UN Geneva Leadership
Kira Kruglikova (D-2)
Nationality: United States of America
Director, Division of Administration of the United Nations Office at Geneva
Ms. Kira Kruglikova, a national of the United States, is the Director of the Division of Administration. She serves as UNOG’s Focal Point for Disability Inclusion. She has worked for the United Nations since 2007. Her previous positions include Director of the Division of Conference Management, Chief of the Production and Support Service, Executive Officer and Administrative Officer.
Before joining the United Nations, she was a Foreign Service Officer with the U.S. Department of State. Ms. Kruglikova served in Tallinn, Geneva, St. Petersburg, New Delhi, Frankfurt and Stuttgart, as well as in Washington, D.C. Prior to her diplomatic service, she worked in manufacturing for a major pharmaceutical company in various locations in the United States.
Ms. Kruglikova holds a degree in chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley, and two Master’s degrees (inorganic chemistry and business administration) from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.
Born in 1964, Ms. Kruglikova is married and has two children. A native English speaker, she also speaks French, Russian and German.
Rima Al-Chikh (D-2)
Nationality: Syria
Director, Division of Conference Management, Geneva
Ms. Rima Al-Chikh, a national of the Syrian Arab Republic, is the Director of the Division of Conference Management and UNOG Focal Point for Multilingualism.
Ms. Al-Chikh has worked in the UN system for 20 years and has served as Chief of the Arabic Translation Service in the Documentation Division at UNHQ in New York. She was Chief of the Arabic Translation Section in Geneva and held various other positions in New York, Nairobi and in the field (Sudan). Prior to joining the UN Secretariat in 2004, she worked at the Food and Agriculture Organization in Rome, Italy and as a free-lance technical and conference translator in Paris, France.
Ms. Al-Chikh holds a BA in French from Damascus University, and a Master's degree in translation from the Ecole Supérieure d’Interprètes et de Traducteurs (ESIT), Paris III-Sorbonne Nouvelle. She is fluent in Arabic, English and French.
David John McCuaig (D-2)
Nationality: Canada
Project Director, Strategic Heritage Plan
Mr. David John McCuaig leads the Strategic Heritage Plan for the United Nations in Geneva.
Previously, Mr. McCuaig was Director of Operations at Canada’s National Arts Centre (NAC) and Project Director for the NAC Architectural Rejuvenation. Prior to joining the NAC in 2011, Mr. McCuaig was Regional Director for Defence Construction Canada for 10 years. In that capacity, he led a team of over 200 professionals providing infrastructure-related services to the Canadian Forces and the Department of National Defence. He oversaw a $60M annual construction program in the National Capital Region, the Canadian Arctic, and overseas. He proudly supported deployed Canadian Forces with construction engineering, procurement, and logistical support in Bosnia, Afghanistan, and other locations around the world.
As Project Manager from 1990 to 2001, Mr. McCuaig managed capital projects and improvements to a wide range of building types, facilities, and properties. He began his career in 1985 as an architectural designer and part-owner of a construction company, operating mostly in the United States. Mr. McCuaig has been active in academia as a Lecturer in the Masters in Project Management (MPM) Program at l’Université du Québec, as well as a part-time Professor at la Cité Collégiale in Ottawa, Canada. He has lectured on construction management, Critical Path and Logical Framework methodologies, project development, managing troubled projects, and infrastructure feasibility studies. Mr. McCuaig earned a master’s degree in Project Management from l’Université du Québec, is a graduate of the Executive Program at the Queens University School of Business in Kingston, Ontario, and the Canadian Department of National Defence Resource Management Program. He has been certified a Gold Seal Project Manager by the Canadian Construction Association and granted the designation of Project Management Professional by the Project Management Institute.
Born in 1958, Mr. McCuaig is a Canadian national and fluently bilingual in English and French.
Lidiya Grigoreva (D-1)
Nationality: Uzbekistan
Cheffe de Cabinet, Office of the Director-General
Ms. Lidiya Grigoreva has been appointed Cheffe de Cabinet, Office of the Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG), in December 2023.
Ms. Grigoreva has over 20 years of experience as international civil servant in the United Nations and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). She began her career in 1999 with the OSCE Centre in Tashkent, where she supported programmes aimed at promoting human rights throughout Uzbekistan.
Between 2001 and 2010, she served as Human Dimension Officer at the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights in Warsaw, focusing on the range of human rights issues in the OSCE participating States, including the death penalty, freedom of association and assembly, and women’s rights. Between 2010 and 2015, she served as Human Rights Officer at the Civil Society Section of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), where she facilitated the engagement of civil society actors with OHCHR and supported the development of related policies and guidance.
Between 2015 and 2021, she headed the NGO Liaison Unit at UNOG, where she supported two Directors-General of UNOG in their engagement with civil society and facilitated the participation of NGOs in UN activities in Geneva. Between November 2021 and November 2023, she headed the Political Affairs and Partnerships Section at the Office of the Director-General of UNOG, where she supported the Director-General in her political engagements and partnership-building activities. She also served as Gender Focal Point for UNOG between December 2016 and December 2023. In this capacity she supported the implementation of the UNOG Policy for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women.
Ms. Grigoreva holds a master’s degree in human rights from the University of Essex, United Kingdom and a master’s degree in languages from the University of World Languages in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. A national of Uzbekistan, she is married and has two daughters.
Sergey A. Shaposhnikov (D-1)
Nationality: Russia
Chief of Protocol, Office of the Director-General
Mr. Sergey Shaposhnikov is Chief of Protocol in the Office of the Director General, United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG) since 2006.
Before that, he was Special Assistant to the Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG), Political Affairs Officer. Prior to joining the UN Secretariat, he was a civil servant in Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, serving as Associate Attaché, ECOSOC Section, Department of International Economic Organizations, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the USSR, Moscow; Attaché, Third Secretary of the Permanent Mission of the USSR and the Russian Federation to the United Nations Office and other International Organizations in Geneva, Chief of Protocol of the Mission, Executive Assistant to the Ambassador, Permanent Representative.
Second Secretary, First Secretary of the Executive Office of the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, Moscow; First Secretary, Counsellor of the Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the United Nations, New York, Chief of Protocol of the Mission, Executive Assistant to the Ambassador, Permanent Representative; and finally as Counsellor, Executive Office of the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, Moscow.
He was born in 1961 in Minsk, USSR and graduated in 1984 from the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (diploma in international economic relations). He is Fluent in English, French and Russian. He is married and has a daughter.
Alessandra Vellucci (D-1)
Nationality: Italy
Director, United Nations Information Service in Geneva
Ms. Alessandra Vellucci is the Director of United Nations Information Service in Geneva.
She has been with the United Nations since 1991, at first with the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and then with the UN Department of Global Communications (DGC). She joined UNCTAD as an Associate Expert on Training, and then worked as Public Information Officer and Focal Point for Communications. Later she headed the training programme “TrainForTrade”, aimed at strengthening the skills of developing countries’ officials in the field of trade, sustainable development and port management.
In December 2010, she joined DGC as Chief of Press and External Relations of the Geneva UN Information Service, where she oversaw media accreditation and outreach activities for UN Geneva and served as Deputy Spokesperson for the Office.
From 2014 to 2016, she joined UNCTAD again as Head of the Intergovernmental Support Service, Executive Secretary of the Trade and Development Board and Officer-in-Charge of Information and Communications. As such she oversaw the intergovernmental negotiations and the promotion of UNCTAD XIV (Nairobi, July 2016).
In July 2016, she became Director of the UN Information Service in Geneva, a position she still holds today. As such, she coordinates all media-related activities at the Palais des Nations, chairs the Geneva UN Communications Group, oversees the activities of UNTV, radio and social media, and supervises outreach events of UN Geneva and the Visitors’ Service. She is also the UN spokesperson in Geneva and holds a bi-weekly press briefing for journalists accredited to the Palais des Nations.
Ms Vellucci holds a Political Science Degree from the Italian University L.U.I.S.S., and a diploma in International Relations with a specialization in International Public Law from the Geneva Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (IHEID). Previously she attended a high-school of languages and is fluent in English, French, Spanish and Italian, her mother tongue.
Francesco Pisano (D-1)
Nationality: Switzerland
Director, United Nations Library & Archives Geneva
Francesco Pisano is an expert in international affairs with a professional background in humanitarian affairs, risk management, and research on knowledge systems. He has an academic background in international relations with a specialization in diplomatic studies and conflict resolution, and law with a focus on public international law.
He joined the United Nations in 1993 where he took positions of increasing responsibility with the UN Department of Humanitarian Affairs, its Division for Disaster Mitigation, then with OCHA as Senior Officer.
He served as Director of Research, Technology Applications and Knowledge Systems at the UN Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) where he was also the Manager of UNOSAT (the Operational Satellite Applications Programme) from 2007 to 2012. Since 2016 he leads the UN Library & Archives Geneva, a centre for research and knowledge exchange established in 1919, and the Cultural Activity Programme of UN Geneva, a space dedicated to cultural diplomacy and outreach.
Carolyne Mélanie Régimbal (D-1)
Nationality: Canada
Chief of Service of the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs’ Geneva Office
In May 2022, Ms. Carolyne-Mélanie Régimbal, Canadian, assumed her functions as Chief of Service of the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs’ Geneva Office. She will also serve as Deputy Secretary General to the Conference on Disarmament.
Ms. Régimbal has 25 years of multilateral disarmament, peace and security experience. Ms. Régimbal served as Director of the UN Regional Centre for Peace, Disarmament and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean (UNLIREC) in Lima (Peru). She also worked for the United Nations Verification Mission in Colombia, where she served as Head of Field Coordination contributing to the Colombian Peace Process. Prior to joining the United Nations, Ms. Régimbal worked at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Canada. She was also a founding member of the Canadian Mine Action Team in Ottawa and continued to work on Human Security, Disarmament and Non-Proliferation matters at the Permanent Mission of Canada to the Organization of American States (OAS) as an Alternate Representative in Washington DC.
Ms. Régimbal, has a Bachelor of Arts in Canadian Studies and a Masters in International Service, is fluent in French, English and Spanish.
She is married and has two children.
Liam Drumgoole (P-5)
Nationality: Ireland
Officer-in-Charge, Security & Safety Service, UNOG
Mr. Liam Drumgoole has been the Officer-in-Charge of the Security & Safety Service since April 2021, having joined the Service in May 2017 as the Deputy Chief of Service.
Mr. Drumgoole holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Sociology from the National University of Ireland, and a Masters degree in Security & Risk Management from the University of Leicester, UK. He has also completed postgraduate studies in the Psychology of Leadership with Cornell University. Prior to joining the United Nations, Mr. Drumgoole had twenty-three years’ service in the Irish Defence Forces as a Commissioned Officer in a career in which he held senior Command & Staff appointments, both domestically and in three separate United Nations Peacekeeping missions.
Since joining the United Nations in 2012, Mr. Drumgoole has held a number of appointments in UNDSS. The first as Security Training Coordinator at the Mission Support Unit (2012-2015) located in New York with dual responsibilities for the training of security personnel in the Peacekeeping missions and the Security Service, New York. This was followed by a period as the Security Coordination Officer at Division of Security & Safety Services (2015-2017), where he completed a review and revision of the syllabus of training for United Nations Security Officers, before moving to the Training & Development Section (UNDSS) where he coordinated the second phase of the Global Training Needs Analysis completed in 2017.
Mr. Drumgoole is an Irish national and is married with two children.
Michael Schoiswohl (P-5)
Nationality: Austria
Senior Legal Adviser for the United Nations Office at Geneva and the Director of the International Law Seminar
Mr. Michael Schoiswohl is the Senior Legal Adviser for the United Nations Office at Geneva and the Director of the International Law Seminar. Previously, he has held various positions within the United Nations in legal affairs and related areas, including at the Office of the Legal Counsel in the United Nations Office of Legal Affairs, the Department of Legal Affairs of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, the United Nations Environment Programme, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, and the United Nations Development Programme.
He has also worked as an Attaché to the Permanent Mission of Austria to the United Nations in Geneva. He started his legal career as a legal adviser to the General Settlement Fund for Victims of National Socialism and a lecturer at the Law School of the University of Vienna, where he obtained a doctorate in public international law and his law degree. He holds a LL.M. in international legal studies, which he obtained as a Fulbright scholar at NYU. He has held various teaching engagements and published on various issues relating to international law.
Aziyadé Poltier-Mutal (P-5)
Nationality: Netherlands
Senior Officer – Partnerships
Ms. Aziyadé Poltier-Mutal is the Head of the Coordination Team of the future Portail des Nations / Visitor’s Center in the office of the Director-General of UN Geneva.
The Portail des Nations project proposes to provide the United Nations Office in Geneva with a new infrastructure dedicated to welcoming visitors, informing, and educating the public about multilateralism and the work of the United Nations family.
She also supervises the work of the Perception Change Project which aims at broadening the understanding and the importance of the work done by the international actors based in Geneva.
She has worked in the field of communications in public relations firms and United Nations agencies for more than 25 years. She coordinated media relations and special events at the United Nations “Earth Summit” before being appointed Head of Communications at the Earth Council in Costa Rica.
Before joining UNOG, she was Communications Partnerships Manager at the Geneva office of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) where she initiated and managed partnerships with world leading advertising agencies, media, celebrities, influential people and private companies to boost UNDP’s corporate communication and benefit field projects.
She also managed the relations with the celebrities appointed UNDP global Goodwill Ambassadors as well as the 12 annual “Matches Against Poverty” initiated by football players Ronaldo Nazario and Zinédine Zidane. Through her career she has contributed to the sports for development activities with international sports organizations based in Switzerland.
Ms. Poltier-Mutal graduated from la Sorbonne, the Institute of International Relations Studies in Paris and the Graduate Institute of Development Studies in Geneva. Originally from The Netherlands, she has lived many years in South America and is fluent in English, French and Spanish.
Özge Aydoğan (P-5)
Nationality: Switzerland
Director of the Beyond Lab, Office of the Director-General
Ms. Özge Aydoğan was nominated Director of the Beyond Lab in November 2022. She comes with a wealth of experience in international development and multi-lateral diplomacy working across the humanitarian-development spectrum in and with the UN system, international financial institutions, multilateral development banks, the Swiss Government, research institutions and civil society.
Her work has focused on social innovation, social and economic development programming, innovative financing & partnerships, global policy, anticipatory analysis and research, and strategic foresight.
Before joining the Beyond Lab, Ms. Aydoğan was an Advisor and Programme Manager (Multilateral Affairs, UN & Multilateral Development Banks Section) at the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation within the Swiss Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Prior to that, Özge was with UNICEF both in headquarters and the country level, as well as with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).
Özge Aydoğan holds a master’s degree in Sustainble Development from Sciences Po Paris, as well as a master’s degree in International Affairs & Governance from the University of St. Gallen. A Swiss-Turkish dual citizen, she is fluent in German, Turkish, English, French and Spanish. She is married and has one child.