Ms. Eziakonwa will succeed Abdoulaye Mar Dieye of Senegal, who has assumed the role of Director for UNDP’s Bureau for Policy and Programme Support.  The Secretary-General is grateful to Mr. Mar Dieye for his dedication and commitment to the Organization during his term as Assistant Administrator and Director of the Regional Bureau for Africa at UNDP.

Ms. Eziakonwa has many years of distinguished service with the United Nations, most recently as UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in Ethiopia since 2015.  Before that, she served as Resident Coordinator in Uganda and Lesotho, and held several posts with the Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), as Chief of the Africa Section in New York and in a number of field duty stations (Liberia, Sierra Leone).  She also worked for the UN Departments of Peacekeeping Operations and Public Information in New York.  Before joining the United Nations, Ms. Eziakonwa held a series of senior positions with civil society organisations in Africa.  She holds a Master’s degree in international affairs from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, with a focus on Economic and Political Development, as well as a Bachelor’s of Education degree, English and Literary Studies from the University of Benin, Nigeria.  Born in Nigeria, Ms. Eziakonwa is married and has a daughter.