Our Team 

Nick Beresford
Resident Representative

Mr. Nick Beresford holds a Master of Science in Development Economics from the University of Sussex (UK). He also holds Degrees in Audit and Accountancy and English Literature.

Nick comes with 16 years’ experience within the UN system and a background in economics and finance. Prior to his assignment in Cambodia, Nick served as Deputy Country Director in Bangladesh covering programmes including urban poverty relief and disaster risk reduction. He has also served with UNDP in Somalia and East Timor, managing programmes ranging from early recovery to elections support. Previous roles include working for UNFPA, International Planned Parenthood Federation and private sector accounting firms in London.

Mr. Nick Beresford is UNDP’s Resident Representative in Cambodia. He manages a $60 million programme portfolio that supports the Royal Government of Cambodia and other partners in a wide range of services including development and economic policy, environmental protection, and climate change adaptation and mitigation. 

Follow him on Twitter: @NickBeresford2 

Sonali Dayaratne
Deputy Resident Representative

Ms. Sonali Dayaratne holds a Master's degree in Law from the Harvard Law School, Cambridge (USA).

Prior to this, Ms. Sonali Dayaratne was a Policy and Design Specialist at UNDP Sri Lanka. She led the Governance and Peace Building team from 2018, including on the design of a Flagship Portfolio on SDG 16 on Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions for which USD 25 million is in the hard pipeline. She was also UNDP's co-lead on technical assistance for implementing the SDGs at national and sub-national levels. In 2019, Sonali was seconded as part of an ADB/UNDP technical assistance team for formulation of the National Development Plan for the Maldives. She also managed the formulation of the Sri Lanka National Human Development Report 2014 on Youth and Development, which received a UNDP global Human Development Report award.

Sonali was Deputy Programme Manager of UNDP Sri Lanka's US$ 43 million flagship Transition Recovery Programme, during and after the armed conflict from 2007-2013. In 2006, she assisted the Ministry of Disaster Management and Human Rights in Sri Lanka, to establish a Human Rights Unit. In 2004/5, Sonali was a Technical Adviser and Associate Project Manager for UNDP's Strengthening the National Assembly of the Lao PDR Project. She was also engaged in UNDP Sri Lanka's Invest-in-Peace Project (2003/4), as well as with law practice in Sri Lanka (1999-2002).  Prior to this, she worked intermittently with non-government organizations on legal and policy reforms.

Follow her on Twitter: @SonaliDayaratne