Our Team in Seychelles

Ms. Lisa Simrique Singh

Lisa Simrique Singh

UN
Resident Coordinator for Mauritius and Seychelles
lisa.singh@un.org
 
 
Lisa Simrique Singh's responsibilities as UN Resident Coordinator for Mauritius and Seychelles include coordination of all work for resident and non-resident agencies with programmes in Mauritius and Seychelles. She brings over 25 years of experience in international development in Asia and Africa continents, including Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Cameroon, Chad, Laos, Nepal, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Uganda, and Vietnam.

Prior to her appointment as United Nations Resident Coordinator, Lisa Singh served as UNDP Resident Representative ad interim (ai) in Chad. She previously worked as UNDP Director of Programme and Deputy Resident Representative ai in Mali. She has significant senior policy expertise advising governments on issues of economic transformation, regional integration, sustainable development and disaster and climate risk resilience.

As Senior Economist, she led joint UN collective actions to support governments in the finalization of national development strategies (Afghanistan and Cameroon) and more recently with national socioeconomic response planning for COVID-19 (Chad).

Lisa Singh is adept in intergovernmental processes including leadership roles in facilitating regional collaboration, knowledge brokering, south-south partnership, and financing solutions. As Regional Environment Governance Manager in the Mekong Region based in Cambodia, she played a lead role strengthening riparian diplomacy and cross-border capacity building to include work with the private sector and non-government organizations in the Asia Pacific Region.

Ms. Singh obtained her master’s degree in Economics from Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, Canada. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Liberal Arts (Economics and French) from Mount Holyoke College, Massachusetts, USA. She is multilingual with fluency in English, French and Nepali.
Abigail Noko Regional Representative for Southern Africa

Abigail Noko

OHCHR
Regional Representative for Southern Africa
anoko@ohchr.org
 
 
Abigail Noko is the Regional Representative for Southern Africa at the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). She has worked at the OHCHR for the past 19 years in various capacities. In her current capacity, she is responsible for overseeing the work of the regional office which covers 14 countries (Angola, Botswana, Comoros, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe). This includes providing technical assistance and advisory services in human rights to States, United Nations agencies, sub-regional organizations, national human rights institutions, and civil society organizations.

Alexandros Makarigakis

UNESCO
Acting Regional Director and Representative
a.makarigakis@unesco.org
 
 
As of 1 July 2023, Director and Representative a.i. of UNESCO’s Multisectoral Regional Office for Eastern Africa, in Nairobi. Total of more than 25 years of progressively responsible experience in the field of environmental sciences, 21 of which on the international platform on issues of development in developing and developed countries with focus on natural resources management (water and environment). Nineteen years working at UNESCO, eight years of experience in the field of bioremediation of hazardous chemicals and ten years in municipal water and wastewater purification. Experience includes representing UNESCO in Uzbekistan, Ethiopia and the African Union, Chief of the Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) Unit, Global Coordinator of UNESCO’s Water for Human Settlements Programme, Regional Hydrologist for Africa, university lecturing, design and execution of innovative bench-scale treatment systems and mathematical model developments for further scale-up purposes as well as in-situ testing for verification, groundwater remediation and waste management. Authored and co-authored several scientific journal papers and book chapters.
Amanda K. Serumaga UNDP Rep

Amanda K. Serumaga

UNDP
Resident Representative Mauritius and Seychelles
amanda.serumaga@undp.org
 
 
Amanda Serumaga brings more than 22 years working experience in public policy, governance and rule of law, and poverty law. Following a career as a legal advisor and in civil society, she began her UNDP career as Chief Rule of Law and Governance Team leader in Khartoum, Sudan and served as Team Leader Governance and Rule of Law and Deputy Country Director in South Sudan, Coordinator for Prevention of Violent Extremism in the Africa Bureau in New York; and as Country Director in Kenya.
Celine LEMMEL

Celine Lemmel

IOM
Head of Office
clemmel@iom.int
 
 
Céline Lemmel joined the International Organization for Migration Office in Mauritius in July 2017 as Head of Office covering Mauritius and Seychelles. As a legal expert, specialized in human rights, access to justice and international cooperation, she is an international professional with extensive professional experience in development programming, advocacy and multidisciplinary team management. Prior to joining the IOM, her career led her to work for various international non-governmental organizations as well as for the United Nations in several countries in Central and Western Africa and in Europe, including Belgium, Burundi, Republic of Congo, Guinea, Nigeria and Uganda.
FAO Representative Charles Boliko

Charles Mbuli Boliko

FAO
Representative for Madagascar, Comoros, Mauritius and Seychelles
MbuliCharles.Boliko@fao.org
 
 
Charles Boliko joined FAO headquarters in 1997 as Personnel Officer in the Human Resources Division and thereafter served as FAO Liaison Officer with the UN in New York, in charge of macro-economic policy questions, humanitarian assistance, and human resource management. He later served as Senior Attaché de Cabinet in the Office of the Director-General. From 2009 to 2013, he was Chief of the Recruitment and Staffing Branch in the Human Resources Division at FAO headquarters. In 2013, he was appointed Director of the FAO Liaison Office in Japan where he has significantly contributed to improving FAO’s visibility and collaboration with public, private and non-State actors. He holds a PhD in International Development from Nagoya University in Japan.
Director, Regional Department for Africa, Ms Grandcourt

Elcia Grandcourt

UNWTO
Director of the Regional Department for Africa
egrandcourt@unwto.org
 
 
Elcia Grandcourt joined the World Tourism Organisation in 2013 as Director of the Regional Department for Africa. Elcia began her tourism career studying Hotel Management in Singapore at the Singapore Hotel Association and Education Centre (SHATEC). Thereafter, she occupied various positions in operations, reservations and sales mainly in hotels. She worked with the Seychelles national airline and destination management companies before joining the public sector as deputy Chief Executive Officer of the Seychelles Tourism Board, and thereafter Chief Executive Officer. Passionate about tourism, Elcia is honoured to be able to contribute towards sustainable tourism development in Africa.
EVA UNICEF

Etleva Kadilli

UNICEF
Regional Director for Eastern and Southern Africa
ekadilli@unicef.org
 
 
Etleva (Eva) Kadilli is the UNICEF Regional Director for Eastern and Southern Africa. In this function, Ms. Kadilli is responsible for leadership, oversight and guidance to 21 UNICEF country offices in the region, and the representation of the organization with governments, donors, civil society and private sector. Prior to this role, Eva was Director of UNICEF’s Supply Division, based in Copenhagen, Denmark. In this capacity, she led UNICEF’s global supply chain operations and strategic market shaping functions for programmatic areas including health, nutrition, and water & sanitation, with an annual expenditure of over USD 7 billion, in cooperation with national governments, donors, private sector and partners. Responsible for the management of UNICEF’s supply response to humanitarian crises, Ms. Kadilli also led the organization’s historic response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including accelerated access to vaccines, diagnostics and therapeutics, as well as other supplies such as syringes, personal protective equipment, cold chain equipment, and oxygen. A UNICEF staff member for over 27 years, Ms. Kadilli has held roles at headquarters and in country offices, in both development and emergency contexts, including Albania, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the Republic of the Gambia, and Somalia. Prior to her appointment as Supply Division Director in March 2018, her positions with Supply Division included Deputy Director, Supply Chain, and Chief of Contracting. Throughout her career, Ms. Kadilli has been a strong advocate for staff well-being, culture change and innovation. She is married and is the mother of a teenage son. Ms. Kadilli holds a Master’s degree in Science with a specialty in Finance. She is an Albanian national.
Frederick Muia

Frederick Muia

ILO
Country Director for Madagascar, Comoros, Mauritius and Seychelles
muia@ilo.org
 
 
Mr. Frederick MUIA has been appointed Director of the ILO Country Office for Madagascar, Comoros, Mauritius and Seychelles, with effect from 1 September 2023.

Born on 18 April 1969, Mr MUIA holds a Diplôme d'Études Approfondies (DEA) in Business Communication and Sociolinguistics from the Université Paul Valéry Montpellier 3, France, and a master's degree in Language and Communication Sciences from the Université de Franche-Comté, Besançon, France.

A global labour, employment and project management executive with over 22 years' experience, focusing on private sector development, employers' organisations, capacity development, stakeholder engagement and tripartism, civil society, governments, the United Nations, bilateral and multilateral organisations, Mr MUIA has recognised expertise and experience in skills development, entrepreneurship and job creation. He has recently developed a keen interest in the digital economy and social media as a means of influencing policy.

Before joining the ILO, Mr MUIA was:
- Project Manager at ERS Global, a project of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
- Teacher in the training programme for administrators, Financial Institutions Training Centre (FITC), Lagos,
Nigeria.
- Partner, African Union Partnership for Youth Empowerment "1 million by 2021" Initiative, Geneva,
Switzerland and Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
- Senior Adviser for Africa, International Organisation of Employers, Geneva, Switzerland.
- Head of Investment and Government Relations, French Trade Commission for East Africa, Nairobi, Kenya.
- Lecturer at the University of Nairobi, Kenya.

Mr. MUIA is married and has three children.

Head of Regional Office for Southern & Eastern Africa Gemma Connell

Gemma Connell

OCHA
Head of Regional Office for Southern & Eastern Africa
connell@un.org
 
 
Gemma Connell is currently the Head of the OCHA's Regional Office for Southern and Eastern Africa, a position where she oversees frontline surge to 25 countries. Prior to this, Gemma served as OCHA’s Deputy Head of Office in South Sudan, where she led humanitarian coordination, including during the famine response, oversaw the humanitarian pooled fund, and steered strategic advocacy. Before South Sudan, Gemma held a number of positions at OCHA Headquarters, during which time she travelled on mission to many of the world’s hotspots. In addition, Gemma worked on global strategic processes, such as the IASC’s Transformative Agenda. Prior to joining OCHA, Gemma worked with the UN agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA) in Gaza. She began her career working on women’s rights and human rights with the UN and several small NGOs.
Joseph Rostand Olinga Biwole

Joseph Rostand Olinga Biwole

IFAD
Representative and Country Director Madagascar, Comoros, Mauritius and Seychelles
j.olingabiwole@ifad.org
 
 
Mr. Joseph Rostand Olinga Biwole works as Representative and Country Director for the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) in Madagascar; also covering Comoros, Mauritius and Seychelles. Prior to this, he was Acting Country Director for Burundi from March to December 2021. From September 2019 to February 2021, he was Programme Officer at IFAD’s Sub-Regional Office for East Africa and the Indian Ocean in Nairobi-Kenya. He joined IFAD in 2014 as Programme Officer, where he held a portfolio covering Cameroon, the Central African Republic and Gabon.

Prior to joining IFAD in 2014, he worked for national and international development and humanitarian organizations. From 2000 to 2004 he worked in Cameroon with different NGOs. In 2004, he joined the UN Inter-Agency Unit for Coordination of Reintegration in Burundi; worked as Reintegration Officer and as Programme Officer of the UNV Country Programme, respectively. In 2009 he moved to Chad to serve in the UNDP Recovery Programme in eastern Chad as Technical Specialist in charge of socioeconomic recovery. He was promoted in 2010 to Recovery Programme Coordinator and in 2013 to Head of the Field Coordination Office in Eastern Chad, respectively.

M. Olinga Biwole holds an engineering degree in agronomy from the University of Dschang / Cameroon. He also holds a Diploma in Local Development from the ILO Training Centre/Turin-Italy as well as a Master of Arts in International Relations and Affairs from The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy/Tufts University in Massachusetts-United States.
Josiane Yaguibou

Josiane Yaguibou

UNFPA
Country Director for Comoros, Mauritius and Seychelles
yaguibou@unfpa.org
 
 
Ms Josiane Yaguibou joined the UNFPA Country Office in Madagascar on July 19, 2023 as Representative and Country Director for Comoros, Mauritius and Seychelles.

Before Madagascar, Josiane served as the UNFPA Country Representative in Togo and in Mali. Prior to that, she was the Representative (a.i) for UNFPA in Eritrea and the Family Planning Policy Adviser overseeing twenty-three East and Southern African countries, based in Johanesburg.

Josiane is a seasoned Development professional with over two decades of increasing leadership, management, advocacy, operational expertise providing support to challenging multifaceted complex environments implementing triple Nexus Humanitarian Operations. She brings to Madagascar, Comoros, Mauritius and Seychelles, a solid background in national and international project management implementing triple Nexus humanitarian operations, advancing women, adolescent and young people access to sexual and reproductive rights, and advocating to eliminate gender-based violence. She is a Champion for mobilizing resources in defiant circumstances, in donor orphan contexts while fostering private partnerships and raising first time ever funds.

Josiane holds a Master degree in Economics from Paris IX DAUPHINE University, France and a Bachelor of Administration from the University Quebec in Montreal, Canada.
Jude L. Padayachy

Jude L. Padayachy

UNAIDS
Country Director for Madagascar, Comoros, Mauritius and Seychelles
padayachyj@unaids.org
 
 
Prior to his nomination to the post of UNAIDS Country Director for Madagascar, Comoros, Mauritius and Seychelles, Jude Padayachy was the principal strategic information adviser at the UNAIDS Headquarters in Geneva from 2013 to 2017. He has served in the same function from 2010 to 2013 in the UNAIDS multicountry office for Madagascar, Comoros, Mauritius and Seychelles, and from 2003 to 2007 in UNAIDS South Africa.
Representative, ad interim, to Kenya, Eritrea, Seychelles and South Sudan, Ms. Bucyana

Kawira Bucyana

UNIDO
Representative, ad interim, to Kenya, Eritrea, Seychelles and South Sudan
k.bucyana@unido.org
 
 
Kawira Bucyana is an industrial development officer with specialization in agri­-business development and over 17 years of experience in international development particularly in agri-business and agro-industry development. Prior to her current post, Kawira served as the Deputy to the Representative, UNIDO Regional Office in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and Officer in Charge of UNIDO Office in South Sudan. She has also served as an industrial development officer involved in the promotion of inclusive and sustainable industrial development in developing countries and economies in transition. During this period, she also provided technical assistance in the implementation of agri-business programmes and projects in Asia, South America and Africa.
Director of the office for Eastern Africa of the UN Economic Commission for Africa, Ms. KEITA

Mama Keita

UN ECA
Director for Eastern Africa
keita11@un.org
 
 
Mama Keita is the Director of the office for Eastern Africa of the UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), based in Kigali, Rwanda. She holds a Masters in Statistics and Applied Economics from ENSEA, Abidjan in Côte d'Ivoire and a PhD in Economics from the University of Montreal, Canada. She has worked in the field of development economics for over 20 years. Prior to her employment at UNECA, Mama Keita held positions as Economic Advisor to the Prime Minister of Guinea and as Economist at the World Bank in Burkina Faso. She was also a lecturer of public economics and development economics in Canada.
Maxime Houinato

Maxime Houinato

UN Women
Regional Director for Eastern and Southern Africa Regional Office
maxime.houinato@unwomen.org
 
 
Maxime has been UN Women’s Country Representative in Uganda since 2018 where he contributed to a significant growth of programme through the successful implementation of a robust resource mobilization strategy. Before going to Uganda, Maxime has also served as UN Women's Deputy Regional Director of WCARO (6 years: 2008-2014 in Dakar) and Country Representative in Mali (4 years: 2014-2018 in Bamako). Maxime has been an active member of the UN Regional Quality & Support Assurance (QSA) Team of the UNDG in West Africa, and a key contributor to UN’s "Deliver as One" (DaO) model. He has supported the design and implementation of a series of positive legislation, public policies, and large-scale programmes to promote women’s leadership, the involvement of women in business and critical value-chains as well as ending violence against women and girls. Maxime holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Abomey-Calavi University in Benin, a Master of Arts (MA) in International Development from Brandeis University in the US and a Doctorate (PhD) in Applied Sociology from Cheikh Anta Diop University in Senegal.
Monique Ekoko

Monique Ekoko

UNHCR
Representative of the South Africa Multi-Country Office (SAMCO)
ekoko@unhcr.org
 
 
Monique Ekoko is a Cameroonian national and is the newly appointed Representative of the South Africa Multi-Country Office (SAMCO) based in Pretoria, South Africa that was established as a result of UNHCR’s Decentralisation and Regionalisation process.
Ms. Ekoko has just ended her mission as Representative of the UNHCR Multi-Country (MCO Office) in Dakar, Senegal which she has headed since March 2020. Previously, she was Representative in Malawi from July 2015 to December 2019 and prior to that she served as Deputy Representative to the UNHCR Representation to the African Union and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (RAUECA) based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Ms Ekoko joined UNHCR in 1993 and has gained 29 solid years of experience working with UNHCR in various capacities including holding several managerial positions. She has served UNHCR in many countries namely Kenya, Serbia, Switzerland, South Africa, Botswana, Pakistan, Ethiopia, and Malawi mostly working in the areas of legal protection and policy.
Ms Ekoko has a passion for working with marginalised groups including asylum seekers and refugees and has championed this cause in most of her assignments.
She holds a bachelor’s degree (LLB) in English Private Law, a post-graduate Diploma in International Shipping Law, and a Master’s degree (LLM) in International Maritime Law from the University the University of Yaoundé, Cameroon and the from University of London in the United Kingdom respectively.
Neil Walsh

Neil Walsh

UNODC
Regional Representative Eastern Africa
neil.walsh@un.org
 
 
Neil Walsh joined the United Nations in January 2016 and, since December 2021, is Regional Representative for UNODC in Eastern Africa based in Nairobi, Kenya.Neil is Head of Mission for 13 countries in the East Africa and Western Indian Ocean Region. He and his staff deliver the UN Office on Drugs and Crime’s Strategic Vision for Africa's response to crime, corruption, terrorism, security and health threats. From 2016-2021, Neil led UNODC's global Cybercrime, Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Financing of Terrorism Department in Vienna.Prior to joining UNDOC, Neil served for over 15 years, leading covert operations in the UK National Crime Agency countering international serious organised crime and terrorism including long-term postings to Europol HQ in The Hague, Netherlands, and the British High Commission in Valletta, Malta. Neil is 43, comes from Belfast, Northern Ireland and is married with 4 young children. He holds a B.Sc. (Hons) in Psychology & Criminology and an M.Sc. in Criminal Investigation. He is also an experienced Emergency Medical Technician. In his spare time, Neil advocates for bowel cancer (colorectal cancer), brain hemorrhage, sepsis, pulmonary embolism, and crohn’s disease awareness (having survived all of these conditions).
Oumar Sylla

Oumar Sylla

UN-Habitat
Acting Director of the Regional Office for Africa
oumar.sylla@un.org
 
 
Oumar has more than 18 years of academic and practical experience in land, natural resources, conflict resolution, urban development, regional cooperation and partnership. Prior to being appointed as Acting Director for the Regional Office for Africa, Oumar was coordinator of the Urban Legislation, Land and Governance Branch within UN-Habitat. As the Leader of the Land and GLTN Unit, Oumar has led the efforts towards improving tenure security for the vulnerable through the expansion of GLTN’s work at the country level; advocating for wider incorporation of land governance in the overall SDGs agenda towards bridging the gap between rural and urban land nexus, and to build strong partnership on land governance.
Rex Mpazanje

Rex Mpazanje

WHO
Representative
mpazanjer@who.int
 
 
Rex Mpazanje is the WHO Country Representative to Seychelles; a position held since 24 April 2022. Rex comes from Malawi. His key areas of expertise include health emergencies preparedness & response, communicable & non-communicable diseases control, health sector leadership, health services management, health sector policy & planning, and medical practice. Hence, his career spans medical practice, district health management, national health planning, clinical/population services directorate headship in Malawi; health program development consulting across 5 countries (i.e. South Africa, Botswana, Swaziland, Zimbabwe, and Kenya); HIV programming advisory (Kenya & Nigeria), communicable & non-communicable diseases control coordination (Nigeria), emergency preparedness & response coordination and COVID-19 incident management (Nigeria) in WHO. His main academic qualifications include a diploma in medical sciences (Scotland), a bachelor’s degree in medicine and surgery (UK & Malawi), a postgraduate certificate in public health/environment disaster preparedness & response (Japan), and a master’s degree in business administration in health policy, planning and management (UK).
Rose Mwebaza

Rose Mwebaza

UNEP
Director and Regional Representative for Africa
mwebaza@un.org
 
 
Prior to taking up her role as the Director and Regional Representative of UNEP Africa Office, Ms. Rose Mwebaza served as the Director and Advisory Board Secretary of the United Nations Climate Technology Centre & Network (CTCN), the implementation arm of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Technology Mechanism.

Ms. Mwebaza was a lecturer at Makerere University between 1997 and 2008 where she also served as the Head of Department for Commercial Law, and Deputy Dean of the Law School. She then served as the Regional Policy Adviser for Eastern and Southern Africa on Climate Change in the Environment and Energy Group, at the United Nations Development Programme Bureau for Development Policy in Johannesburg, South Africa. She later served as Programme Manager for UNDP’s regional office for Africa in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where she was also designated as Advisor to the Chairperson of the African Union and Advisor to the Committee of Heads of State and Government on Climate Change. Rose then joined the banking sector and served as Chief Natural Resources Officer at the African Development Bank in Abidjan, Ivory Coast.

Ms. Mwebaza holds a Ph.D. in Environment and Natural Resource Governance from Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia; a master’s degree in international Comparative Law (With a Certificate of Academic Excellence) from the University of Florida, U.S.A, and a Bachelor of Laws Degree (LL. B, Hons.) from Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda. She is a Carl Duisburg Research fellow at the World Conservation Union (IUCN), a member of the UN Master Minds, a Member of the Association of Environmental Law Lecturers in Africa, and a founding member of the Network for African Women Environmentalists.
Director of Regional Office, Shaukat Abdulrazak

Shaukat Abdulrazak

IAEA
Director of Regional Office
s.abdulrazak@iaea.org
 
 
Shaukat Abdulrazak facilitates IAEA technical cooperation support to 46 countries in Africa. Before joining the IAEA, Shaukat worked as CEO at the Kenya National Commission for Science, Technology and Innovation. He has more than 25 years working experience as a professor and university administrator, chairman and member of national and international boards, including the African Technology Policy Studies (ATPS), the Kenya National Economic Social Council, the African Commission on Nuclear Energy and the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology.