United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has appointed Elena Panova of Bulgaria as the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Egypt, the UN Information Center in Cairo said on its official website.

Panova has over 22 years of development and management experience; including all aspects of program 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 after holding several leadership positions at the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), including responsibilities on a regional level, when she was a senior program coordinator overseeing the coordination of all regional UNDP and inter-agency programs at the UNDP Regional Hub in Istanbul.

At UNDP, she also served as Deputy Country Director of UNDP Ukraine; supported the establishment of a private sector Global Compact network; managed a flagship employment creation and micro-financing project at UNDP Bulgaria and worked as a private sector engagement specialist at the UNDP Headquarters in New York.

Prior to joining the United Nations in 1999, Panova was an Executive Director of a local non-governmental organization, delivering business support services to micro, small and female entrepreneurs in Bulgaria.

She holds a master’s degree in international law and foreign trade from the University for National and World Economy in her country as well as a master’s degree in microelectronics from the Technical Chemical University, also in Bulgaria.