UNHQ Leadership
Ms. Rita Gunaryati Lubis
Deputy Director and Officer-in-Charge
Ms. Lubis joined UNMAS in December 2022. She has extensive experience in Financial Management and Policy, having started as an Associate Budget Officer in the United Nations Office at Nairobi in 2001. Since then she has worked in the Finance Division of the Office of Programme Planning, Finance and Budget (OPPFB) in the Department of Management Strategy, Policy and Compliance (DMSPC) holding various positions, including as the UN International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) Implementation Project Team Lead responsible for the implementation of IPSAS, as the Chief of Central Accounts Section responsible for the preparation of the UN financial statements, and most recently as the Chief of Financial Policy Section. She also briefly served as the Executive Officer of the (then) Department of Political Affairs. Prior to joining the UN, she worked as an Auditor in PriceWaterhouseCoopers in Jakarta, Indonesia.
Ms. Lubis is a Chartered Accountant and has a Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting from the University of Indonesia, Post Graduate Diploma in Financial Management from the University of London and Master of Science from the Zicklin School of Business, Baruch College, CUNY.
Mr. Takuto Kubo
Chief of the Programme Management and Support Section
Mr. Takuto Kubo is appointed as Chief of the Programme Management and Support Section (PMSS) in April 2022. Prior to returning to UNMAS in June 2021 as Team Lead in PMSS, he was Senior External Relations and Projects Officer at the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) HQ in Jerusalem for two years. Before joining UNRWA, he was Planning Officer at PPMS/UNMAS in New York. He worked for UNMAS in Sudan as Senior Programme Officer, and in Afghanistan as External Relations Officer. He also worked for the UN Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) as Assistant Civil Affairs Officer, and for a Japanese NGO in Tokyo and covered several confidence building projects in Cambodia, Sri Lanka and Palestine. He holds a BA in Social Sciences from Waseda University, Japan, and a MA in Conflict Resolutions from the University of Bradford, UK.
Mr. Richard Boulter
Chief, Design, Operational Support and Oversight
Mr. Richard Boulter was appointed Chief of Design, Operational Support and Oversight in October 2021. Under Mr. Boulter's leadership the section focuses on the design of new programmes and the validation of existing structures. The UNMAS Threat Mitigation Advisory Section, which is the UN Secretariats' principal Counter-IED advisory resource, also reports to Mr. Boulter, who Chairs the UN's Whole of System Counter-IED Task Force. For ten years he was an active member of the IMAS Review Board and now advises the Chair of the IMAS Steering Group.
Mr. Boulter has almost 30 years management experience in the mine action sector, including 20 years of field experience. Before joining the headquarters, he spent four and a half years managing the UNMAS programme in South Sudan and a further four years as the UNMAS Global Weapons and Ammunition Management Advisor. Prior to joining UNMAS he spent more than 20 years managing mine clearance and Weapons and Ammunition Management programmes for The HALO Trust. He has implemented programme activities in sixteen countries and consulted in a further ten. Mr. Boulter holds a bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering and a Master's in Business Administration.
Mr. James Staples
Chief, Policy, Advocacy, Donor Relations and Outreach
James Staples joined the UNMAS in January 2025. Prior to taking up his position as Chief, Policy, Advocacy, Donor Relations and Outreach, Mr. Staples was a diplomat at the UK Mission to the United Nations in New York and in the conflict department of the British Foreign Office. Mr. Staples previously served in the United Nations with the World Food Programme, Department for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs and Department of Operational Support. He has also served in the field in Missions in West Africa, the Middle East and Latin America. Mr. Staples has previous experience working for humanitarian NGOs in disaster response and with the military. He holds a BA (Hons) in Politics with Economics and a MA in War Studies.
Ms. Maria Vardis
Donor Relations
Ms. Maria Vardis is Officer-in-Charge for the Policy, Advocacy, Donor Relations and Outreach Section of UNMAS. Her UN experience spans over 20 years since joining the UN mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Maria has spent over 15 years on disarmament, small arms, and mine action-related issues supporting the development of international standards, mobilizing resources for critical funding needs and emergency responses, coordinating UN system-wide strategies, and facilitating inter-governmental negotiations in the General Assembly and the UN Security Council. While covering mine action and small arms issues with UNMAS and UNDP, she has undertaken technical assessment missions to Albania, CAR, Jordan, Lebanon, Mali, Somalia, Sudan and South Sudan and supported the Independent Strategic Review requested by the Security Council on peacekeeping responses to IEDs. Maria holds a Bachelor's degree from Columbia University and a Masters in Law and Diplomacy from the Fletcher School.
Ms. Sonia Mrabet
Chief, Budget Financial Management & Reporting Section
Ms. Sonia Mrabet, was appointed as UNMAS Chief Budget and Finance Section in March 2014. With twenty five years of experience in progressively responsible management positions in international organizations and the private sector, Ms. Mrabet oversees the Financial and Budget matters of UNMAS, she has a rich international experience in Programme planning, budgeting and financial management and was instrumental in various UNMAS improvements and change initiatives while ensuring compliance with UN Financial Rules and regulations as well complex donor requirements.
Her professional financial and budget experience also includes strategic planning, programming and budgeting and strong Leadership and people management skills, including ability to motivate diverse groups in multicultural environments. The UNMAS Budget and Finance Section’s primary objective is to provide budgetary and financial services to staff, partners, vendors, suppliers, auditors and other clients.
Prior to joining UNMAS, Ms. Mrabet has served in various positions: UNDRR in Geneva/Switzerland, UNMIK in Prishtina/Kosovo and in ICMPD Vienna/Austria. A national of Tunisia, Ms. Mrabet holds a Master of Business Administration degree in finance and business administration from Webster University in Vienna Austria and a Maitrise d’Hautes Etudes Commerciales from IHEC Carthage Tunisia. Ms. Mrabet is fluent in Arabic, French, English and German and she has a working knowledge of Spanish and Italian.
UN Geneva Leadership
Ms. Christelle Loupforest
UNMAS Representative in Geneva
Ms. Christelle Loupforest is the Officer-in-Charge of the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) Office in Geneva. In her 25 years of service with the United Nations, she served in the Department of Peace Operations, in the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and in the UN/OAS Human Rights Mission in Haiti. She holds a Master’s in Political Science and speaks English, French, and Spanish.
Chiefs, Mine Action Programmes
Abyei
Mr. Nico Bosman serves as the Chief of the Mine Action Programme within the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA). He is responsible for the strategic direction, coordination, and oversight of mine action activities in the Abyei Area, ensuring the safe delivery of explosive hazard mitigation in support of mandate implementation and mission-wide freedom of movement.
With 29 years of experience in humanitarian mine action, Mr. Bosman has extensive expertise in programme and project management, operational planning, risk and quality management, and the implementation of IMAS-compliant mine action operations. He has worked across multiple high-risk and post-conflict environments, supporting stabilization and peacekeeping efforts.
Mr. Bosman holds academic and professional qualifications in programme and project management and is certified at the EOD/IEDD Level 3+.
Afghanistan
Mr. Nick Pond is Chief of the Mine Action Programme in Afghanistan. Previously he was the Senior Advisor to the Programme Manager of The HALO Trust in Afghanistan, and he was the Senior Military Advisor for United Nations mission UNAMA from April 2021 to April 2022. He has worked regularly in Afghanistan since 2005 and has always strived to improve the lives of those that are suffering. Prior to working with HALO, Mr. Pond served in the British Army for 36 years, leading teams in highly volatile environments, working to maintain, preserve, build, and sustain peace. His deployments included Cyprus, Northern Ireland, Bosnia, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria. He holds a master’s degree in military studies from Cranfield University, and a postgraduate certificate in security and strategy for global leaders from King's College London.
Central African Republic
Under Recruitment
Colombia
Mr. Antonio S. Armentano is the Chief Mine Action Programme in Colombia. He has 15 years’ experience in leading and managing complex humanitarian programmes of international non-governmental organizations in a variety of challenging contexts including, but not limited to, Eastern and Southern Africa, Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Latin America. He has more than seven years of experience in humanitarian mine action; physical security and stockpile management; and weapons and ammunition management. He was worked as the Country Director for The Mines Advisory Group – MAG, where he provided critical leadership in establishing and overseeing business operations in a number of countries in Latin America and the Caribbean Region. Mr. Armentano holds a Master’s Degree in International Relations and recently passed two courses at Harvard Business School focused on business administration and entrepreneurship.
Cyprus
Mr. Mark Connelly is Chief of the Mine Action Programme in Cyprus supporting the UN peacekeeping operation UNFICYP. During his 15 years of service within UNMAS, Mr. Connelly has served in Abyei, Afghanistan, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, and Uganda. He has held several positions including Chief of Quality Assurance, Project Manager, Programme Manager and Chief of Operations.
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Mr. Jean-Denis Larsen is Chief of the Mine Action Programme in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Mr. Larsen holds a MSc Economics (specializing in international business and development studies) from Copenhagen Business School and a B Engineering (specializing in telecommunications) from the Technical University of Denmark. He was most recently employed at the MONUSCO Arms Embargo Cell (AEC) tasked with collection, analysis and dissemination of data on the flow of illegal weapons and ammunition within and around the DRC. He has experience as consultant and manager with commercial enterprises, development agencies and diplomatic missions predominately working in Central and Western Africa. Before joining the UN, Jean-Denis worked for eight years as the Country Director of mine action organizations in Mali and DRC.
Ethiopia
Mr. Rob Syfret is the Chief of the Mine Action Programme in Ethiopia. Rob, who is from the United Kingdom, took up his role in December 2025. This is his first United Nations deployment. Rob worked for the Humanitarian Mine Action sector in The HALO Trust for ten years where he covered Sri Lanka, Syria, Libya, Nagorno Karabakh and Angola, and he was a regional manager overseeing demining programmes in Angola, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, Somalia and Somaliland. Rob studied history at Glasgow University and served for seven years in the British Army.
Iraq
Mr. Pehr Lodhammar is Chief of the Mine Action Programme in Iraq, managing all international and national staff in the program, in addition to donor relations and resource mobilization. As a key advocate for the mine action sector in Iraq, he is often involved with coordination with the highest levels of the Iraqi government, and represents UNMAS at international venues and conferences. Mr. Lodhammar holds a Master’s Degree in International Cooperation and Humanitarian Aid, and has more than 30 years of military and humanitarian mine action experience.
Lebanon
Mr. Doran Bahadur Sunuwar
Mr. Doran Bahadur Sunuwar is the Chief of the Mine Action Programme in Lebanon, supporting the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). He brings 18 years of experience in mine action across peacekeeping, political, humanitarian, and development settings, including roles with UNMAS Somalia (2019-2025), UNMAS Gaza (2015-2019), and the Danish Demining Group (2012-2015) in South Sudan. A former Nepal Army EOD and Combat Engineer Officer (2005-2012), he had contributed significantly to the joint UNMAS–Nepal Army humanitarian demining initiative, supporting Nepal’s achievement of Mine Free status. He is a PRINCE2 Practitioner and holds a Master’s degree in Political Science from Tribhuvan University, Nepal.
Libya
Ms. Fatma Zourrig
Ms. Fatma Zourrig is Chief of the Mine Action Programme in UNSMIL, Libya. Ms. Zourrig has over eight years of experience with MINUSMA (Mali), UNAMA (Afghanistan) and UNMHA (Yemen). She has held various positions with the UN including Senior Coordinator Officer of the G5 Sahel Interim Support Programme, Special Assistant to the SRSG, Coordination Officer and Political Affairs Officer. Prior to joining the UN, Fatma served as Special Assistant to the Secretary-General of the Arab Information and Communication Technologies Organization in the League of Arab States. Ms. Zourrig is of Tunisian nationality and holds a Master’s degree in Journalism.
Nigeria
Mr. Edwin Faigmane is the Chief of the Mine Action Programme, representing UNMAS in Nigeria. He joined UNMAS in 2011 as the Senior Programme Officer in Afghanistan and has deployed to various peacekeeping missions. Before Nigeria, he was the Head of Project Unit in the UNMAS programme in MINURSO, the Territory of Western Sahara, where he also acted as the CMAP for almost half a year. Edwin joined mine action in 2005 with UNDP in Lao PDR as a programme advisor and was more recently, as the Chief Technical Adviser of the UNDP mine action programme in Cambodia. Edwin has assisted the Royal Thai Government and the Royal Cambodian Government in developing their respective national mine action strategies as well as Cambodia's extension request under Article 5 of the AP Mine Ban Convention. For the services he rendered to Cambodia, he was awarded the Royal Order of Sahametrei by the Cambodian Prime Minister. He holds a master’s degree in Business Administration.
Occupied Palestinian Territory
Mr. Julius Van Der Walt is Chief of the Mine Action Programme in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, effective November 2025. He joins the role from UNMAS Headquarters in New York, where he served in the Design, Operational Support and Oversight (DOSO) section, providing strategic and technical support to several UNMAS programmes, following his tenure as Head of Project Unit for the UNMAS Syria and Sudan programmes. His career spans humanitarian, development, and security sectors, with a proven track record in crisis response, stakeholder engagement, and capacity development. He brings over 20 years of relevant experience across UN missions, NGOs, and commercial operations, having begun his career in 2004 and contributed to mine action programmes in diverse contexts including the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO), Eritrea/Ethiopia (UNMEE), Turkey (EBMCP), Iraq, Yemen, South Sudan (UNMISS), Syria, and Sudan. Julius brings more than 12 years of hands-on programme and project management experience, covering strategic planning, budgeting, logistics, and inter-agency coordination. He holds an MBA, a Postgraduate Diploma in Business Management, and a Bachelor of Commerce in Financial Management.
Somalia
Mr. Fran O’Grady is Chief of the Mine Action Programme in Somalia beginning February 2025. With more than two decades of cross-role mine action experience, Fran has led large teams and implemented complex initiatives in military, emergency response, humanitarian, and development settings. Since first working with UNMAS in Eritrea as an Operations Officer in 2002, Fran has had mine action deployments to South Sudan, DR Congo, Syria Response, Iraq, Mali, Somalia and Ethiopia. He also served as a Platoon Commander in Liberia, NATO Analyst in Kosovo, and Military Staff Officer in Chad, as well as Senior Programme Manager Rule of Law Reform in Ukraine. Most recently, in establishing the UNMAS Standing Capacity, he provided strategic and technical support to several UNMAS programmes. He holds a Master’s Degree from Trinity College Dublin, and is a Chartered Professional Engineer and professional mentor.
South Sudan
Zehrudin (Zed) Sukanovic is a Chief of the Mine Action Programme in South Sudan, leveraging over 28 years of humanitarian mine action experience since 1996. He has dedicated more than 17 of those years to UNMAS, undertaking various technical and managerial roles in Darfur, South Sudan, Lebanon, and the DRC, and supported UNMAS in Palestine and Ethiopia in a Standing Capacity role before returning to South Sudan. His background encompasses military, governmental, NGO, and UN sectors, coordinating complex mine action projects and programmes that facilitate emergency responses and enhance national capacities. He holds a Master’s in Project Management from the University of Liverpool.
Sudan
Mr. Mohammad Sediq Rashid is Chief of the Mine Action Programme in Sudan. Mr. Rashid joined the mine action sector in 1989 and progressively gained experience through various roles with the United Nations in Afghanistan, Somalia, and Sudan. He has worked with UNMAS since 2002. He joined the UNCT in Sudan as an UNMAS Programme Manager in July 2019. Sediq came to Sudan with over 30 years of relevant experience. He is specialized in managing mine action programmes, strategic planning and capacity development of national mine action institutions. He holds a master’s degree from Cranfield university.
Syria
Mr. Joseph McCartan is Chief of the Mine Action Programme in Syria. He has worked with UN FAO as its Regional Security Advisor for Asia and Pacific, with OCHA as a Civil-Military Coordination Officer and spent 5 years with OPCW Mission in Syria as the Programme Manager. He has also worked with the Office of the High Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina as an Exhumations Officer, been deployed by the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office to the Joint Military Commission and the International Military Advisory Team in Sudan before joining the UN Mine Action Service in Sudan in 2006. He deployed to Iraq as UNOPS Deputy Director before returning to UNMAS to establish the programme with the UN Interim Security Force, Abyei. Mr. McCartan is an ex-British Army Officer and holds a BA (War) from King’s College, London and an MA (Security, Violence and Terrorism) from Queen’s University, Belfast.
Ukraine
Mr. Paul Heslop is the Senior Mine Action Advisor to the Resident Coordinator and United Nations Country Team in Ukraine. Mr. Heslop was the UNMAS Chief of Programme and Planning and was previously seconded to UNDP in Ukraine and is now in the RC office. He has 30 years of experience in Mine Action. He began his demining career in 1994 working for “The HALO Trust” in seven mine affected countries at all levels in mine action from deminer to programme manager. He joined the UN in 2004 in Sudan as the Chief of Staff/Deputy Director of the UNMAS/UNMIS programme before moving to UN HQ in New York in 2006. He was involved in developing and supporting UN mine action programmes in over 25 countries between 2006 and 2020 as Chief of Operations in UNMAS HQ NY, including 15 rapid emergency deployments via the UNMAS rapid response and technical support team.
Western Sahara
Mr. El hadji Mamadou Kebe is Chief of the Mine Action Programme in the Territory of Western Sahara. Mr. Kebe holds a Master’s degree in social sciences and development studies. He has more than 12 years’ experience working in mine action, international humanitarian law (IHL) and project development. He has experience working in Senegal, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, in Territory of Western Sahara, in Iraq and in the Central African Republic.
Yemen
Mr. Leon Louw is Chief of the Mine Action Programme in Yemen. During his 12 years with UNMAS, he has served in Sudan (including Darfur), Lebanon, and Western Sahara, eight years as UNMAS programme manager in Lebanon, Abyei, and the Territory of Western Sahara. Before joining the United Nations, Leon worked on mine action in Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.