Edem Bakhshish has 23 years of cross-practice advisory and leadership experience in various UN-supported sustainable development initiatives. Areas of professional focus include green economy, sustainable development, South-South and Triangular Cooperation, local economic development and microfinance, local governance and results-based budgeting, HIV/AIDS prevention, gender mainstreaming and knowledge management.

Prior to joining the UNDP Istanbul Regional Hub as the Chief, Division for Arab States, Europe and the CIS of the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC), Edem worked with the UNDP Regional Center in Cairo as the Chief of Division for Arab States with the UNOSSC, and earlier – until June 2012 – Edem was in charge of the South-South Cooperation Advocacy initiative led by the Special Unit for South-South Cooperation, UNDP. Concurrently, Edem was the Trust Fund Manager for Perez Guerrero Trust Fund for South-South Cooperation (www.g77.org/pgtf). Before he joined the Special Unit for South-South Cooperation in 2007, Edem worked as ARR/Head of Governance and HIV Programmes with UNDP Russia. From 2003-2005 he was ARR with UNDP Kyrgyzstan where he also acted as the regional coordinator for the EU-funded Border Management Programme for Central Asia (BOMCA). Prior to this (2001-2002), he served as Senior Economic Policy Adviser with UNDP Ukraine, and before (1995-2001) as economic component Team leader with the UNDP Crimea Integration and Development Programme in Ukraine.

Edem holds a B.A. in Management (Major in Financial Management) from the Taurian Institute of Entrepreneurship and Law, Ukraine, as well as a Diploma of Specialist in Economics from the same institute, and a Master of Management (International Business Relations) from the International Business School of the Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia (named in honor of Patrice Lumumba).