Timor-Leste
Our Team
UNDP employs vibrant and dedicated professionals engaged in development programmes, porjects and operation.
UNDP is being led by by the UNDP Resident Representative, Mrs. Munkhtuya Altangerel and the Deputy Resident Representative, Lazima Onta-Bhatta.
The UN Resident Coordinator/ UNDP Resident Representative act on behalf of the UN Secretary- General and UNDP Administrator, and plays a central role in coordinating the overall UN acitvties in Timor-Leste.

Munkhtuya Altangerel
UNDP Resident Representative in Timor-Leste
Ms. Altangerel is the Resident Representative of UNDP Timor-Leste since June 2019. She served as the Deputy Resident Representative for Programmes and Operations in UNDP Georgia during 2018-2019, and UNDP Kazakhstan during 2014-2018.
She has managed complex development initiatives in various country settings, and has published policy reports on economic resilience, local development, scaling up development successes, and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) implementation. During 2007-2014, Ms. Altangerel served as a policy advisor/specialist on MDGs, local and urban development, and poverty reduction at the Bureau of Development Policy at UNDP Headquarters, covering mainly Eastern European and Central Asian countries. During 2004-2007, Tuya served as the Assistant Resident Representative in UNDP Kyrgyzstan, and as a team leader for UNDP project in Tajikistan
Prior to joining UNDP, she managed policy research and advocacy projects at the World Bank and CIVICUS-World Alliance for Citizen Participation, worked as a consultant on social and economic assessments for the Environmental Resources Management (consulting company), based out Washington D.C and London. Tuya’s specialization is in sustainable livelihoods and environmental and social impact analyses. Tuya obtained her Master of Science in International Development Management from the London School of Economics, UK, and the Bachelor in International Relations and Economics from the University of Pennsylvania, USA. Tuya is a national of Mongolia.

Lazima Onta-Bhatta
UNDP Deputy Resident Representative in Timor-Leste
Ms. Lazima Onta-Bhatta has worked extensively in the areas of livelihood, poverty, gender equality, school education, results-based management and monitoring, and project and programme management.
Lazima assumed her position as Deputy Resident Representative in Timor-Leste in August 2019. Prior to joining UNDP in Timor-Leste, she was in UNDP’s Bangkok Regional Hub (BRH) from 2016-2019 as the Country Programme Specialist supporting UNDP’s programmes in Myanmar, Iran and Bhutan, and as the Results-based Management Specialist supporting 24 UNDP Country Offices in the Asia Pacific to strengthen their monitoring systems and capacities.
Ms. Lazima Onta-Bhatta - Deputy Resident Representative for UNDP in Timor-Leste
Between 2005 and 2016, Lazima worked in Nepal as a project manager for a UNDP project and assumed various roles in the UNDP Country Office. She was the Assistant Country Director heading the Strategic Planning unit, Assistant Resident Representative heading the Poverty and inclusion portfolio, and Gender and Social Inclusion Specialist supporting in mainstreaming gender in the entire programme. Prior to joining UNDP, she worked for DANIDa’s advisory team to the Ministry of Education in Nepal from 2002 to 2005.
A national of Nepal, Lazima holds a Ph. D. in Anthropology from Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, USA. She has published in the areas of gender, social inclusion, livelihoods, monitoring, and cultural politics of childhood.