Our Team

Introduction

Our dynamic and multicultural team of professionals comprises competent and motivated persons with a strong belief in the purpose of UNDP and its mandate. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Guinea-Bissau is a proud equal opportunity employer, committed to promoting diversity and inclusion. UNDP gives equal consideration for employment to all qualified individuals and believes deeply in diversity of race, colour, religion, gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, disability and all the other fascinating characteristics that make us different.

Management

Resident Representative of UNDP Guinea-Bissau

Ms. Alessandra Casazza (Italy) is the UNDP Resident Representative in the Republic of Guinea-Bissau.
Manager, Resilience Hub took up her appointment on 15 April 2020. She has over 20 years of experience working with UNDP at country, regional and global level and with the private sector, both in New Zealand and in her home country (Italy).
Alessandra has been serving at the UNDP Regional Service Center for Africa in Addis Ababa as Team Leader (OiC) of the Inclusive Growth team since May 2019, and as Regional Programme Advisor on Inclusive Growth and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), since December 2014. Prior to moving to the Africa region, Alessandra served as Policy Advisor for the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and Inclusive Growth at the UNDP Asia-Pacific Regional Center in Bangkok (2012–2014), and as Policy Specialist on Capacity Development at the UNDP Bureau for Development Policy (BDP), in New York (2008- 2012).
Alessandra also served at the country level; in August 2006, she joined UNDP Sri Lanka as Programme Manager and worked very closely with the Ministry of Finance on development planning and the MDGs agenda. She joined UNDP Timor-Leste in 2000 as Programme Officer (JPO), to work on poverty reduction and community development; in Timor-Leste Alessandra worked on a large programme on the demobilization and reintegration of ex-combatants, the return of refugees from West-Timor, infrastructure rehabilitation and rural development.
Prior to joining UNDP, Alessandra worked for KPMG Italy as Auditor and Advisor on Corporate Social Responsibility and Business Ethics, where she focused on mainstreaming sustainability into business practices in the extractive industry sector. She began her professional career in New Zealand, working as Auditor at Audit New Zealand, auditing public sector entities on behalf of New Zealand’s Auditor-General.
Alessandra has an MSc in development economics from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in London, UK, and a laurea magistrale (MSc) in economics and business administration from the University of Perugia, Italy.

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Deputy Resident Representative, Programme

Mr. Carlos Dinis, our new Deputy Resident Representative Programme (DRRP). Carlos brings a wealth of experience to this role, having served as the Strategic Planner and Team Leader at the UN Resident Coordination Office in Mozambique for the past 4.5 years. Prior to that, he held similar positions at the UN Resident Coordination Offices in Haiti and Guinea-Bissau. Notably, this marks a return to familiar grounds for Carlos, as he previously led the RCO in Bissau from 2010 to 2014.

Carlos’ career began with UNDP in Timor-Leste, where he managed governance portfolios and played a key role in public administration reforms, justice initiatives, and civil society projects. He has also worked extensively on democratic governance policies across the Caribbean and has significant experience in humanitarian and peacekeeping operations.
Carlos holds a master’s degree in development and international Cooperation. He is fluent in Portuguese, English, and French.

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Deputy Resident Representative, Operations

Ms Dancilla Mukarubayiza is the Deputy Resident Representative of UNDP responsible for Operations in Guinea-Bissau.
She has over 30 years of experience gained with UNDP both at national and international levels. She started in her home country Rwanda as National staff, working as Assistant Programme Officer responsible for Youth and Employment programme. She was first appointed as DRRO in Guinea Bissau In 2003, then to Zambia, South Africa, Tanzania, and Central African Republic where she was serving before coming back to Guinea Bissau. She began her international career in Mali as Head of UNDP Programme Support Unit in 1997. Ms. Dancilla Mukarubayiza brings to the team a wealth of experience in operations management and support to UN agencies coordination initiatives among other skills. She holds an MBA from the “Université du Quebec a Montreal”.

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