Our Team in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Arnhild Spence brings over 30 years of professional experience across government, intergovernmental organizations, the United Nations, and civil society, with a career that spans international relations, security, diplomacy, development and humanitarian affairs. She most recently served as UN Development Coordinator in Kosovo since 2022. Prior to this, Ms. Spence held several leadership roles at the World Food Programme (WFP), both as Director of Partnership in HQ and in country programmes in Africa and Asia. She also held positions with the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the United Nations Office in Geneva (UNOG).

Prior to joining the United Nations, Ms. Spence worked with the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC). She began her career in foreign and security policy, holding positions with the Norwegian ministries of foreign affairs and defense, European Union institutions, and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Headquarters in Brussels. At NATO, she established a strategic partnership with the UN Secretariat and negotiated a joint NATO-Russia concept for peace-support operations.

She holds a master’s degree in international relations from the University of Oslo.

Justine Coulson is the UNFPA Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina, Country Director for the Republic of Albania, Republic of Serbia, Republic of North Macedonia, and Director for Kosovo (UNSCR 1244).

She was previously the UNFPA Representative in China and Country Director for Mongolia and the Deputy Regional Director for East and Southern Africa. Before joining UNFPA, she worked for MSI Reproductive Choices as the Regional Director for South Asia and held country leadership positions in Nepal, Tanzania and Uganda. Prior to this, she worked as an adviser in the Poverty Research and Policy Centre at Save the Children UK.

Throughout her career, Justine has led complex programmes across Asia, Africa and Latin America to address child poverty, increase access to primary health care, prevent violence against women and create opportunities for young people. She is a passionate advocate for universal access to sexual and reproductive health and gender equality and women's empowerment.

Justine holds a PhD in Gender and Development from the University of Newcastle, UK and began her career as a Gender and Social Development Advisor at the university, where she conducted international research on a wide range of topics related to urban development and social inclusion.

Agnès Picod is the Head of the OHCHR Country Office in Bosnia and Herzegovina, established in August 2025. She has been serving with the United Nations in Bosnia and Herzegovina since February 2021, initially as Senior Human Rights Adviser. With 28 years of experience in the field of human rights – 26 of them with OHCHR – she brings deep expertise in both country-level and global human rights work.

Agnès Picod began her international career in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1997, spending six years with OHCHR and the Office of the High Representative. From 2004 until early 2021, she served at OHCHR Headquarters in Geneva, where she worked on the right to development, on the Western Balkans, and as Special Assistant to the Directors of the Field Operations and Technical Cooperation Division. In that capacity, she supported the management and development of OHCHR field presences worldwide, contributing to strategic policies, field support, and evaluation missions.

In 2016, she was seconded to the United Nations Mission in the Central African Republic, where she served as Special Adviser to the Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General.

She is a French national and holds Master’s Degrees in International Human Rights Law and in Literatures and Civilizations of English-speaking Countries, specializing in American Studies.

Edis Arifagić has 25 years of professional experience and a proven track record in managing large development programs and policy interventions. He worked with UNDP and the OSCE in the Western Balkans region in multiple roles, including as the Head of Elections with UNMIK in Kosovo, and as the UN Country Recovery Manager following the devastating floods that hit Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2014. His experience with UNDP also includes leading the local development program and serving as Deputy Sector Leader for Good Governance. Most recently, Edis worked as the Director of Research and Innovation at the Sarajevo School of Science and Technology where he managed a large and diverse donor-funded portfolio, including projects in industry innovation, vocational training, and green transition. He is a co-founding member of the National Responsible Business Hub and a Board Member for SOS Kinderdorf, an international children's charity. Edis was educated in the United States and the United Kingdom, receiving degrees from Henderson State University (US) and the University of Bristol (UK) in Public Administration and International Development.

Dr Erwin Cooreman (Belgium) graduated medicine at the University of Ghent in 1994. He joined the Belgian Red Cross working as a medical officer in a refugee camp in Burundi and specialized in tropical medicine with a Diploma in Tropical Medicine and Hygiene from the University of Liverpool (United Kingdom) in 1995.
After serving as Project Director of a Damien Foundation project in Bangladesh, he joined WHO in 2000 as Medical Officer for communicable diseases and was posted in Papua New Guinea. Subsequent WHO assignments, all in the areas of tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS and health systems, included WHO Regional Office for South-East Asia, New Delhi (2004-2007), and the country offices for Bangladesh, Dhaka, and the Union of Myanmar. In 2015, he was appointed as Head of WHO’s Global Leprosy Programme.

He assumed the position of WHO Special Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina in September 2021.

Jo-Anne Bishop has 20 years of international experience, including senior management with the United Nations, the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, and governmental and non-governmental institutions in a broad range of countries.
Prior to serving as Deputy Regional Director of the UN Women Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia, she held senior advisory positions with the UN Mission in Kosovo, OSCE Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Liberia Governance Commission, Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission and Timor-Leste Secretary of State for the Promotion of Equality. She headed and established the Tolerance and Non-Discrimination Department with the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights and served as Chief of Party of the Canadian Governance Support Office in Afghanistan. She has led more than 15 global, regional and country-level strategic reviews and evaluations for a range of UN entities including UNFPA, UNDP, IOM and UN Women in Asia-Pacific, Europe and Central Asia aimed at strengthening performance and increasing the impact of the UN system.
Jo-Anne holds an MA Degree in International Affairs from the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs in Canada and is the proud mother of two feminist children.

Lejla Helic brings over three decades of professional experience across Bosnia and Herzegovina, Pakistan, Kosovo, and Ukraine, working with a wide range of national and international agencies.

Her career with the United Nations began during the conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1993, after which she continued to serve with several international organizations, including UNDP, IRC, UNHCR, OSCE, and Save the Children UK. She has held senior managerial positions with UNHCR in Pakistan and the OSCE Mission in Kosovo, where her work focused on humanitarian crises, security, and the protection of human rights.

Prior to joining the UN Volunteers programme in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Lejla served with the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission in Eastern Ukraine, contributing to efforts in conflict monitoring and peacebuilding. Since 2022, she has been part of the UN Volunteers programme in Bosnia and Herzegovina, continuing her commitment to advancing peace, security, and development through volunteerism.

Marc joined UNICEF Bosnia and Herzegovina, coming from Mauritania where he was UNICEF Representative for four years. He also served as Representative in Algeria, as well as Deputy Representative in Indonesia and Syria. Prior to joining UNICEF, he worked for different organisations in research, evaluation, data generation, and management.

Marc brings experience from different countries and regions, working in both middle- and low-income countries, in development as well as humanitarian and emergency settings. He holds a master’s degree in political sciences and Middle East studies from Paris Institute of Political Sciences and a master in business management and a BA in economics from Paris Dauphine University.

National of France, Marc was born in the US and grew up in Italy, Egypt, France and England. Besides English and French, he speaks fluently Arabic and Italian. He is married and a father of two sons, both university students.

Before joining UNDSS, Nikolay Vanchev served as a military police officer in Bulgaria for 16 years, where he built a solid foundation in discipline, law enforcement, and operational leadership. He then dedicated more than 20 years to the United Nations system, serving with UNDP, UNICEF, UNHCR, and UNDSS in roles focused on Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration (DDR), as well as Staff Safety and Security. Throughout his UN career, Vanchev worked in a wide range of operational environments, many of them high-risk, including Afghanistan, Sudan, Georgia, Pakistan, Turkey, the United States, Ukraine, and, most recently, Bosnia and Herzegovina. In these missions, he managed security operations under conditions where unexpected events and rapid shifts on the ground were part of daily life. His ability to adapt, anticipate risks, and respond decisively to emerging threats has been a defining feature of his career, enabling him to safeguard personnel, assets, and operations in volatile and unpredictable contexts. He holds a master’s degree in engineering and has completed extensive Civil-Military Cooperation (CIMIC) and Safety and Security training programs. This academic foundation, combined with decades of hands-on operational experience, has provided him with a comprehensive understanding of the complexities and sensitivities of security management in diverse cultural and political landscapes.

Renaud Meyer started his assignment as UNDP Resident Representative to Bosnia Herzegovina in July 2024, coming from Thailand where he was the UNDP Resident Representative since March 2019.

Prior to that, Renaud served as UNDP Country Director in Nepal from January 2015 to March 2019, Senior Deputy Country Director for UNDP Afghanistan from November 2012 to December 2014, UNDP Country Director in the Philippines from August 2008 to October 2012 and Deputy Country Director of UNDP China from August 2004 till August 2008.

Before serving UNDP in Asia, Renaud served four years in Headquarters as the Special Assistant to the UNDP Associate Administrator in the Executive Office in New York from 2002 to 2004 and as Special Assistant to the Director of the Bureau for Development Policy starting in 2000.

Renaud started his UNDP career as a Programme Officer (JPO) in Lebanon in 1998. Before joining the United Nations, Renaud Meyer worked in Tunisia for the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

A French citizen, Renaud Meyer holds a Master’s in International Relations and Development Studies from the University of Strasbourg and graduated from the Institut D’Etudes Politiques of Strasbourg. He also completed a one-year programme of studies at the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University in Washington D.C., U.S.A.

Sinisa is Head of the Antenna in Sarajevo of the Regional Bureau for science and Culture in Europe and responsible for the implementation of UNESCO’s core programmes and activities in Bosnia and Herzegovina. He also supports the development and implementation of programmes and participation in UN development/cooperation frameworks in Serbia and Montenegro, as well as in other countries of the region, as required. He has an academic background in civil engineering. He joined UNESCO in 1995.

Ms Stefanie Krause brings 20 years of humanitarian and development work, mainly with UNHCR, including in emergency operations, with a focus on management, social and economic rehabilitation, education, and humanitarian coordination.
Areas of Ms Krause’s expertise include refugee protection, emergency and programme management, advocacy and partnership building, work with local communities to promote refugee integration, humanitarian interagency cooperation, and policy development.

She has worked with UNHCR, NGOs and development partners in Africa, Asia, Europe and at UNHCR headquarters. Before her assignment in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ms Krause worked as UNHCR Representative in Montenegro.

Ms Krause holds a degree in International Business and Cultural Studies from the University of Passau in Germany, complemented by academic exchanges in Argentina and a professional placement in India. She further obtained a Master’s degree in Humanitarian Assistance (NOHA) from the Ruhr-University Bochum in Germany. In addition to German, her mother tongue, Ms Krause speaks English, French and Spanish.

Mr. Pijunovic was born in Zavidovići on 29 March, 1970. He holds a Bachelor of Economics, Faculty of Economy, from the University of Banja Luka. He was a Team Leader with CARE International (1997-2000), and then Director of the Economics Department with Mercy Corps Scotland (2000 - 2003). He was then senior programming officer at the European Union Delegation to BiH, Cross Border and Agriculture Programme (2004-2011), and is presently the National Programme Coordinator at UN’s FAO, a role he began in 2012.

Mr. William David Womble is the Chief of Mission of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) country office in Bosnia and Herzegovina, with coordination functions for the Western Balkans. An American national, he brings nearly three decades of international experience in humanitarian response, stabilization, and migration management across Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia.

Before his appointment in Sarajevo, Mr. Womble served as Head of the Land, Property and Reparations Unit at IOM Headquarters in Geneva, and in 2025 acted as ad interim Chief of Mission for IOM Ukraine. From 2018 to 2024, he held senior leadership roles with IOM in Nairobi, including as Senior Programme Coordinator and Head of Office.

His career includes extensive field experience in crisis and post-crisis settings, serving with the World Bank, UNDP, DFID, and the UN Assistance Mission in Somalia, as well as senior roles with Mercy Corps, the Norwegian Refugee Council, and World Vision International in Georgia, Russia, Albania, and Azerbaijan. Earlier, he worked as a Foreign Service Officer with the U.S. Department of State in Burundi and began his international career as a Peace Corps volunteer in Kenya.

Mr. Womble holds a BA in Education from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and speaks English and French.