Our Team in Uganda

Leonard Zulu has been the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Uganda since 1 November 2024.

Mr. Zulu has more than 20 years of experience in humanitarian action, development, peacebuilding, human rights, and the protection of refugees, asylum-seekers and stateless persons.

Prior to his appointment in Uganda, Mr. Zulu served as the UNHCR Representative in Afghanistan, where he led and coordinated the agency’s operations. Prior to that, he worked as UNHCR Representative for the South Africa Multi-Country Office (2020-2022) and Deputy Director of the Regional Bureau for Southern Africa (2019-2020). He also served in Kenya, Hungary, Serbia and Zimbabwe, as well as at UNHCR Headquarters in Geneva.

Mr. Zulu has a master’s degree in international law from Lund University and a Bachelor of Laws Honours Degree from the University of Zimbabwe.

Mr. Zulu is married and has three children.

Mr. Matthew Crentsil, a national of Ghana with over 30 years work experience in the United Nations took on his appointment on 1 July 2022 as UNHCR Representative in Uganda, the organization's biggest refugee operation in Africa and the third biggest in the world.

Before his appointment in Uganda, he was Director of UNHCR's Business Transformation Programme at UNHCR
Headquarters in Geneva. He also served as UNHCR's Representative in Venezuela from August 2018 to May 2021 and
as Deputy Representative in Rwanda and Ethiopia (2013 – 2018). Mr. Crentsil has also worked for UNHCR in different capacities in Finance, Administration, Programme, and Operations Management in several countries in Africa (including Guinea, South Sudan, Ghana, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Nigeria); Latin America – as Regional Programme/Admin Officer for Central America and based in Mexico City); Europe (UNHCR Headquarters in Geneva as Senior Desk Officer for Central Africa and the Great Lakes Region); Asia (Admin/Finance Officer in Kandahar, Afghanistan).

Before Joining UNHCR in March 1994, Mr. Crentsil served as Principal Liaison Officer of the erstwhile National Mobilization Programme (now National Disaster Management Organization) in Ghana from 1992 to 1994 and briefly with the Ministry of Agriculture (on national service from 1989 to 1991). He holds a Master's Degree in Agronomic
Engineering from the University of Ciego de Avila, Cuba, and an MBA from the University of Phoenix, Arizona, USA.

Mr. Crentsil speaks English, French, and Spanish and is married with three children.

Dr. Robin Nandy has been the UNICEF Representative and Head of Office in the Republic of Uganda since October 2024. He is responsible for directing all of UNICEF’s operations in the country, within a broader United Nations Country team.

During 2021-2024, he held a similar role as UNICEF Representative in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Prior to this he served as the Principal Adviser and Chief of Immunizations at UNICEF Headquarters during 2015-2021, directing UNICEF’s global immunization efforts, including the early stages of the COVID-19 vaccine rollout in 2021. Additionally, from 2011 - 2015, he was the Chief of Child Survival and Development in UNICEF Indonesia. Before his position in Indonesia, Dr Nandy led the Global Polio Eradication Initiative at UNICEF Headquarters from 2010-2011 and was the team lead for Health in Emergencies from 2006 - 2011.

Dr. Nandy is a medical epidemiologist and public health physician with an extensive background international public health, particularly in the areas of child survival, immunization, outbreak response and in multisectoral humanitarian responses. He has worked in several countries affected by conflict and humanitarian emergencies and has participated in several high-profile emergency responses, including, the Kosovo crisis, Hurricane Katrina in the USA, the Indian Ocean Tsunami in Indonesia, the Haiti earthquake, and Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar.

Before joining UNICEF, he worked from 2002 - 2006 as a medical epidemiologist at the Global Immunization Division of the US Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta. From 1998 - 2002 he worked at both the country and headquarters level with the International Rescue Committee (IRC), and for the Indian government in the Republic of Maldives. He also spent four years as a Medical Officer in various hospitals in Delhi, India, from 1990-1994.

An Indian national by birth, Dr Nandy obtained his medical degree from Mysore University, India (1990) followed by an MPH at the Nuffield Institute for Health, Leeds, UK (1996). He also an alumni of the Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) at the CDC (2002-2004).

Ms. Nwanne Vwede-Obahor is the United Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP) Resident Representative for Uganda. In this position she represents, leads, and is accountable for harnessing and directing the full potential of UNDP’s capabilities and associated partnerships, in support of national development goals and strategies in Uganda.

Prior to this, Ms. Vwede-Obahor served as the Director Program and Team Leader of the Implementation Support Unit for the UN Integrated Strategy for the Sahel (UNISS) in the Office of the UN Special Coordinator for Development in the Sahel. She has also served as the Regional Representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) for East Africa, as well as the OHCHR Representative to the African Union and UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA).

Ms. Vwede-Obahor has over 20 years of progressive working experience in various sectors, UN Sierra Leone Resident Coordinator’s Office, UN Mission in South Sudan, UN Afghanistan Assistance Mission, UN-African Union Hybrid Mission in Darfur, UNDP Liberia, international organizations, private sector, and non-profit sector. She has expertise in development, governance, peacebuilding, humanitarian issues, resilience, stabilization, human rights, gender, conflict prevention, and provision of basic and social services.

Ms. Vwede-Obahor has extensive experience in management, business operations, coordination including of multi-agency activities/programs within and beyond the UN System, organizational leadership, policy development, results-based programming, including joint programming, advocacy, partnership building, and resource mobilization.

Ms. Vwede-Obahor holds a bachelor’s degree in English Language and Literature, an LLB in Law, an MPA in Public Policy and Administration and an MSc in Political Science.

Ms. Jacqueline Makokha has served the UNAIDS Country Director for Uganda since June 2022. Overall, she has over 30 years of experience in senior management roles within the UN and civil society. Prior to her assignment in Uganda, Ms. Makokha served as the UNAIDS Country Director for Lesotho from June 2019 – June 2022. Before that she worked as Senior Policy and Strategy Adviser with the UNAIDS Regional Support Team for Eastern and Southern Africa from September 2018 to June 2019 and as Senior Community Support Adviser from June 2013 to August 2018. Ms. Makokha has also worked with the UN in Zambia and Kenya in various technical roles.

Prior to her career with the UN, Ms Makokha worked for projects under the University of Nairobi including the Regional AIDS Training Network and the Network of AIDS Researchers of Eastern and Southern Africa. She provided technical assistance to over 18 AIDS training and allied institutions in this role. Ms. Makokha is currently pursuing a PhD and holds an MA in Rural Sociology and Community Development from the University of Nairobi and a BA in Sociology and History from Kenyatta University. She is a citizen of Kenya and mother to four children.

Dr. Kasonde Mwinga has been World Health Organization (WHO) Country Representative to Uganda since 15 January 2025.

Previously, she was the Director of Universal Health Coverage, Life Course Cluster (from May 2021 to 14 January 2025) in the WHO Africa Regional Office, based in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo. In this role, she led WHO experts to facilitate the improvement of health and well-being of populations of different ages using people-centred health systems to achieve universal health coverage in Africa. Her work put women, children, adolescents, and older persons at the heart of health service delivery. She led teams to support African Member States to improve systems including
adequate health policy and planning, robust health financing systems, skilled and motivated health workforce, required medicines, technologies and infrastructure and reliable information to monitor progress.

Dr. Mwinga served in various WHO country and regional office positions. She served as WHO Country Representative to Rwanda from 2019 to 2021. She was also the WHO India Team Leader from 2016 to 2019, for promoting health through the life course. Before joining WHO in 2001, Dr. Mwinga was a consultant paediatrician in the University Teaching Hospital in Zambia. She also worked as an honorary lecturer and researcher in the University of Zambia.

Dr. Mwinga holds a Master of Public Health from the University of Alabama at Birmingham (USA), a Master in Paediatrics from University of Zambia and a Health Management diploma from the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom.

Ms. Kristine Blokhus, a Norwegian national, has been the UNFPA Representative in Uganda since September 2025.She has over 20 years of experience in international development and humanitarian response. She was previously UNFPA Representative in Bangladesh, where she led UNFPA’s development and humanitarian efforts, including in the Rohingya refugee response, focusing on sexual and reproductive health and rights, gender-based violence, adolescent and youth empowerment, and population data for development.

Prior to this, she served as UNFPA Representative to the State of Palestine for three years, overseeing development and humanitarian work across the West Bank and Gaza. She previously worked as Deputy Representative at the UNFPA office in Nepal. She has also held leadership roles with UNFPA and UNDP country offices in South and South-East Asia, Central America and the Caribbean, the Balkans, and within UNDP’s Regional Bureau for Europe and the CIS in New York.

Before joining the UN, she worked at the International Planned Parenthood Federation and in research roles in academia and international development consulting firms in the UK and Norway. Ms. Blokhus holds a Master’s Degree in Development Studies from the London School of Economics and a double bachelor’s degree in Political Science and French from the University of Warwick. She speaks English, French, and Spanish, in addition to her native Norwegian.

Ms. Lauren Landis commenced her duties as Representative and Country Director for the World Food Programme (WFP) in Uganda on 1 July 2025.

Ms. Landis has spent her career working in the field of relief and development. She began in 1985 working for OCHA (then UNDRO) in Geneva, Switzerland. She then took on assignments in Washington and in Africa working as a Disaster Operations Specialist and as an Emergency Operations Coordinator for the U.S. Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance within the Agency for International Development.

In1993, Ms. Landis turned her efforts to the NGO sector. From 1993 to 1995, she worked for InterAction, a coalition of U.S. based NGOs, as a Programme Officer. In 1995, Ms. Landis moved to Save the Children where she served for the next seven years in various assignments including Director of Humanitarian Response, and Director of the Food Security Unit.

In 2002, Ms. Landis returned to the U.S Government to take up the position of Director of the Office of Food for Peace within the U.S. Agency for International Development. Subsequently, Ms. Landis transitioned to the U.S. Department of State in 2006, where she served as the Senior Representative on Sudan.

Her returning to the UN in 2009, Ms. Landis served in Rome, Italy, for three years as Chief of Staff and Director of the Office of the Executive Director for the World Food Programme. Following that assignment, she became the Director of the World Food Programme Geneva Office, from 2011 until 2013. From 2013 to 2016, Ms. Landis served as the WFP Country Representative and Director in Chad. In mid-2016, she returned to Rome, Italy to take up an appointment as WFP’s Director of Nutrition.

In March 2020, Ms. Landis was appointed Representative and Country Director for the WFP Kenya Country Office. In Kenya, Ms. Landis led major humanitarian and development initiatives, including targeted cash assistance during COVID-19 and emergency support for over a million people affected by droughts and floods. She maintained refugee assistance amid growing challenges, promoted climate resilience in arid regions, and strengthened livelihoods through local partnerships. She initiated a debt conversion project to enhance development funding and provide debt relief to the Kenyan Government. She also oversaw key logistics operations in the Mombasa Corrirdor, and held leadership roles within the UN Country Team.

Mr. Paulin Djomo joined the United Nations Regional Service Centre Entebbe (RSCE) on December 18, 2017.

Prior to his assignment in Uganda, Mr. Djomo dedicated 22 years to the United Nations, contributing to the implementation of mandates across various UN entities, including the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) under the UNV programme. He also held the position of Chief of Mission Support for the Office of the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Yemen (OSESGY) in Jordan.

A Cameroonian national, Mr. Djomo holds a Law degree from the University of Yaoundé and a master’s degree in leadership and management from York St John University in London.

With extensive experience in Administration and management, Mr. Djomo has made significant contributions while serving at the UN Secretariat in New York. He participated in several working groups and strategic and technical assessment teams, providing strategic guidance to field operations in administration and management. He played a key role in the establishment of the RSCE under the Global Field Support Strategy (GFSS) initiative, which he now leads.

Ms. Paulina Chiwangu became the UN Women Country Representative in Uganda in August 2022. Paulina has a Doctorate in Philosophy and over 20 year’s extensive experience in development and humanitarian work. Paulina has served as Deputy Country Representative with UN Women in South Sudan and as Deputy Country Representative for the UN Women Iraq Country Office, as well as Head of KRG Sub-Office. Before joining UN Women Iraq, she worked with UN Women Bosnia and Herzegovina as a Head of Gender Coordination for the UNDAF. She worked with UN Women in Serbia as interim Head of Office. Prior to that she was heading the UN Inter-Agency Joint Programme on Gender Equality and she was the Acting Country Representative for UN Women office in Uganda for one year. Before joining UN Women, she was the Head of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation, as well as Public Relations Unit for UNDP’s Police Reform Programme in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Other positions Paulina has held include Technical Advisor (Planning and Monitoring - consultant) for UNFPA, Southern Sudan; Coordination and Monitoring Advisor for UNDP, Zambia; Programme Coordinator for the Centre of Economic Governance and AIDS in Africa, based in South Africa; Deputy Course Director for the Department of Applied Social Studies, at Cork University College in Ireland; Programme Manager in Portland, Oregon, USA for Cascadia Behavioural & Development Healthcare Organisation. Paulina also worked as the head of a Multicultural Radio Programme for the Irish Broadcasting Company in Ireland.

Sanusi Tejan Savage has been the IOM Chief of Mission in Uganda since March 2020. From 2012 to 2019 he was Head of Office of IOM in Freetown, Sierra Leone. He has been with the Organization since 2001 and has acquired extensive experience in migration issues and IOM's programmes. He served as Operations Officer/ Interim Head of Sub-Office, IOM Liberia from 2011 to 2012. Prior to that from 2004 to 2011 he served as Operations Supervisor, IOM Sierra Leone in charge of United States Refugee Admissions Program, resettlements to Canada, Australia, and to European countries, and the Assisted Voluntary Return and Reintegration Programme.

Mr. Yergalem Taages Beraki, a national of Eritrea, was appointed FAO Representative to Uganda (ad interim) effective 18 April 2025.

Mr. Beraki brings over 15 years of extensive technical experience in food security and resilience programming, with a focus on livestock emergency, rehabilitation, and development across Eastern Africa and the Middle East. He has supported national and regional efforts in policy formulation, cross-border livestock programming, and food security and nutrition coordination.

He joined FAO in 2007 as a Food Security Analyst in the South Sudan Programme. Following the successful completion of a five-year institutional capacity development programme, he transferred to FAO Yemen in 2012 as a Project Coordinator and later to FAO Sudan in 2013 as a Technical Officer for the EU-funded Food Security Policy and Strategy Capacity Development Programme. After the programme’s completion, Mr. Beraki served at the FAO Subregional Office for Eastern Africa as a Food Security Technical Officer.

Mr. Beraki began his professional career with the Ministry of Agriculture in Ethiopia, serving in various roles at the provincial and zonal levels between 1986 and 1993. His responsibilities included crop production and protection, agricultural extension coordination, and horticultural production management. Upon returning to Eritrea, he held several key technical and coordination roles, including Country Representative and Food Security Analyst with USAID/FEWS NET (2003–2005). In 2006, Mr. Beraki joined Oxfam GB in Kenya as an International Food Security Advisor and Programme Coordinator, where he supported the establishment of community-based drought early warning systems in drought-prone pastoral areas.

He holds a master’s degree in agriculture (Food Security) from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, a master’s degree in animal production and nutrition from the University of Essex, United Kingdom and a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture (Plant Sciences) from Alemaya University of Agriculture, Ethiopia. He has also completed postgraduate certifications in Environmental Management (Denmark) and Rural Extension (Germany).

Amjad Abbashar is the Chief, United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) Regional Office for Africa, joining in 2016. From 2010-2015 Mr. Abbashar was the Chief of the UNDRR Regional Office for Arab States in Cairo, Egypt. He began his career with the UN, in the early 1990’s, with UNDP as a Programme Officer in Sudan. In 1995-1997 he served as a 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. From 2004-2005, Mr. Abbashar was the Chief of Staff of OCHA, and in 2006 was the Chief of the Policy Planning and Analyses Section. In 2006, he helped establish the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF).

Bruno Otto has been the Head of UNIDO Operations in Uganda since October 2009 having joined the United Nations System as a UN Volunteer in December 2004, where he served as the Institutional Development Advisor for the Private Sector Development programme, at UNDP. Prior to joining the United Nations, he served as a Lecturer of Accounting and international management at Kampala International University and CEO of Marie Stopes International Uganda. He also worked with Action Aid, Save the Children Denmark and the Refugee Law Project of Makerere University in various capacities in Finance, Programme Development, Managing Organizational Growth and change, and Marketing. He holds a Masters of Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Wales, UK, a Bachelor of Commerce (B.Com) from Makerere University Kampala.

Mr. Escipión Joaquin Oliveira-Gómez is the Director of ITC’s Division of Country Programmes (DCP). The DCP is responsible for country intelligence, country needs assessments, in-country resource mobilization, partnerships, coordination and project management of large multi-disciplinary projects. It also houses the Project Design Taskforce, ITC’s Innovation Lab, ITC’s Poor Communities and Trade Unit and ITC’s work around vulnerable migration and forced displacement

Escipión Joaquin Oliveira-Gómez has 30 years of experience in drafting, managing, supervising, and evaluating multi-donor programmes and projects. His work focuses on the creation, strengthening and internationalization of MSMEs and business support organizations. He previously served as Assistant Secretary General for Structural Economic Transformation and Trade of the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS). He was responsible for implementing the OACPS-European Union’s Private Sector Development Framework, with a portfolio of over 20 programmes with a budget exceeding 600 million euros.

James Grabert has worked for the United Nations Climate Change Secretariat (UNFCCC) for more than 20 years. He heads the Mitigation Division of the UNFCCC. Prior to 2006 he served as a greenhouse gas emissions specialist and worked in numerous expert groups of the United Nation's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Before joining the United Nations, he was an industry and regional analyst for the World Economic Forum in Geneva, Switzerland. Mr. Grabert holds a B.A. in Economics and International Relations from Wheaton College, Masters of International Economics from the Institut de Hautes Études Internationales in Geneva, and has undertaken post-graduate studies in management at Stanford University, University of Navarra (IESE) and London Business School, and in development at Harvard University.

Louise Haxthausen (Denmark) was appointed Director of the UNESCO Regional Office for Eastern Africa in Nairobi in September 2024. She previously served as UNESCO’s Representative to the European Union and Director of the Liaison Office in Brussels.

Ms. Haxthausen has worked on conflict and crisis response at country-level in Afghanistan and in Palestine, and as Director of the UNESCO Office for Iraq.

At UNESCO Headquarters, she has served in key roles including Focal Point for the Middle East in the Office of the Director-General, Senior Coordinator for Crisis Response in the Arab World within the Bureau of Field Coordination, and Senior Coordinator for Crisis and Transition Response in the Director-General’s Office.

Ms. Haxthausen joined UNESCO in 1993, starting her career as an Associate Expert in the Human Rights Division at the Organization’s Headquarters in Paris.

She has an academic background in political science and international public law.

Mr. Neil J. Walsh, a national of the United Kingdom, has 21 years of relevant substantive and managerial experience in national and international positions of increasing responsibility, including work in various countries on transnational organized crime and counter terrorism issues.

Within UNODC, Mr. Walsh has led programme development, partnership building and resource mobilization efforts both as Chief, Cybercrime and Anti-Money Laundering Section (since 2018), as well as Senior Expert, Cyber and Emerging Crimes, (2016-2018) with UNODC’s Division for Treaty Affairs (DTA).

Before joining UNODC, Mr. Walsh held various positions with the United Kingdom’s National Crime Agency, including: Law Enforcement Representative to the Republic of Malta and MENA Regional Director (2015-2016), Representative to Europol in The Netherlands (2011-2015); Special Assistant to the Chief & Deputy Chief Executives with the UK's Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre in London (2010-2011); and Staff Officer to the Director of Covert Operations (2009-2020). With the National Criminal Intelligence Service, he served as Team Manager Covert Human Intelligence Operations (2005-2009); Team Principal, Trafficking in Persons and Smuggling of Migrants teams (2004-2005); Intelligence Officer - Special Operations International (2002-2004); and Intelligence Analyst (2000-2002).

Mr. Walsh holds a BA in Psychology and a Master’s degree in Criminal Investigation from the University of Teeside, United Kingdom.

Pedro Manuel Moreno of Spain was named Deputy Secretary-General of UN 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.

Eugene Owusu Afrifa (Ph.D) has been UNDSS Security Adviser in Uganda since September 2022. Eugene is a security professional with over 30 years of experience. Eugene is a retired Army Officer, having served with the Ghana Army as an Airborne Infantry Officer for almost two decades where he also served as a Personal Staff Officer to the Presidential Security Coordinator at the Office of the President of the Republic of Ghana (2003 – 2006). Eugene has a military UN peacekeeping experience in Southern Lebanon, Sierra Leone, DR Congo, and Liberia.

As a UN Security Officer, Eugene served in Liberia as Chief of Close Protection Unit; Regional Security Coordinator (2011- 2013). He also served as Deputy Security Adviser in Haiti (2013-2014); Regional Operations Coordinator in Liberia during the Ebola Pandemic (2014). Eugene also served in Darfur Sudan as Field Security Coordination Officer and Senior Information Analyst (2015 – 2018). Prior to his deployment to Uganda, he was the UN Area Security Adviser of the Federal Capital Territory Abuja Nigeria (2018 -2022).

Eugene is a UNDSS certified Hostage Incident Manager and Security Information Analyst. Eugene holds a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Public Policy and Administration (Focus on Emergency Management) from the Walden University (USA); Master of Arts International Affairs from the University of Ghana; Bachelor of Arts in Political Science with Sociology from the University of Ghana; and a Diploma in Military Studies (Regular Career Course) from the Ghana Military Academy.

Eugene is also a graduate of the Ghana Armed Forces Command and Staff College (both Junior and Senior Divisions).

Andrew Mold is the Director at the office for East Africa of the Economic Commission for Africa in Kigali.

He has previously worked for the UN Secretariat in Chile and in Addis Ababa, and also for UNICEF in Costa Rica. He worked from 2008-2011 at the OECD Development Centre in Paris, where he was a Senior Economist and in charge of their flagship publication ‘Perspectives on Global Development: Shifting Wealth’.

From 2004-2009 he was editor of the European Journal of Development Research. Author of two books - ‘EU Development Policy in a Changing World – Challenges for the 21st Century’ (Amsterdam/Chicago University Press), and ‘Policy Ownership and Aid Conditionality in the Light of the Financial Crisis – A Critical Review’ (OECD, Paris).

Andrew has published in a wide number of journals, including the Journal of African Trade, Journal of International Development, the CEPAL Review, the African Development Review, Development, the Journal of Common Market Studies, and the Journal of Agricultural Economics. He is co-author (with Francis Mangeni) of the book ‘Borderless Africa - A Sceptic’s Guide to the Continental Free Trade Area’ (Hurst & Company/Oxford University Press, 2024).

He has a Masters in Economics and Politics of Development from Cambridge University, and a Ph.D. in Economics from the Complutense University of Madrid. His Ph.D. thesis was on the role of American multinationals in processes of regional integration.

Mohamed El Ghazaly is the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) Country Director in Uganda. With over 22 years of professional experience in development and having worked in more than 20 countries he brings proven experience in programme management, rural development, research and monitoring and evaluation. Prior to this he served as the Acting IFAD Country Director for Egypt, the largest IFAD portfolio in Near East, North Africa, Europe & Central Asia (NEN) for almost two years. El Ghazaly also served in various positions in IFAD including country programme officer for Egypt and Syria and a Monitoring and Evaluation consultant. Before joining IFAD, El-Ghazaly was vice president of El-Zanaty & Associates a private sector firm in the field of research, consultancy and evaluation. He led the firms work on evaluating the agriculture sector in Egypt.

El-Ghazaly holds a MBA in Business Administration from the Arab Academy of Science and Technology (Egypt) and B.Sc. in Foreign Trade from Helwan University, Egypt.

Dr. Rose Mwebaza previously 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.

Rose 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.

Rose 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.

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.

Mr. Toily Kurbanov (Russian Federation) took up his assignment as the Executive Coordinator of the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme in January 2021.

Prior to this, Toily worked as the Deputy Executive Coordinator of UN Volunteers since 2016 and played an important role in positioning UNV in the context of the 2030 Agenda and UN reform.

With over twenty-five years of leadership experience at the international and national level, his expertise includes a range of critical areas, including sustainable development and public policy in countries in transition and fragile contexts, as well as strategic partnerships and organizational transformation.

In his role as Executive Coordinator of UNV, Toily is advocating for volunteerism as a powerful and cross-cutting means of implementing the 2030 Agenda and providing strategic leadership of UNV as a global system-wide service in the United Nations. Before joining UNV, Toily worked at UNDP as Country Director in Myanmar (2012-2016), Deputy Resident Representative in Fiji and Pacific Island Countries (2007-2012) and at the Headquarters (2004-2006). Prior to that, he had a distinguished career in banking, government, and diplomacy in Central Asia and the South Caucasus.

Toily holds master’s degrees in Public Administration from Harvard University and in Economics from Russian Economic University. He speaks English and Russian. Toily is married and has three children.

Rainer Frauenfeld is the Director of UNOPS Kenya Multi-Country Office (KEMC). He was previously Adviser for Risk Reduction and Recovery at UNOPS Head Quarters in Copenhagen. He began his career with the UN, as a JPO at UNDP in Sri Lanka in 1996. In 1998, he joined UNOPS and subsequently he worked with number of UN agencies in East Timor, Ethiopia, Haiti and Afghanistan. In early 2005, he moved to Sri Lanka to re-establish and then run the UNOPS office after the Indian Ocean Tsunami struck. In early 2010, after the earthquake in Haiti, he led the first phase of the UNOPS emergency response in Haiti. He has also supported UNOPS in Afghanistan, Indonesia and the Maldives.

Caroline Mugalla is ILO Director overseeing the East African Region; Tanzania, Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi and Uganda. She commenced the role 1 January 2024.

Ms. Mugalla began her career as a junior officer at the Central Organisation of Trade Unions in Kenya in 2005 serving under different responsibilities that included, gender and training, social dialogue and good governance, and productivity until 2009.

She joined the East Africa Trade Union Confederation (EATUC) as a lobby, advocacy and Public Relations Officer a position she held until 2013 when she was appointed the first ever female to head a sub-regional trade union organisation in Africa, with a membership of over 5.4 million.

In her position as the Executive Director of EATUC she was tasked with overseeing all aspects of union coordination, organisation, and leadership for underrepresented workers while maintaining compliance with established regulations and ensuring adherence to best practices and guidelines in the EAC region.

She has had extensive experience in social dialogue in the East Africa Community, political policy advocacy, spearheading vision and resource mobilization, strategy, and execution of trade unions and labour organisations policy advocacy work representing the voice of workers at high level forums nationally and internationally.

She was a distinguished Executive Director, Board member and labour relations specialist. She has served in many leadership roles for which she has been recognized locally and internationally.

A finalist of the 2015 CFC Bank Rising Star Awards, Service: Public and Private, she featured in the Netherlands in the FNV Magazine 2020 as a top Woman Trade Unionist Leader worldwide and in Kenya as women movers and shakers in the trade union movement.

She is currently a member of the World Economic Forum Joint Trade and Labour Steering Group and an Evaluator of the Prince Talal International Prize by the Arab Gulf Programme for Development. Ms. Mugalla has previously served as Member of the Commonwealth Foundation Civil Society Advisory Committee.

Ms. Mugalla holds a Masters in Business Administration with a focus on Human Resource Management from Kenya Methodist University and a Bachelor of Science Biology Major and Chemistry Minor from the University of Eastern Africa Baraton.

Ishaku Maitumbi is the Senior Advisor within UN-Habitat’s Regional Office for Africa, covering Eastern and Horn of Africa Region. He is a chartered Urban Planner (MRTPI) with over 25 years' professional experience in the sector, including more than 15 years with the United Nations. He previously served in Iraq, Kosovo, Nigeria, Somalia, amongst other countries. Prior to joining the United Nations, he was a United Kingdom civil servant in local and regional/central government. Ishaku specialises in urbanization, displacement and local government systems strengthening access to basic services and urban resilience, especially in post-conflict and developing environments. This varied experience is backed up with an MSc in Urban Planning and International Development (Oxford Brookes, UK). As of January 2023, He was appointed as the new Portfolio Manager responsible for Uganda.