Stephen Rodriques, UNDP Resident Representative, UNDP Bangladesh

Stephen Rodriques, a distinguished Jamaican national, steps into his role as the UNDP Resident Representative for Bangladesh after a commendable term as the UNDP’s Resident Representative in Afghanistan. His extensive tenure with the UNDP has seen him engage in transformative roles across the globe—from serving as the Resident Representative and Country Director in Rwanda to his contributions as the Deputy Country Director in Indonesia. Before his journey with the UNDP, Stephen made significant strides within the Jamaican Government, particularly as the Director of Social Policy in the Ministry of Local Government and Community Development.

With academic laurels from the prestigious IESE Business School in Barcelona and the University of the West Indies, Kingston, Stephen brings a blend of practical on-ground experience and robust academic grounding to his role. Bilingual in English and Spanish, his commitment to global development and the well-being of communities stands unparalleled. His leadership, backed by his diverse experiences, promises a new horizon of collaborative efforts and progress for Bangladesh.

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Sonali Dayaratne, Deputy Resident Representative, UNDP Bangladesh

Sonali Dayaratne joined UNDP Bangladesh as the Deputy Resident Representative in August 2023. She is a seasoned development and governance practitioner, with nearly 20 years of experience in public law and policy, human rights and governance, as well as cross-cutting issues such as inclusive growth, and youth empowerment. Sonali is a Fulbright Scholar, and holds a Master's Degree in Law from the Harvard Law School.

As the former Deputy Resident Representative at UNDP Cambodia, Sonali led teams to provide integrated solutions for inclusive growth, climate action, gender equality, and good governance. She also jointly led or contributed to systems design, portfolio development, adaptive programming, as well as monitoring, evaluation and learning processes for UNDP Cambodia’s Country Programme.

Before UNDP Cambodia, Sonali was a Policy and Design Specialist at UNDP Sri Lanka, where she led UNDP’s support to constitutional and parliamentary reforms; strengthening of the independence of commissions; the enactment and implementation of the right to information law; and SDG localization.

Sonali practiced law for a brief period in Sri Lanka, as well as worked with non-government organizations on public law reforms.

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