United Nations Secretary General, António Guterres on Friday announced the appointment of Nigeria’s Ahunna Eziakonwa as Special Adviser on Africa.
She takes over from Cristina Duarte of the Republic of Cabo Verde, to whom the Secretary-General expresses her thanks for her commitment and dedicated service to the Organisation.
Eziakonwa comes to her new role with nearly three decades of United Nations (UN) leadership.
In her current role as UN Assistant Secretary General, Assistant Administrator and Director, Regional Bureau for Africa, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), she leads the organisation’s support to 46 African countries in the pursuit of Agenda 2030 and Sustainable Development Goals, as well as the African Union’s Agenda 2063.
She has been instrumental in shaping UNDP’s strategy for economic and political development across the continent since 2018.
Eziakonwa’s experience covers the full range of UN work in Africa.
She has worked as UN Resident Coordinator, Humanitarian Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in three countries – Ethiopia, Uganda and Lesotho – coordinating humanitarian action, development strategy and political engagement.
As Chief of the Africa Section at the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) in New York, she oversaw humanitarian operations in 15 African countries and served in senior positions in Liberia and Sierra Leone at crucial junctures in those countries’ histories.
At UN Headquarters, she worked with the UN Departments of Peacekeeping Operations, Political Affairs and Public Information on peacekeeping and political analysis and strategic communications related to UN engagement in Africa.
Before joining the UN, she worked for various African civil society organisations.
Eziakonwa holds a Master’s degree in International Affairs from Columbia University, New York, USA, with a specialization in African economic and political development and a Bachelor of Arts in Pedagogy, English and Literary Studies from the University of Benin, Nigeria.
Besides her native Igbo and English, she speaks fluent Yoruba and knows some French.
