Leadership

Myanmar

Leadership

UNDP Resident Representative in Myanmar

Mr. Norimasa Shimomura has started as UNDP Resident Representative in Myanmar on 23 August 2025. He has more than 25 years of experience at the United Nations, promoting sustainable human development in many countries.

Prior to his current assignment, he served as UNDP Resident Representative in Indonesia in 2020-2025. Before, he was UN Resident Coordinator for Kazakhstan in 2015-2020 and also UNDP Resident Representative for Kazakhstan in 2015-2018. Earlier, he spearheaded development initiatives as acting UNDP Resident Representative in Montenegro, UNDP Country Director in Tajikistan and Albania, UNDP Deputy Resident Representative in the Republic of North Macedonia, and acting UNDP Deputy Resident Representative in Georgia. He also served as Program Manager of Western Balkans cluster at UNDP headquarters Regional Bureau for Europe & CIS, and Special Assistant to the Director of UNDP’s Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery.

Prior to that, he was Economic Advisor at the Permanent Mission of Japan to the United Nations serving as delegate for the UN General Assembly Second Committee, ECOSOC and its subsidiary committees, and UNDP/UNFPA Executive Board. He started his career as UNDP programme officer in Turkmenistan and Bosnia-Herzegovina.

He holds Master of International Affairs from Columbia University in the City of New York, and B.A. from Sophia University in Tokyo, Japan.

A photo of a man looking straight to the camera while standing against a blue background.

UNDP Deputy Resident Representative in Myanmar

Ms. Dilrukshi Fonseka assumed her role as Deputy Resident Representative of UNDP in Myanmar in July 2025, bringing with her more than 25 years of experience in international development.

Before taking up this position, Ms. Fonseka served as Regional Peace and Development Advisor for Asia and the Pacific, based at the UN’s regional hub in Bangkok. She previously held senior roles with UNDP in Myanmar, where she led early recovery, social cohesion, and peacebuilding programming, and in Sri Lanka, where she managed the organization’s crisis response and recovery portfolio. Her experience also includes shorter-term assignments in Samoa, Iraq, and Bangladesh, where she supported UNDP’s response to diverse development challenges. Earlier in her career, Ms. Fonseka worked with international and national civil society organizations and policy think tanks, focusing on governance, conflict prevention, and reconciliation.

Ms. Fonseka holds a Master of Science in International Relations from the London School of Economics and Political Science (UK) and a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations from Mount Holyoke College (USA).