Brief Biography
Avetik leads the Standard Setting Unit and oversees functions such as staffing, budgeting and resource mobilization. He coordinates standard setting activities of the IPPC Standards Committee, technical panels and expert working groups. As the Unit Lead, he makes a substantial input to preparations for sessions of the Commission on Phytosanitary Measures (CPM), the Strategic Planning Group, the CPM Bureau, and other ad-hoc meetings. Avetik is also a liaison between the IPPC Secretariat and some key organizations and stakeholders. Before joining the secretariat, he managed the implementation of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)’s Strategic Programme Two (SP2) in the FAO Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia. SP2 focuses on making agriculture, forestry, and fisheries more productive and sustainable. He has previously served as alternative FAO Representative for Moldova, FAO Technical Officer for Plant Production and Protection in the region and Assistant FAO Representative in Armenia. Avetik is an agronomist with a PhD in plant production and about three decades of experience in management of agriculture, plant production and protection programmes at local, regional, and global levels. Avetik has authored and co-authored several scientific publications, book chapters and training materials. He speaks Armenian, Assyrian, English, German, and Russian.