Yuri Afanasiev: Resident Representative

Mr. Yuri Afanasiev is UNDP’s Resident Representative in Sudan, having spent his 32-year development and crisis-response career addressing critical needs around the world. He began his assignment in Sudan on October 1^st 2020.

Prior to his current position Mr. Afanasiev served as the UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in India, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Croatia. Earlier, he served in UNDP’s New York Headquarters as Senior Advisor at the Regional Bureau for Europe and the CIS covering 24 countries in the region including Central Asia. Mr. Afanasiev has led large-scale crisis response efforts as UNDP Coordinator for the Response to the Asian Tsunami in 2004-5, Somalia in 2012 and as the Typhoon Yolanda Response Coordinator in the Philippines in 2013 – and coordinated the UN response to the 2014 Balkan floods, and 2018 Kerala floods in India.

Mr. Afanasiev has also served as Deputy Resident Representative at UNDP in Bosnia and Herzegovina after the conflict and Deputy Director at Inter Agency Procurement Services Office. Additionally, across a range of UN entities and development organisations, Mr. Afanasiev has undertaken roles in the United States, Ecuador, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Cuba, and holds an MA in International Economics and Finance from the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO).

UNDP Sudan Senior Management

Thair Shraideh: Deputy Resident Representative (Operations)

Thair Shraideh is UNDP Sudan’s Deputy Resident Representative (Operations).

He leads the Operations Team encompassing procurement, finance, human resources, logistics, facilities management and security, towards smooth and safe operation of UNDP programming in Sudan.

Prior to Sudan, Thair served with ILO on secondment for two years as Coordinator and Chief Technical Advisor to the ILO’s Programme of Support to the Syrian Crisis in Jordan.

Thair joined UNDP in 2009 and served Iraq for 9 years in several roles as Programme Manager, Head of Basra Office and Deputy Country Director a.i. for Operations. He also served a detail assignment as Resident Advisor for Coordination and Early Recovery in Gaziantep, Turkey for supporting the Syrian crisis

Prior to UNDP, Thair has long diversified experience in programme management, grants management, compliance, and operations working with international NGOs, UN agencies and the Public Diplomacy Section of U.S Embassy in Amman, Jordan. Through his career, he served national and regional programmes covering 10 Arab countries.

Thair has a BA in Economics and Accounting, and an MBA in Management from the New York Institute of Technology (NYIT).