| Overview | Objectives | Countries | Events | Resources | Partners | Contact Us | Meet the Team |
GLO.ACT is being implemented by staff from UNODC, IOM and UNICEF offices based in Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America and the USA.
UNODC Headquarters in Vienna, Austria
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Ms. Aimée Comrie is the Project Coodinator for GLO.ACT Asia and the Middle East. Aimée was previously the policy lead on GLO.ACT from 2015-2018, supporting project management and policy oversight across the 13 partner countries. A qualified lawyer with 15+ years of experience in international investigations/prosecutions, she has investigated sexual enslavement, forced labour and the use of child soldiers in DRC, Sudan and Uganda among other countries for the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (2004-2011), leading the collection of evidence in situations of conflict. At the ICC, she helped develop policy guidelines on interviewing vulnerable victims and witnesses including children. As legal adviser to the OSCE Special Representative on human trafficking (2011-2015), she designed and delivered capacity building to judges, prosecutors and law enforcement, as well as led research and policy development on TIP for organ removal and financial investigations. She is a member of the New York State Bar, a Certified Fraud Examiner, a graduate of Oxford University (Masters in Forced Migration Studies) and McGill University (Civil Law, Common Law, Anthropology). She recently published on TIP and situations of conflict, and on international criminal investigations, and is fluent in English, French and Spanish. |
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Ms. Eurídice Márquez is the GLO.ACT Officer in Charge overseeing the implementation of the project across the 13 partner countries. Eurídice is a Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Officer in the Human Trafficking and Migrant Smuggling Section, Organized Crime Branch at UNODC. She has over 10 years of progressive working experience at UNODC and IOM on the prevention and fight against trafficking in persons (TIP) and the smuggling of migrants (SOM). Eurídice is trained on human rights and crime prevention issues, gender equality and gender mainstreaming, results-based management, SAP/UMOJA, as well as programme monitoring, evaluation and learning. Eurídice conducts assessments and capacity building trainings, engages in policy development as well as in programme development, management, monitoring, evaluation and learning of the UNODC Global Programmes against Trafficking in Persons and the Smuggling of Migrants and liaises with different stakeholders and donors. Before joining UNODC, she worked for more than 6 years as a Regional Migrant Assistance Coordinator at the International Organization for Migration's Regional Offices in Brussels and Vienna, respectively, and supported IOM field offices and in turn the national governments in the development and implementation of their national strategies against TIP and SOM and the provision of direct assistance to victims of trafficking and migrants in vulnerable situations. She also worked at Spanish and Moroccan Human Rights NGOs. Eurídice studied Political Science in Spain and France and holds a Master's degree in Political Science specialising in European Union Affairs from the Université Libre de Bruxelles. Besides her mother tongue (Spanish), Eurídice is fluent in English, French and German. |
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Ms. Samantha Munodawafa is the Policy lead for GLO.ACT Asia and the Middle East. She has worked for 6 years at the UNODC Regional Office for Southern Africa, where she coordinated the regional human trafficking and migrant smuggling project implemented in the 15 member states of the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC), first as a National Project Coordinator, then later as a Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Officer. This included provision of technical assistance to member states to develop and update counter-trafficking legislation and policy, provision of capacity building assistance to the criminal justice sector, establishment of data collection systems and supporting regional intelligence-driven law enforcement operations. Before joining UNODC, she worked for various human rights organisations, most recently, Lawyers for Human Rights in South Africa as a Legal Counsellor, and then as Head of its Refugee Law Clinic. Samantha is an admitted attorney of the High Court in South Africa, who holds a Master's degree in Law (LL.M.) from the University of Pretoria. |
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Ms. Emmanuelle Kunigk is the GLO.ACT Communications Officer and has 10 years of communications experience in the not for profit sector as well as the private sector. Emmanuelle also worked for the UNODC as Regional Communications Officer in the Southeast Asia and the Pacific office. As the communications consultant, Emmanuelle plays an integral part in the way organisations communicate the impact of their work on their intended beneficiaries, as well as in helping to secure some major grants and awards. Prior to working as a consultant and for UNODC, Emmanuelle worked for the National Anti-Corruption Commission of Thailand. |
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Ms. Joana Daniel Wrabetz is the GLO.ACT Policy Lead. Joana has 14 years of experience dedicated to issues related to Trafficking in Persons. Joana was the former Director of the Observatory on THB, from the Ministry of Interior of Portugal, the National Focal Point for the European Commission Anti-Trafficking Portal, a Member of the European Commission Expert Group on THB, and Director of the Research and Documentation Unit of the NGO STOP Trafficking and Oppression of Children & Women, in New Delhi, India, which she continues to support on a pro bono, ad hoc basis. Joana has also worked as an International Consultant on issues related to TIP and SOM with various non-governmental and International organizations (UNODC, ICMPD, IOM), designing and delivering capacity building trainings, training of trainers, training manuals, country assessments, data collection and analyses. |
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Ms. Irina Abzalova is the GLO.ACT Associate Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Officer working on monitoring, evaluation and learning. She also supports the management, coordination and implementation of GLO.ACT. Prior to that, Irina worked as a consultant in the Human Trafficking and Migrant Smuggling Section, where she maintained the monitoring and data collection mechanism concerning anti-trafficking in persons and anti-smuggling of migrants activities and helped facilitate the UNODC wide implementation of this mechanism. She also carried out reporting tasks of HTMSS and supported the implementation of GLO.ACT. Before joining UNODC, Irina worked in the legal department in the private sector and undertook internships at International Organization for Migration and United Nations Industrial Development Organization. Irina holds a Master's degree in Law (LL.M.) from the University of Vienna and Master's degree in International Relations from Saint-Petersburg State University. She is fluent in English and Russian. |
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Mr. Ashenafi Gebreegziabher has been a Programme Assistant at UNODC Human Trafficking and Migrant Smuggling Section since December 2011. Previously, he worked as an IT trainer with the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa and the Information Technology Service section UNODC for ten years. He is the focal point for financial and administrative matters of the Human Trafficking and Migrant Smuggling Section at HQ and in the field. His tasks include preparing budget proposals, financial reports to donors, monitoring the financial status of the three global projects within the Human Trafficking and Migrant Smuggling Section and Regular Budget including assisting on the recruitment of staff. |
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Mr. Aleksander Piecyk is the GLO.ACT Project Support Officer. His role includes project management and implementation, monitoring, reporting, as well as training field staff on project tools and data collection. Alex worked in Bangkok in the UNODC Border Management programme where he helped develop a secure communication platform to collect and share information at border locations to combat transnational organized crime. He has led workshops across Southeast Asia, training national officers along with national representatives on using mobile technology for data collection and intelligence sharing. He briefed senior officers of the Thai Royal Police on the importance of implementing technology to improve border security. Alex has worked with UNODC experts to develop academic training modules on anti-narcotic policies, smuggling of migrants, trafficking in persons, wildlife and forest crimes and the training of border officers and investigators. |
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Mr. Ilir Boçi is the GLO.ACT Programme Assistant and he supports administrational human resources issues, travel arrangements and the organization of meetings and events. Before joining the Human Trafficking and Migrant Smuggling Section, Ilir was working as a consultant for the Office of Human Resources with the Staff Development Unit at the UN office in Vienna mainly providing support on statistical and financial issues and projects related to organizational culture, change management and improving service delivery. Ilir has a M.Sc. degree in Dentistry Sciences and is currently finishing his second Master's degree in Business Management. Before joining the UN, he worked as a Sales Manager for a pharmaceutical company in Albania. |
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UNODC Field Offices
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Ms. Elena Nyanenkova-Lowry holds an MSc in Business Economics from the University of Cork, Ireland and a degree with distinction in International Economic Relations from the Belarus National Economic University. Elena previously worked with the International Red Cross in Belarus and Thailand where she was responsible for programme management, planning, monitoring and reporting. In Thailand Elena was a focal point for the European Union-funded project aimed and protecting and promoting the rights of people on the move. Elena also worked as a project officer in various United Nation Agencies, including Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) and the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA). Most recently Elena worked with the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) as a project officer on mixed migration in the Middle East and North Africa region. Elena speaks fluent Belarussian, Russian and English, some French, and is studying German. |
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Ms. Fernanda Fuentes Munoz is the National Project Officer for GLO.ACT in Brazil. Prior to joining UNODC, Fernanda worked at the Institute for Applied Economic Research. She was engaged at the International Cooperation for Development Coordination participating in the research on the Socio-demographic Profile of Refugees in Brazil, as well as the ongoing survey of the Brazilian Cooperation for International Development. She is a sociologist with long-standing work and research experience in migration, gender studies, human rights and the development and analysis of public policies. |
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Mr. Gilberto Zuleta Ibarra is the National Project Officer in Colombia. Gilberto is a lawyer specializing in administrative law, with a diploma in international relations and a Masters in Human Rights and Democratization, specifically in criminal profiling of sexual crimes. Since 2014 he has been an advisor in criminal investigation and law enforcement against human trafficking and migrant smuggling at the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime in Colombia. He has also provided technical assistance to authorities in Colombia, Brazil, Peru, Bolivia and Jordan. Prior to his work with UNODC he worked for the promotion of human rights in the public sector, universities and international cooperation, with a special focus on gender, children and adolescents. |
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Mr. Faisal Hegazy is the National Project Officer for GLO.ACT in Egypt . He has been working at the UNODC Regional Office for the Middle East and North Africa in Cairo since 1998. He successfully implemented 14 projects and programmes in Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Tunis, the State of Palestine, Bahrain, Jordan and the UAE mainly in the thematic areas of organized crime, justice reform and drug trafficking. Faisal holds a master's degree in project and programme management from the Sadat Academy. Previously, he worked for 7 years at the National Social Fund for Development, which is a governmental organization supporting social and economic development. |
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Ms. Raushan Bolotalieva is the National Project Officer for GLO.ACT in the Kyrgyz Republic. She has worked more than a dozen years in various dimensions of security, justice and development. Starting from 2003 she was engaged in the sphere of economic and environmental affairs strengthening participatory approach to water resources management and good governance. After receiving a Master's degree in politics and security from the OSCE Academy in 2011, Raushan became directly involved into the issues related to the security and justice reform. In particular, she has worked in the OSCE mission in Kyrgyzstan promoting police reform, civilian and parliamentary oversight, community-based policing, gender mainstreaming and human rights. Afterwards, Raushan has advised a Member of the Kyrgyz Parliament in furthering parliamentary oversight of the police reform and co-founded Kyrgyz Association of Women in Security Sector. |
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Ms. Siliphaithoun Xayamoungkhoun is the National Project Officer for GLO.ACT in Lao PDR. She has been working in the social development field for almost 10 years, collaborating with the Lao Government and international development partners. She has worked on education, health, agriculture, small and medium enterprise development and anti-human trafficking issues with UNODC in Lao PDR. She has been granted a Fulbright research scholarship on human trafficking trends in northern Lao. This research will provide GLO.ACT with a deeper understanding of Lao migrant worker issues. |
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Mr. Moulaye Arby is the GLO.ACT National Project Officer for Mali. For the last 3 years, Moulaye worked within the Justice and Corrections (Rule of Law) Section of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Mission in Kidal, Mali. As a Judicial Affairs Officer, he facilitated the implementation of several projects. In particular, he helped implement a framework for cooperation between national magistrates and traditional judges to enhance collaboration and complementarity between formal and informal justice systems in Mali. Moulaye also contributed actively in projects for access to justice targeting vulnerable persons, particularly women and children, in the Gao and Kidal regions in partnership with civil society actors and international NGOs. |
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Ms. Sara Bentefrit t is the National Project Officer for GLO.ACT in Morocco. Sara holds a bachelor's degree in Political Science and International Relations, a master's degree in Engineering, both from Mohammed V University, a master's Degree in Human Rights and Public Freedoms, from Kadi Ayyad University, and a bachelor's degree in Mathematics and Computer Sciences, From Mohammed I university. Prior to joining UNODC, Sara was a Programme Associate at the American Bar Association, a Programme Assistant at Annakhil Center for Studies, Research and Mediation, a Consultant and Project Leader at the Agency for the Promotion and the Economic and Social Development of the Southern Region of the Kingdom of Morocco, and a Project Coordinator at the National Observatory for the Rights of the Child. |
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Ms. Binija Dhital Goperma is the National Project Officer for GLO.ACT in Nepal. Since 2008, she has been responsible for the overall management and delivery of UNODC's programme in Nepal. She has extensive experience in UN technical assistance programming, exhibits sound knowledge on programme management, gender responsive planning, planning and policy development, advocacy and awareness, as well as on issues related to drug use prevention, HIV/AIDS, migration and human trafficking. She has over twelve years of experience in working with diversified systems, sectors, organizations and clientele, ranging from the private sector, civil society, government, donors, international organizations, bilateral agencies and other UN organizations. |
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Mr. Maman Sadissou Laouali is the National Project Officer for GLO.ACT in Niger. He has been a magistrate since 2004 and is also a specialist in Public Administration and Finance. Laouali has held positions such as the president of a district court, investigative judge, deputy prosecutor and recently as Vice President and President of the High Court in Agadez and Zinder, respectively. Currently, Agadez and Zinder are the two main transit points for migrants from West and Central Africa. As an actor in the penal chain, he was at the forefront of the fight against the smuggling of migrants and related offences. |
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Ms. Shahida Gilani is the National Project Officer for GLO.ACT in Pakistan. She is a qualified lawyer and provides substantive and technical expertise for the implementation of activities. She also contributes to technical consultations with donors and other actors in relation to measures against trafficking in persons and/or smuggling of migrants. Shahida has been a development expert for 20 years of her professional career. She has worked in different capacities with the EU project "Civilian Capacity Building of Law Enforcement Agencies on Counter Terrorism, Interfaith League against Poverty, Ministry of Finance, Pakistan, FAO and a UNDP-funded project on agriculture extension. |
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Mr. Banele I. Kunene is the National Project Officer for GLO.ACT in South Africa. He is providing substantive and technical expertise in the implementation of GLO.ACT in South Africa. Banele is an economist who has experience in research, having been part of teams that have worked on fiscal analysis of Eastern Cape Province state-owned enterprises, provincial expenditures in Eastern Cape Province and the local economic development strategy for Tlokwe Municipality. Banele previously worked with Statistics South Africa, World Health Organization, NPN Economists, Alexander Forbes and United Nations Population Fund in South Africa. |
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IOM Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland
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Ms. Heather Komenda is a counter trafficking professional with 12 years of experience implementing counter trafficking projects in emergency, post-conflict, and development contexts. She joined IOM in 2004 and has worked in South East Asia, East Africa and the Horn, and the Middle East and North Africa. She has provided technical assistance and advisory services to governments in the development of counter trafficking legislation, national plans of action, and national referral mechanisms; capacity development services to national police departments, immigration services, government ministries, service providers, and civil society organizations; and has overseen provision of direct assistance services to hundreds of vulnerable migrants. In addition to her counter trafficking work, Heather has worked extensively on organizational development initiatives aimed at improving project and performance management. |
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Ms. Victoria Klimova is a counter-trafficking protection and reintegration specialist with 10+ competence in case management. She is experienced in project management, institutional capacity development, strengthening National Referral Mechanism, designing and implementation of awareness raising campaigns, monitoring and evaluation of NGO project partners contracted for prevention and reintegration activities. Victoria has coordinated a wide range of counter-trafficking and migrant protection activities and projects, including development of SOPs in identification, referral and protection of victims of trafficking among irregular migrants, coordination of the daily operation of the IOM Rehabilitation Centre for victims of trafficking, and development and facilitation of capacity building activities and trainings. |
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Ms. Zoe Rohde is a Senior Program Assistant working for the International Organization for Migration (IOM), South Africa. She is responsible for managing the Cape Town sub-office and the implementation of all provincial projects including GLO.ACT activities and specifically support to services offering provision of services to vulnerable migrants. Over the last ten years, her work with the IOM has focused on counter human trafficking and victim assistance, assisted voluntary return and reintegration, protection of unaccompanied and separated migrant children (USMC), the facilitation of resettlement, capacity building and social cohesion. Prior to working in South Africa, she worked in Scotland with the Scottish Refugee Council as well as other NGOs offering support and protection to asylum seekers and refugees. She has a background in post-war recovery and human rights law. |
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Ms. Érica Kaefer is IOM's GLO.ACT focal point in Brazil. She holds a MA in Human Rights and Humanitarian Action with a specialization in migration. She joined IOM in 2017 to work on CT and on assisted voluntary return and reintegration activities. Previously, she worked on protection and assistance to vulnerable migrants such as asylum seekers, refugees and children victims of human trafficking. She has working experiences in Africa, Brazil and France. |
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UNICEF Headquarters in New York, U.S.A
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Mr. Kerry L Neal has worked in the post of Senior Child Protection Specialist, Justice for Children, in UNICEF Headquarters since 2012. Previously, he held staff positions in UNICEF field offices in FYR Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Georgia. Kerry is a lawyer by training and has spent many years working in the fields of justice for children, migration and trafficking. His career prior to UNICEF included work with NGOs, IGOs and government in locations as diverse as Haiti, Iran, Burundi and Kazakhstan. |
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Ms. Noela Barasa is a Child Protection Specialist focusing on migration at UNICEF Headquarters in New York, where she provides technical support in the development of protection-focused programming and strategies for migrant and refugee children. A trained lawyer, Noela has over 10 years of professional experience promoting access to justice and protection for victims of crime. She has worked extensively with governments in the East and Horn of Africa Region to enhance legislative and victim protection responses to transnational organized crime, including trafficking in persons and the smuggling of migrants. Noela is a dedicated advocate for migrants in mixed movements, particularly women and children. |
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Ms. Katharina Thon is a Child Protection Officer in the Social Welfare and Justice Team at UNICEF HQ New York, where she supports the team in all matters related to children on the move. She joined the UN as Junior Project Officer in 2015 and spent her first year in Department of Peacekeeping Operations, working on children and armed conflict, in particular on the development and roll out of training for the military and police component of peacekeeping missions. Prior to her assignment at the UN Katharina worked for SOS Children's Villages Austria, Child Welfare South Africa, the Special Representative of the Secretary -General on Violence against Children and the German Children Fund. In addition to her child protection work, Katharina has served as an officer in the German Armed Forces for more than six years where she was responsible for designing, carrying out and supervising the pre-deployment training for conflict prevention and crisis management as well as civil military cooperation. |
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Former Staff
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Ms. Margaret Akullo is the former Project Coordinator for GLO.ACT. For over two and half years, she successfully designed the project delivery framework and provided oversight and strategic guidance for project implementation in 13 countries. Margaret is currently the Programme Officer (Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice) in the Office of the Chief of Section of the Implementation Support Section, Organized Crime and Illicit Trafficking Branch. In her new role, Margaret provides programming advice in line with a number of key organisational priorities and acts as Officer-in-Charge of the Section as required. Margaret is a Criminologist with a long standing career of 27 years, having worked in different managerial capacities on national, regional and global programs addressing criminal issues related to drug trafficking, murder enquiries, human trafficking and crimes against children. Margaret previously worked with the London Metropolitan Police Service, UK Shelter Homeless Charity, the UK Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre, UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre, UNODC offices in Uzbekistan, Albania, Thailand and recently in Austria with the Human Trafficking and Migrant Smuggling Section. |
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Ms. Snow White Smelser is the former GLO.ACT Project Officer. She has 10 years of field experience with UNODC and the Royal Thai Police on responding to transnational child sexual exploitation, human trafficking and migrant smuggling. Since 2010, she served as the deputy to the Regional Coordinators for Border Management and for Combatting Child Sex Offending, delivering activities in Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand and Viet Nam. She has coordinated training events, promoted international standards in parliamentary law drafting committees and organized a child protection study tour for criminal justice officials on multidisciplinary responses to child sexual abuse from discovery to recovery. |
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Mr. Carlos Andres Perez is the former National Project officer for GLO.ACT in Colombia. Previously, he was Coordinator of the Project against Human Trafficking and Smuggling of Migrants in UNODC in Colombia. Before UNODC, he was an adviser on human rights at the Colombian Ministry of Foreign Affair. Carlos is a lawyer, having graduated from the Universidad Autónoma UNAB Specialist in Criminal Law and Master in International Law of Human Rights from the University for Peace UPEACE in Costa Rica, Diploma in International Human Rights Protection Systems from American University WCL and the IACHR, with studies on gender and transitional justice. |
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Mr. Younes Benmoumen is a former National Project Officer for GLO.ACT in Morocco. Before that, he was a development consultant in Libya and Morocco and Project Manager at UN Women in Rabat working in the field of access of women to justice, violence against women and human trafficking. At UNODC, Younes implemented and coordinated GLO.ACT activities with the support of UNODC's team in Morocco. Younes holds a bachelor's degree in development economics from Paris-Dauphine University and a master's degree in international relations and public policy from Sciences Po Paris. He is currently pursuing a second master's degree at Colombia University. |
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Mr. Aleksandar Stajić was an administrative assistant for GLO.ACT who previously worked as a project manager of regional EU-funded project in South East Europe and Middle East North Africa for UNODC. He was also a law enforcement expert in the Serbia office. Prior to that, Aleksandar worked on smuggling of migrants cases as part of law enforcement cooperation in the British Embassy in Serbia. Aleksandar was also an English-Serbian interpreter for a number of years and freelance music journalist for all major media in Serbia. In UNODC Vienna, Aleksandar worked on administrative issues in Anti-Corruption and Research and now with GLO.ACT in the Human Trafficking and Migrant Smuggling Section. |
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Ms. Madina Sarieva was the National Project Officer for GLO.ACT in the Kyrgyz Republic. She has over 10 years of professional experience with the UN in the field of poverty reduction and gender mainstreaming, law enforcement and criminal justice. She has extensive work experience with UNODC, having worked on projects on combating illicit drug trafficking, anti-money laundering, anti-corruption, crime prevention, prison reform, countering trafficking in persons and migrants smuggling. She provided substantive and administrative support for the implementation of GLO.ACT activities in Kyrgyz Republic, as well as implementation of activities related to trafficking in persons in three Central Asia countries. She has now moved on to work at the regional office in Astana, Kazakhstan. |
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Ms. Olga Ilchenko was the administrative assistant of the Regional Programme Office of UNODC in Eastern Europe, covering Ukraine . Olga provided full support to the UNODC Global HIV programme and GLO.ACT. Before joining UNODC, Olga was an assistant in several international companies. She has experience in accounting and logistics. Olga is an economist with a specialization in management. |
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