Our Team in Suriname

Vincent Sweeney is Head of the Caribbean Sub-Regional Office for the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and previously spent 4 years as the Coordinator of the GPA, in UNEP’s headquarters. He also served for 10 years as Executive Director of the Caribbean Environmental Health Institute.

Based in Jamaica, Alison directs the priorities and mandate of the UNFPA across 22 countries in the English and Dutch-speaking Caribbean. Prior to joining UNFPA in 2016, Alison served in UNDP for fifteen years. Prior to this, Alison was a diplomat in Guyana’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations. During that time, as Chairman of the Group of 77 and China, she led global negotiations on climate change, ocean management, tourism, and other critical issues on the development agenda.

Previously, Dr Anna Paolini was UNESCO Representative in the Arab States of the Gulf and Yemen and Director UNESCO Doha Office for the Countries of the Gulf and Yemen from September 2013 – June 2022.
She was also UNESCO Representative and Head of Office in Uzbekistan from 2007 to 2009 and later she covered the same position in Jordan. In 1992, she joined UNESCO as specialist in the field of culture at the Regional Office in Amman. In 1997, she moved to UNESCO HQ covering several positions within the Culture Sector including being responsible of movable heritage activities and on heritage in conflict response in the Arab region.

Prior to that, she held a research associate role at the Institute of Architecture of Venice, worked in restoration in Italy and carried out researches in the eld of urban rehabilitation in several Arab and African countries. She holds a Master’s degrees in Architecture and a master degree in Urban and Regional Planning for Developing Countries, a post-graduate degree on Development Cooperation, as well as a Ph.D in Urban and Territorial Engineering. Mrs. Paolini is a member of the International Council of Museums (ICOM) and the Italian Association of Professional Architects and author of several papers on dierent cultural heritage subjects.

Prior to his role as Director of the ILO Decent Work Team and Office for the Caribbean, Mr. Zulu worked as Director for the ILO Country Office, Abuja with responsibility for Nigeria, Ghana, Liberia, Sierra Leone and as Representative to the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). Prior to that, Mr. Zulu worked in academia and the private sector in his home country. 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 from Mzumbe University, Tanzania.

Mr. Irfan Akhtar (Indian) has over 20 years’ experience of working with international organizations, including 10 years with UNICEF, and has worked in the Middle East, Asia, and the Caribbean. Prior to Guyana and Suriname, he served in Lao PDR, DP Korea, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and India. His main areas of work are Social Policy, Research, HIV/AIDS, Youth Participation and Social Sector Planning and Budgeting. He received his master’s in social work from the University of Delhi, India. He speaks Hindi, Urdu, English and Arabic.

Dr. Karen Lewis-Bell, a Jamaican national, is a medical doctor with over 30 years’ experience in public health leadership. After working in various senior capacities for the Ministry of Health in Jamaica for 27 years, Dr. Lewis-Bell joined PAHO in April 2014 as Advisor, Immunization for the Caribbean Sub-Region providing technical cooperation and guidance to 25 countries and territories of the English- and Dutch-speaking Caribbean to strengthen the quality of their immunization programs. She was promoted to Head of Suriname's WHO Country Office in January 2020.

In August 2019, Ms. Jones Williams was appointed Deputy Resident Representative and Head of Office at the Suriname UNDP Country Office. Prior to this, Ms. Jones Williams was the Head of Natural Resources Management, Climate Change and Disaster Risk Reduction Unit at UNDP Lao PDR (2014-2019) and Manager of the Environment Unit at UNDP Jamaica (2009-2014). Ms. Jones Williams has a Master’s degree in Natural Sciences from the University of the West Indies and a PhD in Environmental Management from the University of Southampton in the UK, where she attended as a Commonwealth Scholar.

Dr. Michel de Groulard brings more than 30 years of experience in international public health, 23 of which he focused on HIV/AIDS. His 20-year experience in the Caribbean includes these roles: Public Health Officer in the Ministry of Health of Grenada, Project Manager on HIV/AIDS at CAREC/SPSTI in Trinidad & Tobago, UNAIDS Country Coordinator for Guyana and Suriname (and Senior Advisor to PANCAP/CARICOM), and Senior Regional Programme Advisor at the UNAIDS Regional Office for the Caribbean in Trinidad & Tobago.

Reuben Hamilton Robertson is a national of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, is a holder of a Bachelor of Science Degree in Agriculture, and a Master of Science Degree in Agriculture Economics, both from the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus. Prior to taking up his appointment in Trinidad and Tobago, he served as FAO Representative in Guyana and previously as the FAO Consultant and Technical Advisor to the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS).

Robert Natiello has served as the IOM Regional Coordination Officer for the Caribbean and Chief of Mission, Guyana since September of 2016. Prior to that he worked with IOM in Colombia and Ecuador, serving 16 years in the organization. He holds a Master’s Degree in International Management and is fluent in Spanish. He is married with two children and is a fanatical squash player.

Ms. Brodber is Representative a.i of the UN Women Multi-Country Office (MCO) - Caribbean, after serving as Deputy Representative from 2015-2020. Before this, Ms. Brodber was the Team Leader for the Advancing Gender Justice in the Pacific programme with the UN Women Fiji MCO. Ms Brodber has served with UNDP in South Africa, with the UN Women South Africa MCO, and established the UN Women Country Office in Haiti. Ms. Brodber received her first degree from the University of the West Indies and has post-graduate degrees in Development Studies and Business Administration from the London School of Economics and ESADE Business School in Barcelona.