Our Team in Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean

Mr. Simon Springett was appointed by the UN Secretary-General as UN Resident Coordinator (RC) for Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean on June 1 2024. He brings to this role a distinguished 30-year international career in humanitarian, development, and peacebuilding operations. Most recently, Mr. Springett served as the UN Resident Coordinator in Moldova (2019-2024).

As the highest-ranking official of the UN development system in the Eastern Caribbean, Mr. Springett will lead the UN Sub-regional Team (UNST) across 10 countries and territories. He will champion the UN's mandates and advocate for the delivery of the Multi-Country Sustainable Development Framework (MSDCF) in close collaboration with national governments and regional institutions. A key focus will be strengthening cooperation and effectiveness of UN operational activities throughout the region.

Prior to his leadership role in Moldova, Mr. Springett served as Chief Operating Officer & Deputy Director for Response Operations at the UK Department for International Development / Palladium. Additionally, he also served as the United Nations Resident Coordinator, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Resident Representative, and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Representative for both Mauritius and the Seychelles (2012 2017). He also held senior leadership positions with Oxfam, specializing in rapid humanitarian responses. Mr. Springett has also served as a Director and Trustee of a number of international organizations.

In addition to his development expertise, Mr. Springett will also serve as the UN Designated Official for Security (DO), ensuring the safety and security of all UN personnel and their dependents in the region.

Mr. Springett holds a Master of Science in Development Practice (Humanitarian Protection), a BA in Geology, and is a member of the Royal College of Defense Studies (UK).

Mr. Arenas Garcia has been serving as the Deputy Chief of UNDRR ROAC since 2017 and brings more than 20 years of experience leading humanitarian, Disaster Risk Reduction and development cooperation programs in different countries in Latin America & Caribbean, Africa and the Asia Pacific region.

During the last 20 years, Mr. Arenas has led humanitarian assistance interventions, DRR programming and development cooperation in different countries in Latin America & Caribbean, Africa and Asia Pacific. Before joining UNDRR, Mr. Arenas occupied the position of Director for Humanitarian Programs and Policy for OXFAM USA.

He has also worked for the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Action Against Hunger (ACF), consulted for UN-Habitat leading learning processes around DRR programming and contributed to many academic programs including the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative Course: Humanitarian Response to Conflict and Disasters. He has a background in Public Policy (FLACSO) and International Politics (SOAS, Univ. of London) as well as degrees in Crisis Management (Universidad Complutense of Madrid).

Dr. Clarke, a national of Canada, assumed her post as FAO Sub-regional Coordinator for the Caribbean in April 2019, with responsibility for overseeing the FAO programme of work across 13 English speaking Caribbean countries. She brings over 25 years of experience in the area of food safety.

Dr. Clarke has worked at the FAO Headquarters in the area of Food Safety for the past 20 years. She served as Head of the Food Safety and Quality Unit from 2011 to 2019, prior to assuming her current role. Prior to joining FAO in 1995, as a Food Science and Technology Consultant with the Food and Nutrition Division, she worked in academia in Barbados, and with the Barbados National Science and Technology Council and the Barbados Agricultural Development Corporation.

She holds a Ph.D. in Food Science and Technology from the Technical University of Nova Scotia, Halifax, Canada, a master’s degree in Food Science from the University of Guelph, Canada and a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry from the University of the West Indies, Bridgetown, Barbados.
 

Dr. Del Riego was appointed PAHO/WHO Representative for Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean effective July 29, 2022. A national of the Dominican Republic, she is a medical doctor and holds a master’s degree in Public Health (MPH) from the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo.

With over 25 years of national and international experience in public health, she has led key regional initiatives, including the 3 by 5 initiative for HIV/AIDS, the elimination of Mother to Child Transmission of HIV and Syphilis in the Caribbean, and the roll out of the PAHO Strategy for Universal Access to Health and Universal Health Coverage. Her career pathway also includes extensive experience in preparedness and response to public health emergencies, and integration processes in the Caribbean.

Dr. Del Riego's experience has also spanned all levels of PAHO. She joined the organization in 1998 as Advisor, Health Services Development in the PAHO/WHO Representative Office in Belize, and since 2014 served as Chief of the Health Services and Access Unit, at PAHO/WHO headquarters .She also served as Lead for the Health Systems and Services Pillar of the COVID-19 Incident Management Team from March 2020 to July 2022.

Mr. Brian Bogart has over 20 years of experience managing humanitarian and development programmes at the global, regional and national levels.

As the newly designated Country Director for the WFP Caribbean Multi-Country Office, which coordinates support for 22 countries and territories as well as several regional institutions, he oversees WFP’s work throughout the English and Dutch-speaking Caribbean in the areas of social protection, disaster risk management and food systems.

Before joining the MCO, Mr. Bogart served as Deputy Country Director for WFP Tanzania. He has served in a variety of roles throughout his WFP career, including Senior Regional Pro-gramme Advisor for Southern Africa, Strategic Advisor in the New York Global Office and HQ, and emergency coordination roles in Ukraine, Mozambique, the Horn of Africa, Sudan, and South Sudan. He began his career with WFP in 2005 as a Congressional Hunger Fellow in Cam-bodia.

Mr. Bogart is a national of the United States and holds an MA in International Relations from the University of Kent at Canterbury and a BA in Political Science from the State University of New York at New Paltz.

Prior to his appointment Mr. Thomas was the CEO for the State Enterprise, National Information and Communication Technology Company Limited (Trinidad and Tobago). Mr. Thomas brings a wealth of ITU experience having served as Trinidad and Tobago’s representative at the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) for over 14 years, and the Caribbean representative on the ITU Council. He is a certified accountant and holds a Master’s Degree in Information and Communication Technology for Regulations and Policies from the University of the West Indies.

Prior to assuming her current role, Ms. Quarless served as the Chief of the Small Island Developing States Unit, and also as Head of Partnerships for Sustainable Development in the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations. She holds a Masters’ degree in Development Studies with specialization in Environmental Management.

Dr. Paul Hector is currently the Officer in Charge of the UNESCO Regional Office for the Caribbean.
Over the course of his UNESCO career, he has supported project initiatives and policy actions in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, Asia-Pacific and the Middle East that through research, the design and implementation of policies, strategies and action plans have promoted access to information and knowledge for development and overcome related inequalities particularly on digital networks.
These initiatives have sought to address information and knowledge divides linked to issues such as gender, language, literacy, island/rural living and disability. He joined UNESCO through its competitive Young Professionals Program.
Dr Hector holds multiple master and doctoral degrees and is an alumnus of the J. William Fulbright Fellowship and US State Department International Visitor Leadership Programmes. He has taught in a European business school and his research interests include knowledge-based development, design thinking, entrepreneurship, innovation, and digital transformation.

Prior to this current role, Mr. Velasquez has served as Leader of Regional and Metropolitan Planning Unit at Nairobi-HQ and was Chief of the Urban Governance Section; coordinator of the Safer Cities Programme and temporally responsible for the Gender Unit. He has assisted national and local governments in areas like urban governance, territorial planning, urban safety and area-based public policies. Mr. Velasquez is a national of Colombia and holds a Ph.D. in Geography, specializing in Territorial Policy and Planning

Mr. Giuseppe Mancinelli joined UNOPS 28 years ago.
In 2000, he was appointed Associate Portfolio Manager at UNOPS Guatemala. Subsequently, he became Director of the Operations Center at UNOPS El Salvador (2001-2007), Representative and Director of the Operations Center at UNOPS Peru (2008-2010) and Deputy Regional Director and Director Hub of Operations of Panama in the UNOPS Regional Office in Panama (2011-2015).

Since February 2016, he serves both as Deputy Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean, and as Representative of the UNOPS Office in Argentina (2016-2021).
Currently, he continues to serve as Deputy Director for Latin America and the Caribbean, and in parallel, he also serves as Representative of the UNOPS Office in Mexico (since 2021) and UNOPS Multi-Country Office for the Caribbean (since 2024).

Ms. Helen Gradstein is the Regional Digital Finance Specialist and heads the UNCDF Eastern Caribbean office, based in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. She is an expert in digital finance and financial inclusion and is passionate about ensuring that financial inclusion policies and programmes protect consumers, empower women, and support financial capability. Previously, Ms. Gradstein worked as a Financial Sector Specialist in the World Bank's Financial Inclusion and Payments team. She holds a Masters in Global Policy from the University of Texas at Austin, and a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics from the University of California, Santa Barbara. She can be reached at Helen.Gradstein@uncdf.org.

Ms. Isiuwa Iyahen was recently appointed as Head of Office ad interim. In her new role, Ms. Iyahen is responsible for the day-to-day management of the MCO, leading the design, implementation, management and oversight of programmes and operations to ensure effective and efficient delivery of results.

Ms. Iyahen served as Deputy Representative from April 2022 to January 2025. Prior to this, Ms. Iyahen managed the Economic Empowerment and Statistics portfolios for the UN Women MCO -Caribbean.

In that capacity, her technical leadership resulted in narrowing significant knowledge, research, and gender data gaps on violence against women and girls, the labour force, social protection, and unpaid care work in CARICOM.


She has over 20 years of experience in international development and has served in various capacities within the United Nations system and non-governmental organisations.

Ms. Iyahen holds a Master of Public Policy degree from the University of Minnesota’s Hubert Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from Swarthmore College.

Mrs. Jenny Karlsen serves as UNFPA Deputy Director, Sub-regional Office for the Caribbean based in Bridgetown, Barbados since September 2023. She is currently the Officer-in-charge of the UNFPA sub-regional office until further notice.

Ms. Karlsen is a passionate development professional with two decades of progressive programming, management and leadership experience in UNFPA and the UN Development System including UNDP, WFP, UNOPS and UN Coordination.

As a Sami (from the indigenous peoples in Norway), Ms. Karlsen is a long-standing advocate for the rights of indigenous peoples, particularly those of young women and girls, from a young age when she grew up in the Arctic part of the world.

Ms. Karlsen champions the urgency to achieve pace and scale of targeted multi-sectoral investments to address the unfinished business for women, adolescent girls and young people working across government, civil society, academia and the private sector. She has led several efforts on gender-based violence, sexual and reproductive health and rights and population and data across the continuum of humanitarian and development work.

Prior to her current post, Jenny has served for as Deputy Representative for UNFPA in Mozambique, and she also served with other UN agencies in Brazil, Islamic Republic of Iran and the People’s Republic of China as well as in headquarter positions in New York and Rome. She started her career in Investment banking supporting the company to develop an innovative partnership with the United Nations.

Mr. Joni Musabayana, a Zimbabwean national, first joined the International Labour Organization (ILO) in 1992 as Project Officer at the ILO Country Office for Zimbabwe and Namibia in Harare. He has since held many positions with the Organization.

His other previous roles include Global Coordinator for the ILO Start and Improve Your Own Business Programme in Geneva, as well as Enterprise Specialist at the ILO Regional Office for Africa in Addis Ababa.

Prior to his current role as Director of the ILO Decent Work Team and Office for the Caribbean, Mr. Musabayana served as Director of the ILO Pretoria Decent Work Team, leading technical support for 18 countries in Eastern and Southern Africa. He was also Director for the Country Office politically and administratively covering Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho and South Africa.

Mr. Musabayana brings extensive experience addressing issues relevant to the Caribbean including labour migration, enterprise development, social protection, skills development, gender equality and climate resilience. His dedication to fostering tripartite social dialogue and cooperation between governments, employers, and workers has been instrumental in reducing decent work deficits and driving positive change in the labour landscape.

As Director of the ILO Caribbean Office, Mr. Musabayana leads the promotion of social justice, decent work, and inclusive economic growth across 13 Member States and nine non-metropolitan territories in the English-and Dutch-speaking Caribbean. He provides strategic direction for technical guidance and cooperation through Decent Work Country Programmes and other activities supported though the wider United Nations system serving in the region.

Mr. Musabayana has a Doctorate in Business Leadership from UNISA School of Business Leadership, as well as a Master of Business Administration (MBA) and a Bachelor of Science (BSc) in Political Science and Public Administration from the University of Zimbabwe. He also has a Diploma in Training Management, and a Diploma in Computer Programming.

Before joining the ILO, Mr Musabayana worked for the Zimbabwe Ministry of Higher Education and the Employers’ Confederation of Zimbabwe.

He is a music lover, avid reader, political analyst and a keen sportsman who played basketball for the Zimbabwe national team for 13 years. He enjoys running and going to the gym. He is married to Wynne and they have two boys and two girls and one granddaughter.

A Columbian national, Mrs. Garavito is a Journalist and Social Communicator with twenty-seven years of experience in communications, including twenty-three years with the UN and four years as a news producer.

For the last two years she has served as a Regional Communications Officer for the Development Coordination Office based in Panama. This position entailed managing a network of communication professionals across 25 countries. In addition, in the previous four years she acted as Chief of Public Information and Communication Strategy in the UN Verification Mission in Colombia. There she was in charge of communications on both traditional and digital media platforms; and responsible for implementation of the Mission´s crisis communication activities and development of the work program of the public information component of the Mission. Ms. Garavito also held responsibility for organization of critical events with the national and international media in a complex and fast-moving political context.

Prior to joining the Mission, she served as Information Officer for 17 years at UNIC Bogotá, which also covers Ecuador and Venezuela, and led public information and liaison activities including working with several high schools and universities on the organization of Model UNs (MUN). She was part of the task force covering all the territory explaining the MDG with seminars and led the UN System Information Group by coordinating and directing planning meetings and execution of activities of the group.

Mrs. Garavito is married and has one child.

Ms. Eltayeb was appointed as UNDP Resident Representative for Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean on 16 May 2022. She previously served as UNDP Deputy Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific since 2017. Limya’s experience spans 27 years and four continents with work on development and urban planning, local administration, social inclusion, human rights and partnerships. Prior to joining the UNDP Barbados and the Eastern Team, she previously served UNDP in Albania, Bahrain, Gambia, Partnerships NY and Iraq. She also worked in development and humanitarian settings (Sudan, Iraq and Albania earthquake). Limya, who holds a BSc. Architecture, MSc. Urban Planning and Development, and graduate certificate in social development, is married and has one daughter.

Mr. Patrice Quesada was appointed IOM Coordinator for the Caribbean in September 2022. As part of his function, he covers the broader English and Dutch-speaking Caribbean region.

He has worked for IOM in different capacities since 2008. Prior to this posting, he was based in IOM Regional Office in Brussels where he was heading the Unit responsible for providing support for the development and implementation of European Union funded Emergency and Post-Crisis programmes. In IOM Headquarters in Geneva, Mr. Quesada was the Senior Humanitarian Policy Advisor. Throughout his career, he has been deployed to a number of large-scale crisis contexts to support preparedness, response and risk reduction efforts including in Haiti, Pakistan, Libya, Niger, Côte d’Ivoire, Nigeria, DRC Goma.

Before joining IOM, he worked for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe in different positions, including in Kosovo as senior political advisor. He holds a master’s in Philosophy, a post- graduate in International Relations and a certificate in Business Administration. Patrice is French, he is married to a German with whom he has three young children.

Ms. Pilar Gonzalez Rams is a Spanish national with more than 18 years of international experience in the United Nations system in different countries and regions.
She has worked with UNICEF for 15 years including several complex emergencies such as Syria, Pakistan, the Refugee and Migrant European Response, Venezuela, and Ukraine, and also in middle and high-income countries such as Uzbekistan, Greece, and Slovenia.

Ms. Gonzalez Rams has previously worked in the Latin America and Caribbean region in Uruguay, Honduras, Paraguay, and Chile and in the UNICEF Regional Office in Panama as a Gender and Development Officer.
Before her current temporary transfer to the UNICEF Eastern Caribbean Area office, Pilar was the Head of Office for the Refugee Emergency Response for the Ukraine response in Hungary.
Pilar holds a Masters Degree in Gender and Development and several postgraduate titles in SocioPolitical Studies, Development, International Law, and Humanitarian Aid.

Dr. Amenyah is UNAIDS Multi-Country Director for Belize, Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, and the Eastern Caribbean States. A medical doctor by training, he brings into this position several productive years of professional experience in Global Health. He believes in the goal of ending AIDS as a public health threat by 2030, and the urgent need to improve the health and wellbeing of people especially vulnerable, marginalized, and underserved key populations.

Dr. Amenyah joined UNAIDS in 2014 and has wealth of experience in developing public health policies and programs to shape health investments in countries. He previously worked at the Regional Support Team of West and Central Africa as the Regional Investment and Efficiency Advisor, and supported countries to mobilize resources from multi-lateral and bilateral donors, conducted several efficiency studies for sustainability planning, and coordinated technical support and capacity development programs for health systems strengthening. His last duty station was in Nigeria where he supported the established a US$100 million HIV Trust Fund for the elimination of vertical transmission of HIV and helped to mobilize the largest grant for a single country of about US$1.2 billion from the Global Fund for HIV/TB/Malaria/COVID19. He was also a member of the core team that developed the current Global AIDS Strategy 2022-2026.

Prior to joining UNAIDS, he worked on regional technical support projects based in Burkina Faso and in Ghana his home country.

Ms. Cheatham was appointed as Head of Office of OCHA ROLAC in August 2021, with nearly 20 years of experience working in humanitarian assistance and emergency management.

Prior to joining ROLAC, she served as the OCHA Deputy Head of Office in Myanmar from 2019 to 2021, leading coordinated response to conflict, protracted displacement, and recurrent natural hazards, as well as the COVID-19 pandemic and the February 2021 military coup. Ms. Cheatham has also worked at OCHA headquarters managing the Rapid Response and Underfunded Emergencies Windows of the UN’s Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF).

Ms Cheatham has an undergraduate degree from the Universidad de Guadalajara in Mexico and a graduate degree from the George Washington University in the United States.

Stein R. Hansen is an Economist who has been working in international development for 32 years. Since August 2024, he is the Director of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) - Barbados Global SIDS Hub and the UNIDO Representative to Barbados and Caribbean Community, Bridgetown, Barbados. Prior to his appointment, from October 2022 – July 2024, he was Director of Special Operations, Directorate of Global Partnerships and External Relations of UNIDO, Vienna, Austria. From February 2017-December 2022, he was the Regional Director and Representative of the UNIDO Regional Office in Bangkok, Thailand, where he also represented UNIDO in the UN system Asia Pacific Regional Directors group. From June 2013–February 2017, he was Chief of Strategic Donor Relations, Office of Deputy to Director General, UNIDO, Vienna, Austria. From June 2012-June 2013 he was Resident Representative a.i. of the United Nations Development Programme – UNDP in Kuwait, where he periodically also served as the UN Resident Coordinator a.i. From 2007 to 2012, he was the UNDP Deputy Resident Representative, Sub-Regional Office for Barbados and Eastern Caribbean States, responsible for the UNDP Programme and Operations in 10 Caribbean countries and territories, periodically serving as UNDP Resident Representative a.i.

After graduating from Aalborg University, Denmark with his B.Sc (Econ.) he started his career as Trade Advisor at the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Helsinki, Finland 1989-1991. He then served the European Commission Delegation in Caracas, Venezuela 1991-1992. In 1993 he started his career with the UN system, first as UNDP Junior Professional Officer for UNIDO in Ecuador. In 1995, he was appointed as Associate Expert in charge of technical cooperation at the UNIDO New York Office until 1996, when he returned to Quito, Ecuador as head of the UNIDO Country Office. In 1998, he was appointed at the UNIDO Hqrs. in Vienna, Austria, as Industrial Development Officer managing environmental programs until 2002, when he was appointed Programme Officer responsible for coordinating UNIDO’s industrial development programmes delivered by Its 26 country offices, until he joined UNDP in 2007.

In addition to being an Economist, Stein R. Hansen holds a Master of Public Administration from the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University with focus on international development. He is also a Senior Executive Fellow of the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. He has completed the United Nations Leaders Programme, and the United Nations Country Team Leadership and Coordination Skills Programme at the United Nations Staff College. In addition to his native Norwegian, he communicates fluently in English, Spanish, German, Danish and Swedish. He is married to Birgitte Hansen and they have three children.

Ms.Bertrand a Canadian national, was appointed UNODC Regional Representative for Central America and the Caribbean in Panama (UNODC ROPAN) on 1 July , 2022 . She brings extensive experience to the region, having joined UNODC in 2004.

She has served both in the UNODC’s field network in Kenya and South Africa and at its Headquarters in Vienna. More recently she served as Deputy Regional Representative at the Regional Office for Eastern Africa. Prior to joining UNODC’s management team, she served in various capacities, including as Advisor, Expert, Programme Coordinator and Head of Pillar, implementing UNODC’s health and social development mandate, including HIV/AIDS prevention, drug use care and prevention and support of people living and working in prison settings.

Prior to joining UNODC, Ms. Bertrand worked with UNDP and before joining the UN family, she managed development projects in civil society organizations in Bolivia and Bulgaria and worked in the public sector at the municipal level.

She holds a Bachelor's degree in Political Science, advanced degrees in Municipal Management and Law, as well as a Master's degree in Public Administration from L'Ecole Administration Publique du Quebec, Canada. She is fluent in English, French and Spanish.

Prior to his current post, Mr. Sweeney was based in Nairobi, Kenya for 4 years as the Coordinator of the Global Programme of Action for the Protection of the Marine Environment from Land-based Activities (or GPA), located within the United Nations Environment’s headquarters. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree and a Master’s Degree in Civil Engineering from the Technical University of Nova Scotia, and was registered as a full member of the Association of Professional Engineers of Nova Scotia (APENS) in 1989.