The Resident Coordinator Office
The Resident Coordinator Office (RCO) supports the work of the United Nations Resident Coordinator (RC) who heads the UN Multi-Country Office covering Cook Islands, Niue, Samoa, and Tokelau.
The RCO is an integral part of the Resident Coordinator system, to ensure effective coordination of all UN agencies dealing with operational activities for development at the country level, regardless of their presence, to deliver as a One UN.
These UN agencies form the UN Country Team, (UNCT) which is the main inter-agency mechanism in-country for inter-agency coordination, coherence, and decision-making.
The Resident Coordinator leads the UN Country Team of 23 UN agencies to ensure the coordination, harmonisation, and simplification of their support to achieve national development goals. The UNCT consults with the Governments to define and agree on the UN strategic responses to country development priorities.
The Resident Coordinator leads the RCO to coordinate activities related to common programming including Agenda 2030, joint programmes and development activities. This is done in conformity with the objectives and priorities of the Governments, and the mandates and objectives of the United Nations agencies.
The RCO supports the UN Resident Coordinator in:
- Strategic Planning ;
- Economics ;
- Partnership and Development Finance ;
- Results Management and Reporting;
- Communications and Advocacy.
In the next five years (2023 - 2027) the RCO will lead the coordination of the UN support towards the development priorities of the four countries and territories through the Country Implementation Plans.
Meet the Team
The RCO team consists of:
- Strategic Planning and Team Leader – Ms. Doljisuren Jambal
- Economist – Mr. Fanwell Kenala Bokosi
- Partnerships and Development Finance - Vacant
- Data Management, Results Monitoring and Reporting – Ms. La-Toya Lee
- Communications and Advocacy - Vacant
- Executive Assistant - Ms. Morita Sapolu
- Administrative Assistant – Mr. Samu Risatisone
- Human Rights Adviser – Ms. Momoko Nomura
The UN Resident Coordinator
As the UN Resident Coordinator heading a UN Multi-Country Office that serves the Cook Islands, Niue, Samoa, and Tokelau, Ms. Karla Hershey leads a UN Country Team of 23 UN agencies, some with a physical presence in Samoa and others operating from the Fiji Multi-Country Office.
On 26 April 2025, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres appointed Karla Robin Hershey of the United States as the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Samoa, with the host Government’s approval.
Ms. Hershey brings more than 30 years of experience in development coordination, international relations, resource mobilization, change management and humanitarian affairs. She most recently served as the Resident Coordinator in Bhutan, and prior to that she was the Representative and Country Director of the World Food Programme (WFP) in Liberia. She has also held other senior-level roles, including United Nations Resident Coordinator and Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Serbia and in Lesotho. With WFP, she was also a Senior Adviser on United Nations Reform in the USA, Representative and Country Director in Eswatini, Country Director ad interim in Syria, Deputy Country Director and Head of Programme in Malawi and Head of Resource Mobilization, Food Procurement and Pipeline Management in Tanzania. She started her career with the UN as a humanitarian affairs officer with the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Angola.
Prior to joining the United Nations, Hershey worked with international non-governmental organizations World Vision International in Angola and Rotary International in the United States after completing an assignment as a business advisor to the Ministry of Youth and Cooperatives in Rwanda as part of the USA’s Peace Corps volunteer programme.
Ms. Hershey completed post-graduate coursework from the London School of Economics and Political Science in London, UK and holds a master’s degree in business administration (MBA) from the American InterContinental University in Atlanta, USA. She also has a bachelor’s degree in economics and political science from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, USA and completed university coursework from Oxford University in Oxford, UK.
