Our Team in Zambia

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.

Aurelia Patrizia Calabrò is the UNIDO Representative to the AU Commission for Economy, Trade, Industry and Mining and to UNECA. She is also the Director of the Regional Hub in in the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia covering Burundi, Madagascar, Rwanda and Uganda. She assumed her duties in Addis Ababa at UNIDO Regional Hub in November 2018. In June 2022, she has also been appointed as OiC of UNIDO Regional Office in the Republic of South Africa covering additional 10 countries.
Ms. Calabrò, an Italian national, holds a University Degree in International Economy, and a Master-Degree in Theory and Policy for Economic Development. She also has attended post-graduate courses in many parts of the world and speaks 6 languages with a basic knowledge of Amharic.

She started her career at the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) in May 1989 at the Agro-Industries Development Department and during her over 33 years of service, she has specialized in agro-value chains development.

Ms. Cissy Byenkya, a national of Uganda, has been serving as Representative and Country Director of the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) for Zambia since August 2021. She holds a master’s degree in financial economics from the University of London, a university degree in Economics, and a Post Graduate Diploma in Computer Science from Makerere University. She speaks English and basic French.

Before her appointment to Zambia, she served as Head of WFP Eswatini since February 2019.

Ms. Cissy Byenkya has almost 20 years of working experience within WFP. Committed to the objectives of the Programme to save lives and improve the livelihoods of the most vulnerable populations, she worked in the Uganda Country Office, Nairobi Regional Bureau office and Headquarters in Rome. She has extensive experience in managing all aspects of WFP operations with expertise in the management of programme and resources; supply chain; budget planning and logistics operations. She is skilled in tasks necessary to establish and run effective, large-scale food and nutrition supported programmes.

Dr. Agnes Kijazi is the WMO Director, Regional Office for Africa. She was appointed to this position on the 10th of December, 2022. Before her appointment, she was the Director General of Tanzania Meteorological Authority (TMA) and Permanent Representative (PR) of Tanzania with the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the Third Vice President of the Word Meteorological Organization (WMO).

She has more than 30 years of working experience in the field of Meteorology at national and international levels, a career she started in 1988. During the period, Dr. Kijazi has been mostly engaged in meteorological operations and management at various positions. She has vast experience in meteorological infrastructure and technology; research, modeling and prediction; data management and information sharing; and quality assurance and risk management.

Dr. Kijazi has also served various positions at regional and global level. She served as a member of WMO Executive Council, member and Co-Chair of UN-10 Member Group to support the Technology Facilitation Mechanism (TFM), Member of International Affairs Committee of the American Meteorological Society (AMS) and Chair of the SADC-Meteorological Association of Southern Africa (MASA).

She has extensively contributed in the development and implementation of various WMO programmes at national, regional and global level, SADC - Meteorological Association of Southern Africa (MASA), East African Community (EAC), the African Ministerial Conference on Meteorology (AMCOMET), Tanzania Meteorological Society (TMS), American Meteorological Society (AMS), Tanzania Commission of Science and Technology (COSTECH), Tanzania Coffee Research Institute (TACRI) among others.

Dr. Agnes Kijazi holds a PhD and MSc in Meteorology obtained from the University of Cape town, South Africa; and BSc in Meteorology obtained from the University of Nairobi, Kenya.

Dr. Nathan Nsubuga Bakyaita has been WHO Representative to Zambia since 4 December 2017. Nathan is a medical doctor specializing in Public Health with experience spanning 26 years. He joined WHO as M & E Officer in the Malaria Program at WHO-AFRO (2005-2011); Medical Officer Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response (IDSR) at WHO-AFRO in Brazzaville (2011-2013); and WHO Malaria Adviser Kenya (2013-2017). Before joining WHO, he worked with the Ministry of Health, Uganda in the fields of HIV/AIDS control; Malaria Control and IDSR between 1994 and 2005. He holds a degree in Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBChB) from Makerere University Kampala, Uganda and a Masters in Public Health (MPH) from the University of Leeds, United Kingdom.

Tharcisse Barihuta started his assignment as UNAIDS Zambia Country Director in August 2019. He has over 25 years professional experience in prevention and care of communicable diseases programming, oversight implementation, political advocacy, resource mobilisation and leading teams at regional and international levels. He spent four years representing Burundi in the Executive Committee of the Authority of Great Lakes initiative on HIV/AIDS involving Burundi, DRC, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda, three years with the World Bank, Global Funds to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and three years as Special Advisor to the Minister of Health in Djibouti. He has worked with UNAIDS for 11 years and previously served as UNAIDS Country Coordinator in Djibouti, Middle East and North Africa Region, and UNAIDS Country Director in Namibia. Tharcisse is a Physician who worked in hospitals and also taught in medical school.

Ms. Edith Kirumba, a national of Kenya, is the Country Director for Lesotho, Botswana and Zambia, based in the IFAD Multi Country Office in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Ms. Kirumba previously worked in the IFAD East and Southern Africa (ESA) Regional Office in Nairobi as an Environment and Climate Specialist for the ESA region. Prior to this, Ms. Kirumba worked as a Regional Programmes Manager with Hivos Foundation, and a Regional Programmes Coordinator with Vredeseilanden (Belgium) based in Arusha, Tanzania. In both roles, she led project teams and partners in the development and implementation of public private partnership operations across the Eastern Africa Region. Ms. Kirumba also worked as a Green Growth Programmes Manager with the African Technology and Policy Studies Network and as a Doctoral Research Fellow with the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) both in Nairobi.

Ms. Kirumba possesses a Doctorate Degree in Human Geography from the University of Bordeaux-Michel Montagne in France, and Masters and Bachelor’s Degrees in Environmental Sciences from Kenyatta University, in Nairobi, Kenya. She is also an accredited Lead Expert in Environmental and Social Impact Assessments and Audits from the National Environment Management Authority.

Ms. Eunice G. Kamwendo was appointed as Director for the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, Southern Africa Sub Regional Office in Lusaka, Zambia. She leads ECA’s efforts in supporting member states in the sub region towards inclusive industrialization in order to reduce poverty and inequalities.

Ms. Kamwendo has devoted more than 20 years of her professional career to economic development, analysis and policy research both with the UN and externally. Within the UN System, She spent the last 14 years with UNDP at global and regional levels in New York and South Africa. Ms. Kamwendo was most recently a Senior Strategic Advisor, leading research, strategy and analysis for UNDP Africa in New York; Policy Advisor with UNDP’s Bureau for Development Policy also in New York and Policy Advisor for East and Southern Africa for UNDP’s Regional Service Centre in South Africa. Before that, she worked as an Economic Governance Research Analyst for the continental African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) in South Africa where she contributed to the first country reviews of South Africa, Uganda, Nigeria and Zambia.

Prior to her international career, Eunice was a Senior Economist and special advisor to the Secretary to the Treasury on macroeconomic issues and engagements with the IMF in the Ministry of Finance in Malawi. She started her career as an economist in the Ministry of Economic Planning and Development also in Malawi where she contributed to the development of the country’s Vision 2020 and related growth and development strategies.
An economist by training, she holds a Master of Science degree in Economics from the University of Southampton in the UK.

James Wakiaga assumed duties as UNDP Resident Representative in Zambia in June 2023. He served as UNDP Resident Representative in Eritrea from 2019-2023 and as a Senior Economist at UNDP in Ethiopia and Zimbabwe, respectively. Prior to this, he worked as Chief Economist/Director in Kenya’s Foreign Service and as Economic Counsellor at the Kenya Embassy in Washington DC. He has contributed to several knowledge products on Poverty, MDGs, SDGs, Human Development and Economic Growth with a focus on Africa. He is also a Member of External Reviewers Group (ERG) and Strategic Studies Group (SSG) for the African Capacity Indicators Report (ACIR).
He is a graduate of Economics Honours degree cum laude from University of Nairobi and holds a Master’s degree in Economics from Renmin University of China and currently pursuing Doctorate studies focusing on Social Transformation. He takes a keen interest on African development policy discourse and writings.
He is married to Dr. Lucy Wakiaga and has two children.

Ms. Jane Marie Ongolo (Kenya) has over 25 years of relevant substantive and managerial experience in national and international positions of increasing responsibility, including work at the continental level with the African Union Commission.
During her career, she has served in various capacities including: Head of Social Welfare, Vulnerable
Groups, Drug Control and Crime Prevention with the African Union Commission (AUC) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia since 2018; Programme Manager, AU Plan of Action on Drug Control and Crime Prevention with the African Union Commission (2010-2018); National Programme Officer (HIV/AIDS) and National Project Officer (Drug Abuse and HIV Prevention) with UNODC ROEA in Nairobi (2005-2010); Regional Governance Advisor, East and Central Africa with the British Council in Kenya (2003-2005); National Programme Manager with the International Labour Organization (ILO) in Kenya (1999-2003); Development Officer, DFID Civil Society Umbrella Project with the British Council in Kenya (1998-1999); Programme Coordinator and Chief Executive Officer with Sinaga Women and Child Labour Resource Centre (NGO) in Kenya (1995-1998); and Children´s Officer with the Office of the Vice President and Ministry of Home Affairs and National Heritage, Department of Child (Government) in Kenya (1991-1995).
Jane Marie holds a doctorate in Business & Administration from the Bulacan State University and a
Master’s degree in Development Studies from the Erasmus University in Rotterdam. She is fluent in
English and has a basic knowledge of French.

Ms Livermore joins IOM Zambia with over 15 years of experience in migration management. She previously served as Head of Office in IOM Jamaica.
She also has extensive experience working with governments, international community and development partners.
She holds a Master of Science degree in International Relations.

Khauhelo Mawana took up the position of UNCTAD Regional Coordinator for East and Southern Africa as of 1 October 2023. Khauhelo brings with him a wealth of experience and expertise. Before returning to UNCTAD in 2019, he had been at the African Union Commission in Ethiopia, AfCFTA Support Unit, as a Senior Expert on Rules of Origin.

He has been an integral part of the UNCTAD starting with him leading the implementation of ASYCUDAWorld in Eswatini in 2014 - 2016.

Khauhelo holds a master’s degree in Fiscal Studies and he served in the Zimbabwe and Eswatini Customs Administrations for a combined 27 years.

An experienced sustainable development and private-sector professional with sixteen combined years’ proven field office, regional and headquarter level experience within UN system and over twenty years in international development with hands-on experience in provision of strategic advisory services, management and leadership, reform and coherence, interagency coordination, strategic planning, programming and partnerships building, whilst interfacing at high-level with governments development partners, private sector in Africa and the UN system. Kwasi has extensive development project management with large teams’ experience through many donor-supported development projects in Africa including the World Bank, USAID and AfDB. He has worked in many industries and sectors (ICT, Aviation, consultancy and Government) before joining the United Nations. Experienced Strategic planner with a demonstrated history of working in the international affairs industry. Strong professional with a Graduate Level education in International Development focused in Development Economics and International Development from Michigan State University.

Meseret Teklemariam Zemedkun (Ph.D) has over 25 years’ professional experience in Earth and natural science, Energy Management, Project management. She holds a Ph.D in Earth Science, Geothermics.
Her career began in Ethiopia culminating in becoming Head of Department in the Ministry of Mines and Energy. She is internationally recognized and acclaimed professional with experience in renewable Energy programme management including Geothermal Energy exploration and development in Africa.
She has also been closely involved in different regional and international assignments of the ICS-UNIDO and the African Union Commission (AUC) including in designing the Geothermal Risk Mitigation Facility for Eastern Africa Countries. As a regional Energy programme coordinator she has been involved with development of regional documents on renewable energy through programmes.
She has been instrumental in conceptualizing and making possible the African Geothermal Center for Excellence. Meseret has played a leading role in the initiative and development of programmes for support to Women Entrepreneurs in Energy sector in Africa. She served as editor of IPCC Panel of subsection Renewable sources, Climate Change Mitigation: Geothermal Energy. Meseret is a recipient of many international professional awards and has authored more than 20 professional papers some earned international awards.

A national of India, Nisha brings over 35 years of experience to her current role as the Regional Director and UNESCO Representative, a.i. Her role as a Representative encompasses Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
Before coming to the Southern Africa region, Nisha served as the Director of the Office and UNESCO Representative to the Pacific States. Nisha’s experiences are focused on multi-sector development, humanitarian action, and international norms and standards. Prior to working with UNESCO, Nisha worked with the ILO, UNIFEM (antecedent of UN Women), UNDP and UN RCO, Christian Aid, and Oxfam GB in East and the Horn of Africa, South Asia, and the Arab States. Nisha’s foundational years of work were with Civil Society Organizations in India.

Penelope Campbell is the UNICEF Representative to the Republic of Zambia, based in Lusaka. She took up her post in April 2022. She leads a team working on a broad range of programmes in support of the rights and well-being of children and young people under the UNICEF Country Programme of Cooperation with the Government of the Republic of Zambia.
With a career spanning 20 years in UNICEF, Ms. Campbell has led multiple global programmes focusing on Health, Nutrition, HIV development & humanitarian work. Additionally, she has represented UNICEF at leading international forums and engaging with senior-level stakeholders including local governments to diplomatically drive improvements in the health sector, focusing on women and children, especially from vulnerable communities.
Prior to her appointment as UNICEF Representative to Zambia, Ms. Campbell served as Chief of Health in the Somalia office.
Ms. Campbell is of Jamaican and British descent with a MSc in Health Education & Health Promotion and a BSc (Hons) in Nursing Studies from King’s College, University of London. She is currently pursuing a Doctorate in Public Health with the University of West Indies. She is a wife and mother of three.

Ms. Preeta Law, Representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Zambia, assumed her responsibilities in February 2023. Ms. Law brings over 20 years of experience in forced displacement and refugee protection leadership.

Prior to this she served as UNHCR Representative in South Africa and as Special Adviser in the Division of International Protection in UNHCR Headquarters. Ms. Law was deployed in complex humanitarian situations in Myanmar and the former Yugoslavia and has held various other management positions in UNHCR, including Deputy Director in the Division of International Protection in UNHCR Headquarters.

Prior to UNHCR, Ms. Law worked with women’s civil society organisations in India. Ms. Law holds a B.A. in political science and anthropology from Sarah Lawrence College in the United States.

Rainer Frauenfeld is the Director of the UNOPS, Kenya Multi-Country Office (KEMC) covering East and Southern Africa. He established and led multiple UNOPS emergency and recovery operations in post/conflict and disaster situations. He managed several country and regional offices to provide UNOPS value adding services both in fragile and MIC settings. Prior to joining UNOPS, Rainer worked with multiple UN agencies and missions, NGOs and the private sector. He holds degrees in Law and Development Studies, is married and has two children.

Mr. Seth Broekman assumed his role as UNFPA Country Representative on 11 January 2023.
He brings over 20 years of extensive experience in international development, public health and strategic programme management. Seth comes to Zambia from the Sub-Regional Office for the Caribbean where he, as the Deputy Director, led UNFPA strategic programme planning and implementation in 22 Small Island Developing States.
Before joining the Sub-Regional Office, Seth worked for the UNFPA East and Southern Africa Regional Office where he provided oversight and quality assurance support to 21 Country Offices and UN Country Teams as well as the Regional Office on strategic planning, programme management and UN Reform. He furthermore established and led the UNFPA Office for Northern Nigeria; worked for the ILO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific as the UN Reform Advisor; and was the M&E technical lead for UNFPA Afghanistan and UNFPA Nepal.
Prior to joining the United Nations, Seth worked in Uganda for an NGO that offers medical and psychosocial services to people living with HIV; and for a large health insurance provider in the Netherlands.
Seth is a national of the Netherlands and holds a Master’s Degree in Health Sciences from Maastricht University with specializations in Health Care Studies, and Health Policy and Administration.

Suze Percy Filippini was FAOR in the Republic of Congo before assuming the same position in Zambia. Having more than 25 years of multi-cultural leadership experience, Percy earlier held various prestigious positions under Government portfolios and represented her Country to the FAO in Rome, the UN in New York and the Organization of the American States (OAS) in Washington DC, enriching her professional experience in diplomacy, sustainable agriculture, strategic planning and programming. Percy Filippini holds Three (3) Master’s degree qualifications in International Service, Arts in Hemispheric Security and Defense, and in Science in Agricultural Engineering.

Mr. Wellington Chibebe – the ILO Country Director for Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique is a Zimbabwean national.
He joined the International Labour Organization (ILO) in 2018 as Director of the ILO Country Office for the United Republic of Tanzania, Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda.
Between 2011 and 2017 he held the post of Deputy General Secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) in Brussels, Belgium. During his tenure, he was in-charge of development cooperation and education, oversight of the legal department, relations with Commonwealth and Francophone countries.
He was also charged with the responsibility of dealing with general ITUC administration/ management of the solidarity fund, as well as political responsibility for the Africa region, TUAC and GPEDC/UN and ILO desk.
Prior to that post, he was Secretary General of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU). Mr. Chibebe began his career in his country’s national railways, quickly becoming involved in the trade union movement, including as Secretary-General of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions, thereby acquiring extensive experience in social dialogue, human rights, and first-hand knowledge of the most relevant world of work issues in the Africa region, coupled with his personal qualities.
From 1988 to 2001, Mr. Chibebe worked as Diesel Plant Fitter/ Mechanical Engineering Technician at National Railways of Zimbabwe, where his union activism started from after being elected as President of the Railway Artisan Union from 1990 to 2000.
Currently, he is pursing Master of Laws in Labour Law University of South Africa, South Africa upon completing Bachelor of Laws from the same University.