Our Team in Jordan

Ms. Sheri Ritsema-Anderson was appointed by the UN Secretary General as the UN Resident Coordinator in Jordan on 22 January 2023.
Ms. Ritsema-Anderson brings more than 20 years of experience in international relations, humanitarian affairs, social protection, and public policy, including 10 years working in and on the Middle East. She has cross-cutting expertise in multi-lateral coordination, systems thinking, interagency relations, and strategic analysis.
Prior to her appointment as United Nations Resident Coordinator, she held various senior positions with the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). She served most recently as Head of Office in Iraq and previously as Deputy Head of Office in the occupied Palestinian Territory, South Sudan and Indonesia. She also served in the Operations and Advocacy Division in New York, as OCHA’s principal advisor on the Ebola crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Before that, she worked with UNICEF, UNRWA and various international non-governmental organizations in the Gaza Strip, Indonesia, Chad, Kenya and Sierra Leone, advancing protection and emergency and recovery assistance for children, refugees and others affected by natural disasters and complex emergencies.
Sheri Ritsema-Anderson began her career working in social protection. As part of the New York City Mayor’s Office and the State of Florida governments, she was responsible for advancing social policy and programming in the areas of poverty alleviation, children and family services, and homelessness. She also worked with urban-focused, grassroots civil society organizations in the United States and Peru.
She holds a Master's degree in Public and Urban Policy from The New School Milano School of Policy, Management and Environment in New York.

Dominik Bartsch has been the UNHCR Representative to Jordan since February 2020.
Mr. Bartsch brings over 30 years of experience in humanitarian leadership, refugee protection and peacebuilding. He was deployed to various complex field operations. Prior to his current appointment, he served as UNHCR Representative in Germany (2017-19).
Previous assignments include Director of Organizational Management at UNHCR (2016-17), UN Deputy Humanitarian Coordinator (DHC) in Iraq (2015), UNHCR Representative/Chief of Mission in India (2013-14) and Head of Operations in Dadaab, Kenya (2011-12).
Mr. Bartsch held senior management positions at UNHCR HQ in Geneva, and the UN Secretariat in New York. In 2005, he was seconded to the Department for Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) and subsequently deployed to the office of the Secretary-General, tasked with the opening of the Peacebuilding Support office (PBSO), and the setting-up of the Peacebuilding Fund (PBF). Earlier assignments with the UN include operations in Afghanistan, Kenya, Zambia and Trinidad and Tobago.
Trained as Development Economist, Dominik holds an MA in Development Studies from the University of East Anglia in the United Kingdom and an undergraduate degree in public administration from the University of Konstanz in Germany. He is married with two adult sons.

Ms Tajma Kurt assumed her duties as IOM’s Chief of Mission for Jordan in August 2019. Before that, she served as Chief of Mission Kosovo for four years and as Chief of Mission Tajikistan for three years. During her 15 years with IOM, Ms Kurt also served in Afghanistan and Iraq. She was responsible for large portfolios overseeing return and reintegration; disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration; movement operations; counter-trafficking; immigration and border management; community stabilisation; social inclusion and reconciliation and preventing violent extremism. Before joining IOM, Ms Kurt worked with donors and civil society organisations for nine years in conflict and the postconflict environment as well as a journalist during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Ms Kurst holds a Master’s degree in Post-War recovery from York University (UK).

Mr. Nicolas Burnait took up his role in Amman in August 2022, after serving as UN Women Representative to Myanmar. He brings to the job over 25 years of work experience in international affairs, including in complex humanitarian and development settings.
Mr. Burniat first joined UN Women in 2011 as Special Assistant to the Under Secretary General and Executive Director, working in turn with Michelle Bachelet and Phumzile Mlambo-Ngucka before being appointed to the Fiji Multi-Country Office in 2014 where he served first as Deputy Representative and then as Representative a.i..
Prior to joining UN Women, Mr Burniat worked as Attaché Diplomatique for the Permanent Mission of Belgium to the United Nations (2009-2010) where he followed human rights and gender, co-chaired the European Union General Assembly Third Committee Working Group during the Belgian Presidency of the EU, and chaired the Commission on the Status of Women Working Group on Communications. In 2007 and 2008 he worked as Pennoyer Fellow/Senior Associate for the US based NGO Human Rights First. Mr Burniat started his career with the United Nations as a lawyer with the International Court of Justice, the main judicial organ of the United Nations, based in The Netherlands, where he served from 2001 to 2007 in different capacities including as legal officer and as Special Assistant to the President of the Court.
Mr. Burniat is a Belgian national and holds a Master’s Degree in Law and two Advanced Master Degrees in Private and Public International Law from the Université Libre de Bruxelles as well as an LLM from New York University.

Mr. Philippe Duamelle assumed his responsibilities as UNICEF Representative to Jordan in November 2022.
Prior to this, Philippe Duamelle served as UNICEF Representative to Yemen, Turkey, Egypt, Sri Lanka and Benin. He also worked as Executive Officer in the Office of the Executive Director at UNICEF Headquarters.

Joining UNICEF in 1995, Philippe Duamelle worked in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and the Eastern and Southern Africa Regional Office in Kenya.
Before UNICEF, he served with the United Nations Department of Humanitarian Affairs in Iraq and United Nations Development Programme in Turkey.

Philippe Duamelle is a French national. He holds a graduate degree in Management and Development from the Ecole Supérieure de Commerce et de Développement, Lyon France; and a Master’s in Public Administration from the Harvard John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, USA.

Alberto Correia Mendes has been working for WFP for over 25 years, both in country offices and at WFP’s headquarters. He worked in various operations in Southern Africa and Southeast Asia. He took up his duties as Representative and Country Director in Jordan in October 2020, after two years as Representative and Country Director in Tajikistan. Prior to this assignment, he was Representative and Country Director for Eswatini (former Swaziland), East Timor, and Zimbabwe (ad interim). He also served as Senior Adviser for Angola in the Regional Bureau for Southern, East, and Central Africa in Johannesburg and held several other positions in WFP’s Headquarters, Angola, and Mozambique. Alberto holds a university degree (BSc.) in mathematics and physics.

Mr Al-A’darbeh has more than 15 years of experience in the Rule of Law and Criminal Justice. He joined UNODC Jordan in April 2011 as a Project Manager and became, in May 2014, the UNODC Team Leader and Head of Office. Before that, he worked for UNDP in Iraq from 2008 to 2011 within the Governance Cluster. He also worked at the Arab Academy for Banking and Financial Sciences as a Senior Public Relations and Protocol Officer (2005-2008). Al-A’darbeh holds a Master’s degree in International Relations and Conflict Resolution and a Bachelor’s degree in Law. He is a member of the Jordan Bar Association since 2001.

Christian has more than 25 years of experience in program management, strategic leadership, and policy advice. His professional expertise and leadership path includes a broad range of development and management areas, including governance and decentralization, human rights, community driven development, social cohesion and peacebuilding, and civil society and media support. For the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), he was heading governance and local development programs in countries in transition in Asia and Eastern Europe and was also serving at the UN Volunteers headquarter in Germany. He holds a PhD in law and a postgraduate diploma in international relations. With his team in the Arab region, he is promoting and enabling volunteerism within the UN system as a means to implement the 2030 agenda.

Ms. Abuthiab is the National Programme Coordinator for UN-Habitat Programme. She has more than 20 years of experience in spatial planning and urban development in Jordan and the middle east. Before joining UN-Habitat in August 2018, she held several positions at governmental sector, non-profit organizations, and private sectors in Jordan. In early 2000s, Deema served at the Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority (ASEZA) for 6 years as an urban planner. From 2007- 2012, she worked at the Urban Workshop Center where she was engaged in developing strategic and urban development plans for different regions in Jordan. After that, she assumed the position of Urban Studies Director at Consolidated Consultants Engineering firm in Jordan and was responsible for managing several projects in the region.

Eng. Sulafa Mdanat has been UNIDO’s Representative to Jordan since April 2017. Ms. Mdanat brings over 15 years of experience in development and has previously worked as a Team Leader for the education reform program at Global Affairs Canada (2010-2017). In parallel, she managed other Canadian supported projects in the fields of sustainable economic growth and renewable energy sectors.

Before that, she worked with GIZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit) from 1999 to 2007, where she managed multiple German supported development projects in different sectors (vocational education, solid waste management and others) in Jordan and the region.

Ms. Mdanat speaks Arabic, English, German and French and holds a Masters degree in biomedical engineering from Dresden University of Technology in Germany and a post graduate degree in general management. She is married with two sons.

Ms. Enshrah Ahmed is Jordan UNFPA Head of Office. She holds M.Sc. on Gender and Development from London School of Economics. She has written both published and unpublished papers / reports on various gender issues including a recent paper titled “Female Genital Mutilation and Population Movements in and outside the Arab Region March 2018, in partnership with Coventry University in the UK and Ahfad University in Sudan”.

Enshrah held the position of Gender Unit Chief At two UN missions; Sierra Leone and Lebanon. Furthermore, she was the Deputy Regional Director for UNIFEM (currently UNWomen) Arab States Regional office in Amman. Besides, she held various posts in the UK including Amnesty at International, the International Secretariat in London.

Ms. Enshrah Ahmed is a British citizen who is originally from Sudan and lives with her husband and daughter.

Ms. Khan is the Country Coordinator for the ILO Office in Amman and the Senior Specialist, Gender Equality and Non Discrimination for the Regional Office for Arab States. She has over twenty years’ experience working with the government of Pakistan, the ILO, UNDP and UN Women on skills development, livelihoods, governance, women’s economic empowerment and gender equality. She has worked in Pakistan, Lebanon, Jordan and Hong Kong. Her publications include studies on the gender pay gap in the garments sector in Pakistan, rural women’s inheritance rights in Muslim communities in Asia and Africa, the gender dimensions of skills development systems in Pakistan, and the impact of politically motivated overseas development aid on developing countries’ gender equality goals. Frida has an M.Sc. in Development Administration and Planning from University College London, and an M.A. in English Literature from the University of the Punjab, Pakistan. She is a Fellow of the international network, Leadership for Environment and Development (LEAD), an Australian Executive Award holder, and was awarded an Australian Award for Excellence for her work on TVET reform in Pakistan.

Ms. Benner has over 15 years of experience promoting development solutions for countries facing complex transition and reform, conflict, and forced displacement challenges. Ms. Benner, a United States national, joined the World Bank in 2009 as Project Coordinator for the 2011 World Development Report on Conflict, Security and Development. She has since held various positions, including Senior Operations Officer with the Fragility, Conflict and Violence Group where she served as Program Manager for the US$240 million State- and Peacebuilding Fund, Korean Trust Fund for Transitions, and United Nations-World Bank Partnership Trust Fund. Prior to joining the Bank, Ms. Benner worked with the Brookings Institution, U.S. Department of State, U.S. Agency for International Development, and various non-governmental organizations. At Brookings, Ms. Benner managed a Project on transnational threats and reform of the multilateral system. At U.S. Department of State, she authored an interagency conflict assessment methodology and served as a Conflict Advisor in the U.S. Embassy in Kathmandu, Nepal. While with Seeds of Peace, she led dialogue programs for youth from conflict regions including the Middle East, Cyprus, and the Balkans. Ms. Benner holds a Master’s Degree in Conflict Resolution and Post-Conflict Peacebuilding, Development Economics, and Comparative Political Analysis from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University; and a Bachelor’s Degree from Colorado College.

Dr Jamela Al-Raiby was appointed as WHO Representative for Jordan on 7 November 2021. Dr Al-Raiby is a paediatrician with 30 years’ experience in public health, health policy and management prior to her current assignment.
Dr Al-Raiby served as the Regional Advisor for Child and Adolescent Health from 2015 to 2021, and Medical Officer for Reproductive and Maternal Health from 2012 to 2015 at WHO’s Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean.
She served as Deputy Minister of Public Health and Population of Yemen for the Population Sector from 2008 to 2012 and General Director of Women’s Health Affairs from 2004 to 2008 at the Ministry of Public Health and Population in Yemen.
Dr Al-Raiby holds a bachelor’s degree in medicine and surgery, a master’s degree in paediatric endocrinology and a master’s degree in public administration. Early on in her career, she worked as a paediatric consultant from 1999 to 2004, and a family physician from 1992 to 1994 in primary health care.
She has actively contributed to the development of WHO technical guidelines and research and authored/co-authored a number of regional and global level technical publications. Dr Al-Raiby has had various functions throughout her career, including support to sexual, reproductive, maternal, neonatal, child and adolescent health, leading multi-stakeholder policy dialogue for equitable and quality health service strategies with a focus on universal health coverage.
She is an strong advocate for equity, women and youth engagement through building national capacities. Her professional aspiration is to promote global health and development of effective partnerships towards peace and sustainable development.

Mr. Ismail has been serving as Resident Representative based in Amman since 2018, previously he covered Iraq and Yemen, and he has been covering Jordan since September 2020. Prior to this, Mr. Ismail worked in the Strategy, Policy, and Review Department (SPR) and the African department of the IMF. In SPR, he co-authored various policy papers including on Fund lending and was SPR economist on Turkey and Albania, including covering the successful completion of the latter’s 2014 EFF program. He also served as team lead on the vulnerability exercise for low-income countries and as deputy on the IMF Risk group. In the African Department, he helped negotiate Liberia’s first post-HPIC ECF and was fiscal desk economist on Zambia. Prior to joining staff, Kareem was Advisor to the Executive Director at the IMF for the Middle East (2009-11). He holds a PhD in economics from the Johns Hopkins University.

A national of Lebanon, Ms El Helou is the Director of UNIC in Beirut since August 2018, covering Lebanon, Jordan, Syria and Kuwait, and the Representative of the UN Department of Global Communications (DGC) in Lebanon. She has more than 25 years of experience in public information, communications and international relations, acquired at the United Nations and externally, including more than 12 years at UNIC Beirut.
From 2000 to 2007, she provided support to strategic communications projects and senior communications officials in the Office of the Executive Secretary of ESCWA.
Ms El Helou holds a bachelor’s degree in agriculture engineering from the American University of Beirut.

Min Jeong Kim has more than 20 years of experience in the field of educational development, media and communication. Prior to her current position in Jordan, she was Head of the UNESCO Office in Myanmar. Before that, she was based in New York as Head of the UN Secretary-General’s Global Education First Initiative (GEFI) Secretariat; and Policy Advisor to the One UN Secretariat on Post 2015 Development Planning. She had previously worked in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, as Chief of UNESCO Education Section for the Indian Ocean countries; and in Beirut, Lebanon, as the UNESCO Regional Programme Coordinator for Education in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. She has also worked for a number of years in the Executive Office of the Assistant Director-General for Education at UNESCO HQ in Paris on donor coordination and strategic planning. Before joining the UN system, she was a journalist in her home country, Republic of Korea. Ms Kim holds an Executive Masters in International Relations and Management from the University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and a Masters in Political Science from Yonsei University, Republic of Korea.

Mr Akram has over 24 years of experience in the UN system, governmental and non-governmental sectors in humanitarian and development affairs. Before joining UNOPS in 2014 as the Regional Advisor on the United Nations Development Assistance Frameworks for Asia, the Middle East and Europe, and later as the Head of Programme for UNOPS Operational Hub in Amman, Mr Akram worked in the United Nations Development Operations Coordination Office in New York. He also acted as the Head of the Resident Coordinator Office for Iraq while officiating the function of the Monitoring and Evaluation Advisor for Iraq. Before Iraq, he worked as Regional Monitoring and Evaluation Advisor for the United Nations Development Programme serving the Arab States Region in Cairo and the Europe and Commonwealth of Independent States in Bratislava. Prior to joining the UN system, Mr. Akram worked in the Aga Khan Rural Support Programme in Pakistan and Save the Children UK in Pakistan as well as Central Asia.

Mr. Assaf took up his role in Amman in July 2020, after serving as FAO Representative in Algeria.

A national of Lebanon, Mr. Assaf holds a Bachelor Degree in Forestry, a Master’s Degree in Ecology/Natural Resources Management from the National School of Forestry Engineering, Salé, Morocco and a Master of Research in Forest Systems and Products from the University of Lleida, Spain. In 2008, he was Ph.D. candidate in Forestry Biogeography and Land Use Management from the Academy of Paris, Sorbonne University, France.

He joined FAO in 2010 as Forestry Officer at the Sub Regional Office for North Africa (SNE), Tunis, Tunisia. From 2011 to June 2020, he was also serving as FAO Representative in Algeria. Ahead of that he worked for EU-supported projects, agricultural research institutes and in teaching.

In September 2022, Mr. Olaf Becker was appointed as Acting Director of UNRWA Affairs, Jordan. He is leading the UNRWA Jordan Field in providing humanitarian services, basic education, primary healthcare, relief and social services, infrastructure, microfinance, protection and emergency services for the most vulnerable refugees. Prior to his appointment, Mr. Becker was Deputy Director for Operations at the UNRWA Jordan Field Office.

Before joining UNRWA, he spent 12 years working in microfinance across Eastern and Southern Africa. Most recently, based in Zambia, he held the position of Chief Commercial Officer for the Africa Region, focusing primarily on digital strategy and crisis management.

From 2017 to 2021, Mr. Becker also served as a Director on the Board of FINCA Jordan. Prior to this, he was the Chief Operations Officer at FINCA Microfinance Bank Tanzania, leading the implementation of the institution’s transformation projects focused on leveraging digital solutions to increase financial inclusion. Between 2011 and 2015, he worked as Chief Operations Officer in Malawi driving rural outreach of financial services. Mr. Becker started his career in Client Relations Management and Process Improvement at ABN AMRO Bank and RBS in the Netherlands.

Mr. Becker holds a Master Degree in Social Policy & Planning for Developing Countries from the London School of Economics and a Bachelor Degree from the University of Exeter in Business and Accounting with European Studies.

Prior to this appointment, Randa was UNDP Resident Representative for Egypt (2019-2021) and UNDP Country Director in Egypt since January 2017. She also served as UNDP Deputy Resident Representative in Algeria (2013-2016) and UNDP Country Director in Yemen (2010-2013). Prior to that, she was Special Advisor to the Directorate (2007-2010) and Programme Advisor (2005-2006) in the Regional Bureau for Arab States in New York, USA. In 2004-2005, she was Assistant Resident Representative in UNDP Yemen and Policy Specialist/Programme Management in UNDP Lebanon during 1995-2004. Randa holds a Post-Graduate Diploma in Public Policy and Management from the University of London, a Master of Arts in Social and Behavioural Science and Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration from the American University of Beirut, Lebanon.

She speaks Arabic, English and French.

Randa took up her new assignment as UNDP Resident Representative in Jordan on 2 October 2021.

Before his current position, Mr Dimassi has held several senior positions in the United Nations that covered a wide range of operations from high-level management, administration and decision making, to corporate and partner relations, information and technology operations and programmatic management. He worked at UN New York Headquarters, as well as in The Hague, Beirut, Hamburg and Nairobi. Mr Dimassi holds a Bachelor degree in Information Technology from Ottawa University and his Masters in Management from Waterloo University in Canada.