The UN Resident Coordinator Office
As the designated representative of the UN Secretary-General in Egypt, the UN Resident Coordinator guides the UN’s engagement in development activities in the country.
The UN Resident Coordinator’s responsibilities include ensuring the coordination of the UN’s development activities, creating a platform of coordinated delivery, promoting the enhancement of national capacities and ensuring effective advocacy of UN values, standards, principles and activities on behalf of the UN with the highest level of Government.
The Resident Coordinator’s Office supports the UN country team in:
- Strengthening the coordination of development activities within the UN and between the UN and development partners;
- Furthering coherence within the UN through joint strategic planning and programming of development activities;
- Supporting the harmonisation and simplification of business practices and administrative procedures;
- Strengthening joint communications, advocacy and reporting on the collective development work of the UN in Egypt;
- Engaging in the identification of innovative and sustainable resources of funding.
The UN Resident Coordinator in Egypt
Ms. Elena Panova took up the position of UN Resident Coordinator in Egypt in 11 January 2021. She has more than 22 years of development and management experience, including all aspects of programme management, cross-areas collaboration and resource mobilization, with specific experience in government and private sector financing.
At the United Nations, she most recently served as Resident Coordinator in Turkmenistan, having held several leadership positions at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), including Senior Programme Coordinator overseeing the coordination of all regional UNDP and inter-agency programmes at the UNDP Regional Hub in Istanbul.
She also served as UNDP Deputy Country Director in Ukraine, supported the establishment of a private sector Global Compact network, managed a flagship employment creation and microfinancing project at UNDP Bulgaria, and worked as a Private Sector Engagement Specialist at UNDP Headquarters in New York.
Before joining the United Nations in 1999, Ms. Panova was the Executive Director of a local non-governmental organization, delivering business support services to micro-, small and women entrepreneurs in Bulgaria.
She holds a master’s degree in international law and foreign trade from the University for National and World Economy and a master’s degree in microelectronics from the Technical Chemical University, both in Bulgaria.
