Our Team in Seychelles

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.

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.

Alia Hirji has joined the Mission to Mauritius and Seychelles from the IOM Sudan where she was based since July 2020. Previous workstations with IOM included Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda and the Maldives.
Alia’s educational background spans from a Master’s Degree in Women Studies and a Graduate Diploma in Refugee and Migration Studies from York University in Toronto, Canada. Alia looks back on more than 17 years of practical experience within IOM in providing direct assistance to vulnerable migrants specifically in the areas of counter-trafficking and migrant protection.

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.

Mr. Abbashar was appointed as the Chief of the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), Regional Office for Africa in 2016. From 2010 to 2015, he was the Chief of the UNDRR Regional Office for Arab States in Cairo, Egypt.
Mr. Abbashar began his United Nations career in the early 1990’s serving as Programme Officer with the UNDP Emergency Unit in Sudan dealing with Operation Lifeline Sudan.

From 1995 - 1997 he served as Field Coordinator in the Department of Humanitarian Affairs in Monrovia during the Liberian civil war, and from 1998 to 1999 he was assigned as Deputy Head office in OCHA Sierra Leone.
He joined the Policy Development and Studies Branch at OCHA Headquarters in New York in 1999, serving as a Humanitarian Affairs Officer focusing on inter- governmental matters related to the Security Council, the General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council.

From 2004 - 2005, Mr. Abbashar served as the Chief of Staff of OCHA. Later- in 2006, he was Chief of the Policy Planning and Analyses Section where he focused on developing policies related to humanitarian affairs and their interface with the UN’s development, political and peacekeeping agendas. In 2006 he helped establish the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF).

Later he was part of the small team that established United Nations Peace-building Support office and the Human Security Trust Fund.

Mr. Abbashar graduated from Khartoum University and obtained an MA in Development Studies from the University of East Anglia.

Anne-Rachel Inné is the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) Regional Director for Africa. She also serves as liaison to the African Union and UNECA.

Prior to joining ITU, she was the Senior Vice President of Government Affairs, at the American Registry for Internet Numbers (ARIN) and the primary link to Governments of US, Canada, and more than 25 Caribbean and North Atlantic economies that constitute ARIN’s region and the focal point for International IGOs, IOs and their work.

Immediately prior to working for ARIN, Anne-Rachel was the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)’s Vice President Government Engagement in Geneva, Switzerland, and worked for ICANN for 12 years in different policy and higher management positions.

She also worked as the Chief Operations Officer (COO) of the Africa Regional Registry, AFRINIC, taking care of the total registry operations, and governments’ engagement in the Registry’s public policies process.

Anne-Rachel worked at the IICD in The Hague, Netherlands (1998-2001) as several African, Caribbean and South American countries’ programme manager directing multi sector social development projects that were early adopters of ICT/Internet. She produced and publicized Learning by Doing: Lessons emerging from the ICT
Stories Projects for the benefits of the projects and the wider community.

She was a member of the Bureau of the African Group at the World Summit for Information Society (WSIS), as a representative of the African private sector and a member of the Gender Coalition during WSIS with which she helped write Creating Your Own National Gender Programme – A Practical Guide

Anne-Rachel was an entrepreneur and consultant in the ICT4D for several years in developing economies and worked with African Union and UNECA on the African Information Society Initiative and subsequent NICI plans.

She was featured as ICT Expert in the ILO/IOM book for the AUC: African Women at the Service of the Union and a recipient of several awards for her demonstrated immense commitment and continued engagement with African communities.

She is the Chair or member of the Board of several NGOs that work in Digital Skills, Diplomacy in the digital age, African languages and ICTs and is the initiator/participant to several other initiatives around education and Internet/ICTs for Africa, by Africans.

Mr. Ashish Shah has been working at the International Trade Centre (ITC) for 23 years in different capacities and is a member of its Senior Management Team. He currently serves as Director, Division of Country Programmes and previously held the post of Acting Deputy Executive Director. He has also spent several years in the Office for Africa, Office for Arab States, the Office of the Executive Director, where he was head of strategic planning, monitoring and evaluation. Prior to joining ITC, he worked first at the International Labour Office in Geneva and then at the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) for 6 years.

Mr. Shah brings with him 30 years of international and United Nations experience in the field of trade promotion and development working with policy makers, business support institutions and SMEs across the globe, particularly in Africa, Asia and the Arab Region.

He has extensive experience both in operations and strategic planning, resource mobilization, project design and management, client management and negotiations. He currently leads a team of over 200 people.
Mr. Shah leads, inter alia, ITC’s Innovation Lab. He is also the focal point for donor relations with two of ITC’s biggest donors.

An Indian national, Mr. Shah holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics from Jadavpur University, Calcutta, a Master’s degree in Cooperative Economics and a PhD in Economics from Philipps University of Marburg, Germany. He is fluent in several languages.

Based in Nairobi, Kenya, effective August 2024 Ms. Ashita Mittal oversees UNODC programs in 13 countries, including Kenya, Burundi, Comoros, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Madagascar, Mauritius, Rwanda, Seychelles, Somalia, Tanzania, and Uganda. Prior to this position, she served as the Regional Representative for the UNODC Regional Office for Central Asia, based in Tashkent, from September 2014 until July 2024. In this role, she covered Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan and provided technical support to UNODC programs in the Southern Caucasus.

Ms. Mittal has extensive experience, having joined UNODC in 1995. Before that, she worked with the World Food Programme in India as well as with civil society on drug and HIV programs and with street and working children. Ms. Mittal has over 38 years of development experience, including 29 years with UNODC focusing on areas such as counter-narcotics, transnational organized crimes, the rule of law, criminal justice and penitentiary reforms, addressing gender-based violence, anti-corruption, and prevention and counter-terrorism. Her work is characterized by a nuanced approach incorporating rights, health, gender, inclusion, and sustainable development perspectives.

She holds a graduate degree in psychology and a master's degree in social work from Delhi University in India. She is a recipient of a Fulbright Fellowship, USA from 1989 to 1990.

As Regional Director for Southern Africa, Mr. El Nour is responsible and accountable for providing policy direction and guidance on programme, management, administrative and financial oversight and support to IOM Country Offices in the Southern Africa Region, as well as overall management of the Regional Office, which covers 15 countries, namely Angola, Botswana, Comoros, Democratic Republic of Congo, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Eswatini, Zambia and Zimbabwe. In his capacity, the

Regional Director, also overseas relations with the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC), the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and the Indian Ocean Commission (IOC). He actively participates as a member of the United Nations Regional Director Group for the East and Southern Africa.

Other key stakeholders in the region for which the Regional Director works with are migrant communities, national governments, United Nations (UN) agencies, regional organizations and institutions, as well as non- governmental organizations (NGOs) and civil society organizations (CSOs), the research communities and donor agencies.

In addition, the beneficiaries of IOM’s programmatic interventions in Southern Africa include regional bodies, central and local government stakeholders, community leaders and members, the diaspora, NGOs and CSOs, as well as refugees, irregular migrants, internally displaced persons, returnees and trafficked persons.

Mr. El Nour has 25 years of work experience in diverse positions at both headquarters and field level; working on policy development as well as crisis management and post conflict recovery. Prior to his current appointment, Mr. El Nour was the Director of the IOM Office to the United Nations in New York (May 2015 until May 2022), IOM’s Regional Director for East and Horn of Africa from 2013-2015, Regional Representative for East and Central Africa from 2007 to 2012 and a Special Assistant with the Office of the Director General from 2006 to 2007. He has also worked with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) as a Senior Recovery Adviser at the Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery in Geneva. Mr. El Nour started his career in 1989 at CARE International before joining IOM in 1991.

Born in Khartoum in 1963, Mr El Nour holds a master’s degree in political science from Aligarh Muslim University in India.

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.

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.

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.

Mr. Haitian Lu leads the Capacity Development Programme Management Office (CDPMO) of DESA. The Office manages and coordinates the capacity development function of the Department through the formulation, coordination and implementation of the Department’s capacity development activities for the coherent and integrated delivery of capacity development programmes, projects and other activities and the promotion of direct and effective translation of intergovernmental outcomes into the operation programmes. The Office supports the Under-Secretary-General in his role as Programme Manager of the United Nations Development Account, and in promoting strategic cooperation and partnerships within the Secretariat and with the Account, and in promoting strategic cooperation and partnerships within the Secretariat and with the United Nations development system at large, including the resident coordinator system, to promote more coherent, coordinated and cross-sectoral support for the implementation of the two agendas.

Ms. Addou has been UN Women Country Representative to Tanzania since April 2018 and has over 30 years of international development experience in promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment, with a focus on Africa and the Caribbean States.

Ms. Addou has an extensive experience in working with civil society, governments and regional organizations supporting their capacity building needs on policy formulation and program implementation. She has also supported UN inter-agency coordination mechanisms both at headquarters, regional and country level to deliver more effectively on gender equality commitments.

Prior to her assignment in Tanzania, she was Country Representative to Uganda, Zimbabwe, and Sudan. She held other functions with UNIFEM/UN Women as policy advisor, program coordinator and manager, supporting several country offices and regional programs in East, Central, Southern and West Africa.

Before joining UN Women, Ms. Addou worked with UNDP in New York, as Senior Gender & Crisis Prevention and Recovery Advisor. She has also worked with the World Bank in Washington D.C. on education sector reform policy issues in West Africa and in the Caribbean States.

She holds a master’s degree from Columbia University in New York on Economic and Political Development and a BA Degree in History from The American University in Washington, D.C.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Mr. Nikhil Seth joined UNITAR as its Executive Director on Oct 1, 2015. During his term UNITAR has grown significantly in the number of beneficiaries of its services and its work has been aligned to the pillars of the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs.
Before assuming the post of the UNITAR Executive Director, Nikhil Seth was the Director of the Division for Sustainable Development, Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) at the United Nations Secretariat in New York. In this role he served as head of the Rio+20 secretariat and of the secretariat for the Third International Conference on Small Island Developing States, spearheading the preparations for these conferences in Rio, Brazil, and Apia, Samoa. He was also closely engaged in coordinating and advancing their follow-up.
In the United Nations Mr. Seth served as the Director for ECOSOC, Secretary of the Economic and Financial Committee (2nd Committee), Secretary of ECOSOC and with the USG of DESA. He was closely involved with many of the Summits and Conferences of the 1990’s – as a delegate from India and as part of the support secretariat.

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.

Pedro Manuel Moreno of Spain was named Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) by the United Nations Secretary-General on 4 November 2022.
He has over 20 years of experience of working for multilateral and intergovernmental organizations in programme, management and strategic positions both in the field and in headquarters.
Mr. Moreno’s extensive experience includes having worked as Deputy Secretary-General of the Communication for Development Committee at the Spanish Commission for UNESCO (1999-2004) and for the UN Development Programme (2004-2014), including in Ecuador, in New York as part of the Human Development Report team and in the Regional Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean. He helped drive UN Human Development Reports and supported programmes on poverty eradication, Millennium Development Goals as well as human development initiatives.
In 2014, he was appointed Director of the Cabinet of the Ibero-American General Secretariat in Madrid, an intergovernmental organization bringing together 22 member states of Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean. He coordinated key political processes such as summits of heads of state in Mexico (2014), Colombia (2016), Guatemala (2018) and Andorra (2020), over 30 ministerial summits and South-South cooperation projects in the region.
In September 2021 he was named Chief of Staff and Director of the Office of UNCTAD’s Secretary-General.
Mr. Moreno holds a master’s degree in public policy and political sociology from the Ecole Doctorale at the Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris (Sciences Po) and a master’s degree in international cooperation and project management from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid. He has a bachelor’s degree with honors in political communications and international relations. He has taught at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid and completed specialized training at Columbia University and other institutions.
Mr. Moreno was awarded the Cross of the Royal Order of Isabel la Católica, the highest civil decoration granted by the King of Spain to people who have made outstanding contributions to the improvement of cooperation among countries.
He is fluent in English, French, Spanish and Italian.

Mr Rainer Frauenfeld is the Director of UNOPS, Kenya Multi-Country Office (KEMC). He was previously the Adviser for Risk Reduction and Recovery in UNOPS HeadQuarters in Copenhagen.

Rainer began his career with the UN in Sri Lanka in 1996. He worked with multiple UN agencies primarily in conflict, disaster and emergency operations in Asia, Africa and Central America – including, Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Haiti, Indonesia, Kenya, Maldives, Pakistan, Philippines, Somalia, South Sudan and Sri Lanka. He has established and led several UNOPS offices and operations to help address both short and long-term requirements of conflict and disaster-affected people and countries. Prior to his full-time engagement with UNOPS, he worked on temporary assignments with UN, NGOs, donors and the private sector.

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).

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.