022 and as Coordinator of the Expanded Programme on Immunization at the WHO Office for the Western Pacific from 2011 to 2017. From 2003 to 2011, Dr Diorditsa worked as a medical officer at the WHO Office in Bangladesh. Dr Diorditsa joined WHO in 2001 as a consultant for the Expanded Programme on Immunization. Prior to joining WHO, Dr Diorditsa was a junior and then senior researcher at the Institute of Viral Preparations in Moscow and a resident at the Institute of Parasitology and Tropical Medicine in Moscow. Dr Diorditsa graduated from the I.M. Sechenov First Moscow Medical Institute. He has a MSc in Medical Parasitology and Tropical Medicine, Epidemiology and Tropical Disease Control from the Marcinov Institute of Medical Parasitology and Tropical Medicine in Moscow. E.I. Marcinovsky and a PhD in Virology from the Research Institute of Viral Medicines (Russia). Dr Sergei Diorditsa speaks Russian and English and is a citizen of the Russian Federation.

Mrs. Mahym Orazmuhammedova assumed her duties as Chief of Mission of IOM Belarus in February 2020. During the last two years (2018-2019), she served as Chief of Mission for IOM in Fiji, leading the national and multi-country migration agenda and being principal interlocutor with the Government of the Republic of Fiji. For seven years (2010-2017), she held the position as the Head of Office in IOM Turkmenistan. Prior to joining to IOM, she worked for UNDP (2006-2008) and USAID (2001-2005) managing projects and programs in environment and health issues. Mrs. Mahym’s main areas of expertise are civil society development, counter-human trafficking, migration, and climate. In addition, she leads the Belarus country programs on migration issues and supports the country on border management, emergency preparedness and response, and health issues.

Olga Atroshchanka was appointed UNFPA Head of Office for Belarus in April 2019. She joined the UN in 2007 as a member of the UNDP team implementing programmes targeting treatment and prevention of HIV and tuberculosis. In 2012, she became a UNDP Programme Officer for the Global Fund portfolio in Belarus. From 2014 her scope of work at UNDP expanded to include management of programmes on non-communicable diseases, gender equality, promotion of healthy lifestyles, social inclusion and empowerment of persons with disabilities as well as support to local development initiatives. While on temporary assignment with the UNDP Istanbul Regional Hub in 2018, Olga supported the HIV/Health and Development Team with resource mobilization and coordination of HIV Legal Environment Assessments in the region.

Raimund Jehle, a national of Germany, has a PhD in agricultural economics. Prior to joining FAO, Jehle was a farmer, held several positions in academia and worked as a consultant for the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs in Brussels. Since joining FAO in 1999, he has served in various positions at FAO headquarters in Rome and, as of 2007, in the Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia in Hungary. Prior to his appointment as Deputy Regional Representative, he held positions as Regional Programme Leader for Europe and Central Asia and Regional Initiative Coordinator. Parallel to his current position, he has served since 2016 as the FAO Representative in Albania, Armenia, Georgia and Republic of Moldova.

Ms. Liu brings 27 years of experience in international development cooperation to her role as the UNDP’s Resident Representative in Belarus. She has previously served as the Senior Advisor on Global Partnership in UNDP China, the Resident Representative a.i., and the Deputy Resident Representative of UNDP in Timor-Leste, and Senior Governance Advisor in UNDP Malaysia, Singapore, and Brunei Darussalam. Throughout her career, she has focused on global and regional cooperation, sustainable finance and investment, climate change, and green energy transition, striving to accelerate the achievement of the SDGs in diverse and complex country contexts and identifying strategic opportunities for all.
Prior to joining UNDP, Ms. Liu served as the Director/Policy Advisor at the Foreign Ministry of China, covering the pillars of development and human rights. She substantively contributed to various initiatives under the cooperation frameworks of the G20, the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM), APEC, the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) Economic Cooperation, and other integration initiatives. Ms. Liu holds professional degrees and certificates in diplomacy, economics, security and general management from Monash University, the Geneva Centre for Security Policy, and Harvard Business School.

Rustam Haydarov was appointed as UNICEF Representative in Belarus in September 2022 and has over 20 years of experience, most of which is with UNICEF across countries of Europe, Asia, Africa and North America. Mr. Prior to the appointment, Mr. Haydarov worked at UNICEF Headquarters leading a communication portfolio for polio vaccination and eradication as well as advancing the organizational agenda on social and behavioural communication. From 2013 to 2016, Mr. Haydarov served as Regional Adviser for Eastern and Southern Africa leading UNICEF response to the Horn of Africa polio outbreak in Somalia, Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda and South Sudan. Mr. Haydarov managed communication for development programmes in Pakistan from 2011 to 2013 tackling vaccine hesitancy and building partnerships with the private sector, foundations and influencers. Rustam Haydarov started his career in his home country Uzbekistan focusing on public health communication and emergency response to epidemics and natural disasters. Throughout his career, Mr. Haydarov was deployed to several countries to support emergencies and onset crises. He also worked for the Centre for Disease Control in Atlanta, USA and Institute for Academic Alliances at the Kansas State University. 

Ms. Solomiya Omelyan joined UNIDO in 2007. In her current capacity as Chief of the Regional Bureau for Europe and Central Asia, Ms. Omelyan is responsible for determining regional strategies and programmatic priorities for UNIDO’s services in 27 countries of the region while ensuring that the Organization responds to the specific industrial development needs and requirements of its Member States. Prior to joining UNIDO, Ms. Omelyan worked as a Policy Consultant at the United Nations Environment Programme’s Vienna Interim Secretariat of the Carpathian Convention (2005-2007) where she implemented regional projects in the area of sustainable development of mountainous regions. She also worked in the Embassy of Ukraine in Austria, the Committee on Industrial Policy and Entrepreneurship at the Parliament of Ukraine in Kyiv and different academic and research institutions. Ms. Omelyan obtained her Master’s degree with honours in international economics and international relations from the Ivan Franko National University of Lviv, Ukraine, and her M.A. (Magister Artium) from the Ukrainian Free University in Munich, Germany.