Our Team in Guyana

Ms. Negry, a Brazilian national, has 18 years of experience with the United Nations in different regions, with a strong background in protection, in development and humanitarian settings. Throughout her career at UNHCR, she has held various management positions, and her previous assignment was in Poland, where she coordinated the community protection programme at the border area with Ukraine.

Prior to joining the United Nations, Ms. Negry worked as a lawyer and with international cooperation in space law.

Ms. Negry holds a Bachelor’s degree in Law and International Relations, and a Master's degree in Child's Rights from the Autonomous University of Madrid.

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 Cambodia.

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.

Daniel Anavitarte is responsible for managing IFAD's portfolio with the primary goals of creating economic development opportunities in rural areas and strengthening communities to face climate change.

At IFAD he previously served as a Regional Specialist for Latin America and the Caribbean and as Country Director for the Plurinational State of Bolivia. Before joining IFAD in 2020, Daniel served as an advisor to Peru’s Vice Minister of Finance, focusing on improving the quality of public spending. Earlier roles in Peru’s public sector include General Director of School Management at the Ministry of Education, General Director of Economics and Finance at the Ministry of Environment, and Poverty Targeting Specialist at the Ministry of Development.

His experience also includes working as a lecturer at Maastricht University and Universidad del Paci­fico at the graduate level. Daniel holds a MSc in Public Policy and Human Development from Maastricht University and United Nations University, as well as a BA in Economics from Universidad del Paci­fico.

Diane Quarless has been the Director of the ECLAC Subregional Headquarters for the Caribbean in Port of Spain since 2011, where she leads a multidisciplinary team of experts in the search for solutions to the many development challenges facing the countries of the Caribbean.

She previously served as Chief of the Small Island Developing States Unit and as Head of Partnerships for Sustainable Development in the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations. She began her career as a diplomat in the Foreign Service of Jamaica, serving as a policy analyst and practitioner in development administration. Prior to joining the United Nations Secretariat, she served as Deputy Permanent Representative of Jamaica to the United Nations in New York, where she contributed to advancing the broader strategic interests of the Caribbean Community, the Alliance of Small Island Developing States and the G-77 developing countries.

Trained in International Relations and Development Management, and a proud graduate of SALISES, she has experience in the design of regional policy interventions and the management and oversight of capacity building programmes to advance Caribbean development.

Ms. Doretti, an Italian national, provides country-level leadership across the institution to support Guyana’s public and private sector priorities. She leads the full breadth of World Bank Group products and services in Guyana.

Since joining in 2002, Ms. Doretti has held various positions at the World Bank, including as Senior Private Sector Development Specialist for the World Bank West Africa region, based in Mali. She has extensive World Bank experience, including country engagements and developing strategies for private sector development, entrepreneurship, and innovation.

Ms. Doretti holds a Master’s degree in international economics from SAIS Johns Hopkins and Bachelor degree in International Affairs and Law from University of Florence.

Dr. Gillian Smith, Jamaican, was appointed the FAO Representative in Guyana in 2018. She was the Officer-in-Charge of the FAO Representation in Jamaica, The Bahamas and Belize in 2017 and prior to this was the Assistant FAO Representative (Programme). Before joining the UN, Dr. Smith held several senior positions within the Ministry of Agriculture in Jamaica.

She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Zoology, a Master’s Degree in Aquaculture, and a PhD. in Marine Sciences from the University of West Indies.

Dr. Eva Kim Dickson is a Public Health Physician with over 25 years' experience. Dr. Dickson has worked in countries in Africa, Asia, America, Europe and the Pacific. She has the unique experience of working for three UN agencies - UNFPA, UNICEF and WHO.

Dr Kim Eva Dickson holds a BSc and a MB CHB from the School of Medical Sciences, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana; a MSc in Maternal and Child Health from the Institute of Child Health, University of London, United Kingdom; and a Diploma in Family Planning with the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, UK; and several management and leadership certificates.

Dr Luis Longoria is the Director of the Division for Latin America and the Caribbean from the Department of Technical Cooperation at the International Atomic Energy Agency. He is responsible for the delivery of national and regional projects to 31 countries in the region.

Dr Longoria holds a Master’s degree in nuclear technology from Surrey University, United Kingdom and a PhD in nuclear physics from Imperial College, London. He joined the IAEA in February 2012 prior to which he was Director of Scientific Research at the Mexican Nuclear Research Institute. In this capacity, he was responsible for directing and developing scientific and technological research related to nuclear reactors.

Dr Longoria has been a university lecturer for more than 25 years and has published a number of scientific papers as well as given presentations at many conferences and symposiums. He is a member of his country’s prestigious Engineering and Science academies.

Richard is a medical doctor by training and brings into this position several productive years of professional experience in Global Health. He 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. His last duty station was in Nigeria where he supported the setting up of a US$100 million HIV Trust Fund for the elimination of vertical
transmission of HIV, establishment of continuous quality improvement initiatives for the HIV program, governance reform of the Country Coordinating Mechanism and the mobilization of the largest grant for a single country of about US$1.2 billion from the Global Fund for HIV/TB/Malaria/COVID19. He was 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, he was the Technical Director in-charge of strategic planning, HIV program planning and implementation, performance monitoring and donor coordination at the Ghana AIDS Commission.

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, Ms Talbert 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. 

In previous jobs, Ms. Talbert 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 the CARICOM Statistical Unit in analyzing and preparing 2000 Census Country Reports.

Ms. Talbert is a native of Belize. She 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.

Eraina Yaw, Guyanese, is the Deputy Sub Regional Coordinator for the Caribbean and Head of Office, IOM Guyana. Ms. Yaw has 12 years of experience and expertise in migration with particular emphasis on diaspora engagement, Caribbean migration governance and policy engagement. She also possesses prior experience in social protection for children in Guyana.

Prior to this appointment she was the National Project Coordinator for the Caribbean where she worked on IOM national projects in Guyana and throughout the Caribbean that addressed migration management and supported direct emergency assistance to migrant populations under the Response for Venezuelans programme. Ms. Yaw has successfully supported the development of two diaspora engagement policies and implemented three comprehensive Migration Governance Indicators Assessments in the region.

In addition to extensive knowledge on migration-related issues in the Caribbean, Ms. Yaw is a certified instructor of the Essentials of Migration Management course and has trained government officials in Antigua and Barbuda, Grenada, Guyana, Suriname, and the Bahamas. Ms. Yaw also sits on the OECS-IOM Working Group on Migration and often works directly with CARICOM counterparts.

She has written several publications in the field of childcare and protection, public health and migration governance. This includes the Desk Review of Migration Health in Guyana: Migrants, Miners, HIV/AIDS and Malaria; Childlink’s Child Protection Policy and Parenting Handbook 1st and 2nd Editions.

Ms. Yaw holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Administration and Teaching and a Bachelor of Social Science in Social Work.

Ms. Yaw took up her new assignment in November 2022.

Ms. Iyahen is currently the Deputy Representative and the Head of Office ad interim (a.i.) for the UN Women Multi-Country Office (MCO) for the Caribbean. She is responsible for the day-to-day management of the MCO, substantially contributing to the design, implementation, management and oversight of programmes and operations to ensure effective and efficient delivery of results.

Prior to assuming the position of Deputy Representative, 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 17 years of experience in international development and has served in various capacities within the United Nations system and non-governmental organisations.

Ms. Iyahen has 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.

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.

Liliana Garavito is a Colombia national with twenty-seven years of experience as a journalist and communications specialist. She has worked for twenty-three years with the UN and four years as a news producer.

As the director for the United Nations Information Centre for the Caribbean Area (UNIC Caribbean), Liliana works to educate Caribbean audiences about the work of the UN globally and provides communications support to various UN offices and agencies operating within the Caribbean region.

Before joining UNIC Caribbean, Liliana 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 previous years, she acted as Chief of Public Information and Communication Strategy in the UN Verification Mission in Colombia.

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 activities.

Mr. Arenas Garcia 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 having served as the Deputy Chief of UNDRR ROAC since 2017.

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).

Mr. Nicolas Charles Pron is the UNICEF Area Representative to Guyana & Suriname, and Special Representative to the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).

Mr. Pron has been working for the United Nations since 1992. Prior to his current posting in December 2020, Mr. Pron served as the Special Adviser on High Level Events, Initiatives and Partnerships in UNICEF’s New York Headquarters. He has also served as Director and Secretary of the UNICEF Executive Board and as Special Adviser to the President of the 68th Session of the United Nations General Assembly. Mr. Pron spent many years in the field in Africa and Asia, where he oversaw the implementation of UNICEF Country Programmes.

Mr. Pron, a French national, holds master’s degrees in international administration from the Sorbonne University, and in International Law from the René Descartes University in Paris. He speaks French, English, Spanish and Kiswahili.

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.

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.

Vincent Sweeney is the Head of the Caribbean Sub-Regional Office for the United Nations Environment Programme, since 2016.

He holds both a Bachelor's Degree and a Master’s Degree in Civil Engineering, from the Technical University of Nova Scotia. He was admitted to the Association of Professional Engineers of Nova Scotia (APENS) as a full Member in 1989.

He has served in Nairobi, Kenya for 4 years as the Coordinator of the Global Progamme of Action for the Protection of the Marine Environment from Land-based Activities (GPA), located within UNEP's headquarters. He also served for 5 years as Regional Project Coordinator for the GEF-funded IWCAM project on Integrating Watershed & Coastal Area Management in 13 Caribbean SIDS. Prior to joining the UN, he served for 10 years as Executive Director of the Caribbean Environmental Health Institute and has worked with water utilities in the Caribbean and in private consulting firms.