Our team in Liberia

Ifeoma Charles-Monwuba joined UNOPS in August 2018 as Anglophone West Africa Hub Director/Representative (Ghana, Gambia, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone). She is a development specialist with more than 20 years’ experience in public health, development communication, social marketing and advertising. Ifeoma spent several years (2009-2018) with ActionAid and held a variety of roles in Nigeria, Haiti, and Senegal where she was ActionAid Country Director. Before that she served as Head of Governance, Policy and Partnerships for WaterAid Nigeria (2005 -2009). Prior to WaterAid, Ifeoma worked for Nigeria’s foremost public health NGO, the Society for Family Health (SFH) and in the private sector for a leading Nigerian advertising agency. Ifeoma also has mutli-disciplinary training in various areas related to gender and women development, international law, human resource management, and international health and population studies.

Mohamed Cherif Diallo is a bilingual (French and English) global development, program and project management professional with over 9 years of experience in conflict zones stabilization with the United Nations system and UN Agencies. Before joining IOM in Liberia in 2019 as Program Manager and Country Focal Point, Mohamed Cherif has served IOM in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) as Deputy Head of Office and Project Coordinator where he oversees the implementation of several conflict stabilization project in coordination with the DRC Government and implementing partners. Mohamed Cherif started his United Nation’s career in 2013 with the United Nations Stabilization Mission for the Democratic Republic as an information analyst and program manager within the Department of Political Affairs/JMAC. He later joined IOM in 2015. His work in the Eastern DRC helped contributed to the restoration of peace and security in many conflict zones within the United Nations Peace-building Framework in the Central Africa Great Lakes Region

Mr. Antonio Mazzitelli started his professional career with the UN in 1990 when he joined the Secretariat of the International Narcotic Control Board of the United Nations (INCB) at UN Vienna HQ. In March 1999, he was entrusted with the opening up the UNODC Office in the I.R. of Iran where he performed as UNODC Representative until 2003. From 2003 to 2009 he headed the UNODC Regional Office for West and Central Africa in Dakar with an operational mandate over 24 West and Central African countries. Appointed as UNODC Regional Representative for Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean in 2009, he successfully negotiated with the Mexican government the re-profiling of the UNODC presence in the country by opening up the first UNODC Liaison and Partnership Office in 2012. Mr Mazzitelli holds a degree in Law from the University of Bologna, Italy and a post university specialization in International Cooperation and Politics of Intervention in Developing Countries from the University of Bologna, Faculty of Political Science.

Dr. Bannet graduated from the University of Heidelberg, Germany, with a degree in Medicine, a Masters degree in Community Health and Health management and a PHD in Public Health and began his career at the Bernhard Nocht Hospital of Tropical Medicine in Hamburg Germany and then worked for a decade in Uganda as a clinician and public health programs’ manager, before joining the United Nations in 2009. He served with UNFPA as a Deputy Representative in Nigeria and South Sudan before becoming the UNFPA Representative in Sierra Leone (2013 – 2015), Afghanistan (2016 – 2018) and now Liberia starting in February 2019. From 2004 to 2009 he worked on USAID programs implemented by Management Sciences for Health (MSH) in Arlington Virginia, USA and also as Chief of Party in Ethiopia. Bannet is a Rotarian and believes in service above self. His other interests include golf, farming, reading and writing.

Dr Miriam Chipimo is Physician and Public Health Specialist with over 20 years’ experience working in Public Health. She has been in Liberia since March 2017 as the UNAIDS Country Director. Prior to that, she was the Senior Adviser in the UNAIDS Caribbean Regional Team based in Trinidad and Tobago and subsequently led the UNAIDS Caribbean Sub-Regional Team in Jamaica. The focus in the Caribbean was largely on investment and efficiencies in the AIDS Response, gender, human rights and validation of countries that are close to ending the AIDS epidemic. Dr Chipimo led the Human Rights team that validated Cuba as the first country in the world to eliminate Mother to child transmission of HIV. She initially joined UNAIDS in 2009 as Senior Policy and Programme Adviser in South Africa where she supported the roll out of the largest HIV Testing Campaign, anti-retroviral treatment (ART) and PMTCT programmes to reach 20 million people. This resulted in the worlds the biggest treatment programme reaching over 2 million persons living with HIV in South Africa. 2006-2009 she worked for UNICEF Malawi as HIV and Reproductive Health Manager and before that served for 5 years at the Ministry of Health in Zambia as the Adolescent and Reproductive Health Specialist. During this time Dr Chipimo was providing technical support to many countries in West, East and southern Africa as a Malaria and Sexual and Reproductive Health Scientific Adviser under WHO. Dr Chipimo served for a decade as a Scientific Adviser on Malaria to the WHO Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Disease Research (TDR) based in Geneva. Prior to joining the Ministry of Health in Zambia she initially worked for 6 years in both the private and public sectors as a Physician
She holds a Medical Degree (Medical University, Plovdiv Bulgaria), a Master in Public Health (University of Nairobi, Kenya) and is certified in Health Systems Development (Uppsala, Sweden). She the author and co-author of several publications and research papers on maternal and neonatal health, HIV and AIDS and international development.

Mr. Fakhruddin Azizi brings experience spanning over 23 years in the field of humanitarian and development programmes with different UN agencies and international organisations. Mr. Azizi worked as UNIDO Representative for the Philippines from March 2014 to August 2017 and in Afghanistan as Head of UNIDO from May 2008 to February 2014. He also worked with UNDP as Assistant Country Director a.i. and Senior Program Officer from 2003 to 2008. Mr. Azizi was also Head of Operations and Deputy Director of the UN funded Mine Action Programme for Afghanistan based in Pakistan from 1997 to 2003. Before joining the UN, he worked as Deputy/Acting Regional Director of the Swedish Committee from 1993 to 1996 based in Pakistan and then Afghanistan. He has an MA in Management and has also obtained his second MA in the field of Responsible Management and Sustainable Economic Development from University for Peace, a UN Mandated University. He is married with four children.

Ms. Hershey has 30 years of international development and humanitarian experience. Ms. Hershey recently completed her assignment as Senior Advisor on UN Development System Reform in New York. Prior to this, she served as the UN Resident Coordinator in Serbia. She served as Resident/ Humanitarian Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in Maseru, Lesotho. Ms. Hershey also served as the WFP Representative and Country Director in Swaziland; Deputy Country Director in Malawi; acting Country Director in Syria (2007); Head of Food Procurement, Refugee Operations and Public Information in Tanzania; WFP Regional Inter-agency Affairs Officer to the Special Envoy, Bureau for East and Southern Africa, Johannesburg (2002-2003) and Programme and Quality Assurances Officer in Ethiopia. Ms. Hershey began her UN career with OCHA as Humanitarian Affairs Officer in Angola (1998-2000). Prior to joining the UN, she served in various senior capacities with NGOs in Africa and the United States. Ms. Heshey holds an M.B.A in Management and B.A. in Economics and Political Science.

Ms. Njie is from The Gambia and has 34 years’ experience working with Rural and Peri-Urban Communities in Agriculture. She holds a Master’s Degree and a post Graduate Diploma in Agricultural Economics from the University of New England, Armidale, Australia. Ms. Njie started her professional career working with the Government of The Gambia for 12 years with the Ministry of Agriculture. She joined FAO in 2012 as Assistant FAO Representative in charge of Programme in The Gambia before her appointment as FAO Resident Representative in Liberia in April 2018.

Prior to joining UN Women, Ms. Nizigama worked with UNDP in Burundi and Côte d’Ivoire successively as UNDP National Expert in Burundi (2002-2005), Partnership Officer at the UN Resident Coordinator Office in Burundi (2008-2010) and Senior Strategic Planning Advisor, Head of the UN System Coordination Unit and Coordinator of the Peacebuilding Programme in Côte d’Ivoire (2010-2017). Ms Nizigama served also for her Government at a high-level post as Minister of Development Planning and National Reconstruction, Minister of Transports, Posts and Telecommunications (2005-2007). She began her carrier with the Ministry of Planning in Burundi in 1990 as Economic Advisor (1990-1994), Chief of Technical Cooperation Service (1994-2002). Ms. Nizigama is a national of Burundi. She is the holder of a Master’s in Management and Administration and a Bachelor in Economic Sciences and Administration.

Dr. Zbelo from Ethiopia has been acting WHO Representative for Liberia since August 15, 2018. He holds a Medical Doctorate and Ph.D (cand). He has been with the World Health Organization (WHO) for 10 years, beginning his career at WHO Ethiopia, and then served in WHO Offices in Rwanda, Nigeria and Liberia as Health Systems and Policy Advisor. In Ethiopia, Dr. Zbelo also served as clinician and district health officer, and later as maternal and child health service program manager at the provincial and central government levels.

Dr. Pa Lamin Beyai, a Gambian national who comes to UNDP Liberia with a wealth of experience acquired over the last 25 years, in both the private and the public sectors – at national and international levels. His focus is on development issues and operations related policies. Until his assignment to Liberia, he served as Country Director for UNDP in Nigeria. He also served as the Economic Advisor and Lead, Inclusive Growth Cluster, in the UNDP Country Office, Ghana. Beyai holds a PhD in Economics, with a focus on Health Economics, from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, University of London; a Masters degree in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Newcastle Upon Tyne, United Kingdom, and a BSc degree in Economics from the Fourah Bay College, University of Sierra Leone. He is married and has four children.

Uchenna Emelonye brings to his position, as Country Representative of OHCHR in Liberia over 25 years of practicing and programming experience as a human rights attorney. Prior to his recent appointment, he was the Country Representative of OHCHR Uganda. Previously, he was the Senior Human Rights Adviser to the UN Country Team (UNCT) Kenya; Judicial Affairs Officer at the United Nations-African Union Mission in Darfur Sudan (UNAMID); Human Rights Officer at OHCHR Kosovo; and Human Rights Officer at the United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS). He has also worked in various capacities outside the United Nations system. Uchenna holds a doctorate degree in Human Rights Law (LL.D) from the University of Helsinki Finland; masters degree in Human Rights Law (LL.M) from Central European University Budapest Hungary; masters degree in Law (LL.M) and bachelor’s degree in Law (LL.B) from Abia State University Nigeria. He is married to Dr. Abigail Uchenna Emelonye and they are blessed with three children.

Ydo Yao is from Burkina Faso and holds a Ph.D. in Education from the Stendhal University of Grenoble (France) and a Diploma in Diplomacy and Strategy from the Centre of Diplomatic Studies of Paris. Mr. YDO has been with UNESCO for 20 years, began his career at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, and then served in UNESCO offices in Mali, Cameroon, DR Congo and Senegal, before appointed in Abidjan on 1 June 2013 as Resident Representative of UNESCO. Since April 06, 2017, Mr. YDO has been appointed Regional Director of the Multisectoral Office of UNESCO based in Abuja, covering Nigeria, Benin, Togo, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Côte d’Ivoire.

Zulqarnain Hussain Anjum, UNHCR Country Representative a.i, holds a Master of International Development degree from International University of Japan, Niigata, Japan in addition to another master’s degree in History as well as a bachelor’s in engineering from Pakistan. He has more than 17 years of experience within UN System and 13 years’ experience working within the government at various levels in his home country. He joined the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) after passing UN Competitive Exam in September 2002 in Sudan and has since worked in various countries holding positions in administration, finance, programme and operations management. The countries he worked before coming to Liberia include; Sudan, Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda, Yemen, Hungary and Switzerland. As Senior Desk Officer at UNHCR HQs in Geneva, Switzerland, for more than four years, he covered twelve operations in West Africa including Liberia. Before joining UN System, Mr. Anjum worked with the government of Pakistan holding several positions in the local government and subsequently as federal civil servant in the federal secretariat in his country.