Our Team in North Macedonia

Massimiliano Paolucci is an Italian national with more than twenty years of economic development experience. Before taking the current position, Paolucci was the World Bank Group Special Representative to the European Institutions, NATO, the Kingdom of Belgium and the Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg

Ms. Shalja-Plavjanska was appointed UNFPA Head of Office in 2019. She is a medical doctor and brings over 15 years of experience in managing USAID programs. Since 2013, she has managed UNFPA programs on sexual and reproductive health and youth in North Macedonia.

Mr. Armen Grigoryan was appointed as UNDP Resident Representative for the Republic of North Macedonia on October 11, 2021. Prior to this appointment, Armen was Regional Cluster Leader for Climate Change/Disaster Resilience and Global Energy Policy Advisor for Europe and Central Asia in UNDP at Istanbul Regional Hub since January 2015.

Bill joined UNODC in August 2019 following 12 years with the British National Crime Agency (NCA) most recently serving as their Liaison Officer based in Belgrade mandated for Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia Hercegovina and Croatia. Previously he had also served as Head of the UK Europol National Unit and the Chief of the NCA London desk focused on the Western Balkans.

Mr. Krstanovski has been an ILO Coordinator for North Macedonia since 2009 and is responsible for the development and effective and efficient delivery of the Decent Work Agenda and successful design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of ILO projects in the country.

Since his graduation from the Faculty of Law at Vienna University in international relations and environmental law and sciences, Mr. Egerer worked as an environmental reporter for the Austrian Press Agency. In 1996, Mr. Egerer joined UNEP with the Secretariat of the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal. With UNEP’s Europe Office as of 2001, Mr. Egerer specialized on environmental cooperation in the European region and supported the seven Carpathian countries in the development of the Framework Convention on the Protection and Sustainable Development of the Carpathians. Since 2004, Mr. Egerer has been heading the UNEP Vienna Programme Office – SSC, acts as the Secretary of the Carpathian Convention on behalf of UNEP and represents the organization as an environmental focal point for the International Mountain Partnership.

Previously, Jacek Cukrowski was a Head of the UNIDO Institute for Capacity Development, worked for the UNDP in the capacity of an Adviser on Millennium Development Goals and a leader of the Regional Center for Europe and the CIS. Prior to that, he worked in the Center for Social and Economic Research (CASE) in Poland and with the Economic Institute of Academy of Science of the Czech Republic.

Michela brings a wealth of expertise in humanitarian affairs, conflict analysis and resolution, team management in insecure environments. Prior to UNOPS, she held various senior positions with the ICRC in conflict-affected countries in Africa, Latin American and Asia; the humanitarian policy and advocacy sectors in the UK and Canada, and in the financial sector in the City of London.

Ms. Monica Sandri has served with UNHCR for 21 years in the Balkans, Afghanistan, Chad, Eritrea, Venezuela, and the UNHCR Headquarters. Her previous experience includes working for OSCE and the international non-governmental sector. She has an academic background in political science, with a doctorate from the University of Florence.

Mr. Gangi has 20 years of experience with the United Nations in many different areas. He is responsible for advising and assisting the development and implementation of the FAO Country Programme in the Republic of North Macedonia by facilitating communication and cooperation between FAO and the Macedonian Government and all key national and international partners in the country.

Ms. Algayerova has been appointed as the Executive Secretary of UNECE in June 2017 and brings to the position a combination of leadership and diplomatic skills with deep knowledge of the region with its challenges and opportunities and a strong focus on building and nurturing partnerships among key stakeholders with the United Nations.

Patrizia Di Giovanni has served with UNICEF in Kenya, Ethiopia, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, India and Philippines, before taking up her post as UNICEF Representative in North Macedonia. She brings over 25 years of experience working with partners to protect children from the harmful effects of poverty, adversity, and exclusion.

Ms. Bozinovska joined IOM in 1999 and has been working since in humanitarian emergencies, management of initiatives on migration management, including labour migration, border management, migrants’ assistance, policy, and research. She has also been a member of various inter-governmental working groups on migration.

Stephanie Eble, a German national, is a graduate from the London School of Economics. During her career in the IMF she has worked on Kosovo, Ukraine, Greece, Serbia, and Bosnia & Herzegovina before being appointed IMF Regional Resident Representative for the Western Balkans.

Ms. Vesna Ivanovikj-Castarede assumed the position of the Programme Specialist and UN Women Head of Office in North Macedonia in January 2019 and brings a wealth of 20 years professional experience with international organizations, including OSCE, ICITAP and USA Peace Corps, providing strategic guidance, leadership, programming, implementation monitoring and capacity building.