UN Secretary-General António Guterres Appoints Ahunna Eziakonwa As Special Adviser On Africa

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Nigeria’s growing influence in global governance and international development has received another major boost, with the appointment of Ahunna Eziakonwa as Special Adviser on Africa by United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres.

Eziakonwa will replace Cristina Duarte of the Republic of Cabo Verde.

“She succeeds Cristina Duarte of the Republic of Cabo Verde, to whom the Secretary-General is grateful for her commitment and dedicated service to the Organisation.

“Ms. Eziakonwa brings nearly three decades of United Nations (UN) leadership to her new role,” the UN said on its website on Friday.

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It further disclosed that the Nigerian brings nearly three decades of United Nations (UN) leadership to her new role.

Eziakonwa, in her current role as UN Assistant Secretary-General, Assistant Administrator and Director, Regional Bureau for Africa, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), oversees the organisation’s support to 46 African countries in pursuing Agenda 2030 and the Sustainable Development Goals, as well as the African Union’s Agenda 2063.

Since 2018, she has helped shape UNDP’s strategic approach to economic and political development across the African continent.

“Ms. Eziakonwa’s experience spans the full breadth of UN work in Africa. She has served as UN Resident Coordinator, Humanitarian Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in three countries – Ethiopia, Uganda and Lesotho – where she coordinated 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 managed humanitarian operations across 15 African countries and held senior posts in Liberia and Sierra Leone during critical periods in those nations,” the UN said.

At its headquarters, the new Special Adviser on Africa contributed to peacekeeping and political analysis and strategic communications pertaining to UN engagement in Africa, working with the UN Departments of Peacekeeping Operations, Political Affairs and Public Information.

Prior to joining the UN, she held positions in several African civil society organisations.

“Ms. Eziakonwa holds a Master’s degree in International Affairs with a focus on African economic and political development from Columbia University, New York, USA, and a Bachelor of Arts in Pedagogy, English and Literary Studies from the University of Benin, Nigeria.

“In addition to her native Igbo and English, she speaks fluent Yoruba and has a working knowledge of French,” it added.