Kaarina Immonen is the U.N. resident coordinator and UNDP representative in Laos. She began her career in the United Nations in 1990. Her most recent appointment before her arrival to Laos was as deputy special representative of the secretary-general for the U.N. Integrated Peacebuilding Office in the Central African Republic, a post she held from December 2012 to early 2014. She also served as U.N. resident coordinator and humanitarian coordinator during her time in the Central African Republic. She has also worked in Moldova, Russian Federation, Georgia, Cambodia and Vietnam.