Our Team in Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean

Dr.Paolini was appointed UNESCO Representative and Director of the UNESCO Office in Jamaica (previously UNESCO Cluster Office for the Caribbean), on 1 July 2022. Prior to this, she served as UNESCO Representative in the Arab States of the Gulf and Yemen and Director of the UNESCO Doha Office from September 2013 – June 2022. She was also UNESCO Representative and Head of Office in Uzbekistan from 2007 to 2009 and later held the same position in Jordan.

In 1992, Dr. Paolini joined UNESCO as specialist in the field of culture at the Regional Office in Amman, before moving to UNESCO HQ in 1997 where she covered several positions within the Culture Sector. She also worked in restoration in Italy and conducted research in urban rehabilitation in several Arab and African countries.

Dr. Paolini holds a Ph.D. in Urban and Territorial Engineering, Master’s degrees in Architecture and Urban and Regional Planning for Developing Countries, and a post-graduate degree in Development Cooperation. She is a member of the International Council of Museums (ICOM) and the Italian Association of Professional Architects.

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.

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 his current assignment, Mr. Zulu worked as Director for the ILO Country Office, Abuja with responsibility for Nigeria, Ghana, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Representative to the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). Mr. Zulu holds a degree in Economics and Public Administration from the University of Zambia; a Post Graduate Diploma from Stellenbosch University, South Africa; and a Master’s Degree in Business Administration (Corporate Finance and Strategic Planning) from Mzumbe University, Tanzania.

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.

Mr. Masera has more than 20 years experience in the promotion of Sustainable Industrial Development in most regions of the world. From 2015 to January 2018, he managed one of the largest United Nations Headquarters where he applied a number of energy efficiency interventions to make it the first UN HQ to be climate neutral ahead of the UN target. Mr. Masera has more than 20 year experience in the promotion of Sustainable Industrial Development in most regions of the world and holds a PhD on natural resource use and renewable energy and a bachelor on industrial design engineering.

Ms. Talbert has a strong background in population and statistical development with over 30 years of experience in the Caribbean and East Africa. She has led population and housing censuses, poverty assessment and other social and economic surveys in several countries.

Prior to her appointment as Director at the UNFPA Sub-Regional Office for the Caribbean and Representative to Jamaica, she served as Senior Statistician with the World Bank Poverty and Equity Global Practice in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania where she managed the Statistical Development Project (2014-2021). Under her leadership, this project resulted in the improvement of the statistics law, strengthening of statistical and administrative data, and the enhancement of statistical infrastructure and human resource capacity. During her tenure in Tanzania, she also provided technical support to statistical offices in Zanzibar, Mozambique, Somalia and other East African member states.

Ms Talbert also previously served as Chief Statistician, Government of the Cayman Islands, (2009-2014); Statistical Consultant, Government of Guyana (2007-2008) and; Deputy Chief Statistician, Government of Belize (2001-2007). She has also served as a consultant to CARICOM Statistical Unit in analyzing and preparing 2000 Census Country Reports.

A native of Belize, Ms. Talbert holds a BSc in Sociology and Public Administration, Minnesota State University, Mankato; MPhil in Population and Development, Centre for Development Studies, Kerala State, India and; MS in Demography, Florida State University. She was also a participant in the UNFPA Global Training Programme in Population and Development (1993-1994).

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

A Columbian national, Ms. 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.

Ms. 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. Bult assumed the post of Representative, UNICEF Office for the Eastern Caribbean Area on 25 July,2022. He brings a wealth of experience to the role, having worked with the Agency since 1994.

Prior to his appointment, he served as UNICEF Representative to Romania for five years, providing overall leadership to the UNICEF Country Programme, Horizonal Cooperation and Private Sector Fundraising, and as UNICEF Senior Advisor in the Public Partnerships Division based in New York Headquarters for six years.

During his UN tenure, Mr. Bult also held the post of Head of UN Tsunami Recovery based in Chennai India, and served as a UNICEF Assistant Programme, Planning, Programme and Learning Officer, between January 1994 to January 2001, in Barbados, Jakarta, Palestine and New York respectively. He also served as UNDP Deputy Country Director in New Delhi, India from January 2008 to March 2011.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in Education from the School for Higher Professional Education, Groningen, the Netherlands and master’s degree in Human Geography and Policy Sciences, Catholic University of Nijmegen, the Netherlands.
 

Mr. Chapman is the Representative & Country Director for the World Food Programme (WFP) Caribbean Multi-Country Office, covering 22 countries and territories in the English and Dutch-speaking Caribbean and overseeing the agency’s support to regional institutions, national governments, and people.

Mr. Chapman has over 20 years of international development and humanitarian experience, including the past 17 years working with WFP. Prior to his appointment in the Caribbean, he has served in a variety of programme leadership roles with WFP including in the Regional Bureau for Latin America & the Caribbean, Somalia, Afghanistan, Regional Bureau for East and Central Africa, Timor Leste, Regional Bureau for Asia and Pacific and Indonesia. He has also worked with the Red Cross Movement on food security and emergency and with the United States Peace Corps on community development efforts at a grassroots level in rural El Salvador.

Regis is a national of the United States of America. He holds a graduate degree in Marketing from Arizona State University.

Prior to joining UNAIDS in 2004, Mr. Guwani was an M&E Specialist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Senior Program Evaluator for the Red Cross HIV and AIDS Education and Prevention Programs. In 2001 James received his Doctorate in Medical Epidemiology from the Pennsylvania State University. He also holds a joint Master’s degree in Public Health and International Development Studies from Ohio University.

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.

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.

Ms. Brodber served as Deputy Representative from 2015-2020 with the MCO Caribbean, and prior to this as Team Leader for the Advancing Gender Justice in the Pacific programme with the UN Women Fiji Multi-Country Office. She also served as the Gender Specialist for the United Nations Development Programme in South Africa, as well as briefly with the UN Women South Africa Multi-Country Office and established what is now the UN Women Country Office in Haiti. Ms. Brodber’s work experience also includes lecturing in International Relations and Development Studies at Yanshan University in China, and directing and co-producing, a film on Haiti.

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.