Our Team in Somalia

Anita Kiki Gbeho is the United Nations Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Somalia. She oversees the work of the Political, Human Rights, Electoral, and Rule of Law and Security components of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM). Following the departure of James Swan upon the end of his assignment, she is currently serving as the Acting Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Somalia and Officer-in-Charge of UNSOM.

Appointed by UN Secretary-General António Guterres in December 2020, Ms. Gbeho brings more than 25 years of experience in strategic planning, coordination and management in political, development and humanitarian affairs at United Nations Headquarters and in field operations. Her work has included establishing high level political and strategic relations with national authorities, regional bodies and partners in conflict and post-conflict environments and diverse settings such as Angola, Cambodia, Iraq, Namibia, Sudan and Somalia.

Prior to UNSOM, Ms. Gbeho served as Deputy Joint Special Representative of the United Nations-African Union Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID), where she led the development and implementation of the Mission’s transition strategy. Previously, she was Resident Coordinator and Resident Representative with the United Nations Development Programme in Namibia. She has also served as Chief of Section in the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in New York and as Head of Office for OCHA in Somalia and Southern Sudan.

Ms. Gbeho holds a Bachelor of Arts in Social Sciences and African Studies from the State University of New York, and a Master’s degree in International Relations from the University of Ghana.

Anka Kitunzi has over 25 years of experience in Public Financial Management (PFM) and public administration as a practitioner and advisor; working with government agencies (particularly with Finance and Local Government ministries and Tax Policy/Administration), the private sector, and international development agencies. Anka has a master’s degree in Public Administration (MPA) from Harvard Kennedy School of Government in Cambridge Massachusetts, a post-graduate certificate in International Tax from Harvard Law School, a Diploma in Tax Administration from Institute of Public Administration (Uganda), and a BA (honors) degree from Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda. He is a national of Uganda.

Ms. Ann Therese Ndong-Jatta (Gambia), was appointed to the post of Director of the Multi-Sectoral Office in Nairobi for East Africa (Kenya) and UNESCO Representative to Kenya, Comoros, Djibouti, Eritrea, Madagascar, Mauritius, Rwanda, Seychelles, Somalia and Uganda on 1 October 2016. She holds a BA (Honours) in Education, English and History obtained from Bayero University (Nigeria) in 1980 and an M.Sc. in Educational Leadership obtained from Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee (USA) in 1984. She also holds a certificate in Educational Policy Analysis, Development Studies and Evaluation from Harvard University, Boston (USA).

El-Khidir Daloum Mahmoud Ahmed, a Sudanese national, took up his position with WFP Somalia in September 2021. Prior to his appointment in Somalia, he served as Representative and Country Director for WFP Uganda from November 2016.

Before joining WFP, Mr Daloum was Director of Programmes for Africa and the Middle East at Safeworld from 2013 to 2015. He previously worked for Save the Children from 1991 to 2012 in a series of regional and national leadership roles spanning Latin America, South East Europe, South East Europe and Africa – including as Programme Manager and then Country Director for Somalia from 2001-2007. He has also worked at the Sudan Ministry of Finance and Planning, the Sudan Economy Research Group, and the UK Overseas Development Agency.

Daloum holds a Master’s degree in Social policy, Planning and Participation in Developing Countries from the London School of Economics & Political Science. In 2014, he was awarded the Member of the Order of the British Empire for services to the protection of children, particularly in Africa.

Mr Etienne Peterschmitt is the FAO Representative to Somalia. In his second experience working for FAO in Somalia he is also Head of Programme. He joined FAO in 2002. From technical to managerial positions, his vast experience with the UN specialized agency includes work in Haiti, Yemen, and several Eastern African countries (Burundi, Sudan, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda). Previously, he worked for the private sector, NGOs and the ICRC in various locations worldwide. Mr Peterschmitt holds a MSc/Engineer degree in Tropical and Subtropical Agriculture by the Institute for Higher Education in Tropical Agri-Food Industry & Rural Development in Montpellier, France, and a bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Development by the Institute of Economic and Social Development Studies at the Sorbonne University in Paris. Mr Peterschmitt is a French citizen.

Mr Celestin joined IOM in 2006 and has held several senior positions in the Americas and sub-Saharan Africa. Prior to being appointed IOM Chief of Mission for Somalia, Mr.Frantz Celestin was Chief of Mission in IOM Nigeria from August 2016 to May 2022. Between January 2012 and August 2016, Mr. Celestin was the Head of the Labour Mobility and Human Development Division at IOM Somalia. During his tenure, IOM started one of its flagship projects in Somalia, the Migration for Development in Africa (MIDA) programme. MIDA has successfully run for over a decade, connecting Somali diaspora experts with local professionals and public institutions to strengthen the capacity of state institutions thanks to its innovative skill transfer approach. Mr.Celestin was also the Regional Program Manager of the Support to Free Movement of Persons and Migration in West Africa (FMM West Africa) since 2016.

Mr. Henry Danso is the ILO’s Employment Intensive Infrastructure Programme (EIIP) Specialist responsible for Somalia, Ethiopia, Sudan, South Sudan and Djibouti. He is also the acting Head of the ILO Somalia Office. Mr. Danso has a Master's Degree in Civil Engineering and Finance. He has more than 30 years of experience in rural roads engineering, project management and contract management.

Ian Ridley joined OCHA Somalia in June 2021, bringing 27 years’ humanitarian experience to the position. He began his international career as Country Director for ADRA Azerbaijan, and later joined World Vision International (WVI) in Haiti. After subsequently joining WVI’s Global Rapid Response Team, Ian led emergency responses in Kenya, Afghanistan, Iraq, Sudan, Indonesia, and Lebanon. In 2007, he was appointed as WVI’s Senior Director of Humanitarian Operations, based in Geneva, with responsibilities encompassing the deployment of surge capacity, prepositioning of goods and supplies, and management of relief start-up funds. During this time, he contributed to interagency bodies such as the Inter-Agency Standing Committee Working Group (IASC WG); Emergency Directors’ Group (EDG); and the Sphere Project Board. Ian was also WVI’s representative to the International Council of Voluntary Agencies (ICVA) and Steering Committee for Humanitarian Response (SCHR). He joined OCHA in June 2016 and served as Head of Office in South Sudan and Afghanistan before moving to Somalia.

Mr. Ishaku Maitumbi is Officer in Charge/Head of Programmes for UN-HABITAT Somalia, which is the largest UN-HABITAT programme within the African region. He specialises in urbanization, displacement and local government systems strengthening, especially in post-conflict and developing environments. He is an experienced team leader and a committed capacity builder. Ishaku is a Nigerian/British national and a chartered urban planner (MRTPI) with over 20 years' professional experience in the sector, including more than 12 years with the United Nations. This varied experience has been gained in Europe, Africa and the Middle East, and is backed up with an MSc in Urban Planning and International Development (Oxford Brookes, UK).

Mr. Mason’s career in development spans over 20 years, including as the Country Director of UNDP Mozambique from 2008 to 2012. He was also the Chief of Staff for UNDP’s Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery in 2012-2014 and served as the Directorate Manager for UNDP’s Bureau for Policy and Programme Support in 2014 to 2015. Mr. Mason holds degrees in Jurisprudence from Oxford University, and in International Relations and International Economics, from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies in Washington.

Kristina Svensson joined the Bank in 2004, after working as a consultant with the then World Bank Institute (WBI), United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), as well as with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). She has since held various positions, including Senior Operations Officer and Senior Mining Specialist in the Energy and Extractive Global Practice. From 2016 to 2018, she was Resident Representative for Guinea Bissau. Her most recent assignment being Special Assistant to the Regional Vice-President for the Africa Region. She has a Master’s Degree in Human Rights from Columbia School of International and Public Affairs.

Mr. Magatte Guisse, has been working with United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) for the last 20 years. Prior to his current appointment as UNHCR Representative to Somalia, he served as UNHCR Head of Operations at Dadaab Refugee Camp in Kenya. He has also held other senior positions including Deputy Regional Representative, Assistant Representative, Head of Office and Security Advisory posts throughout West and Central Africa as well as Western Asia.

Before joining UNHCR, Mr. Guisse worked in military and peacekeeping operations with the United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC), United Nations Iraq-Kuwait Observation Mission (UNIKOM), United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and the Senegalese Army. In his 40 year-long humanitarian and military career, Mr. Guisse’s has served in other countries including Chad, Benin, Guinea, Central African Republic and Afghanistan. Mr. Guisse is a graduate of the Officers’ Academy of Senegal and has completed advanced military training in the United States of America and Morocco. He is a Senegalese national and speaks three languages including his mother tongue Wolof, English and French.

Dr Sk Md Mamunur Rahman Malik joined the WHO country office in Somalia as Head of Mission and WHO Representative in March 2019. Dr Malik is a medical epidemiologist by training and has a special interest in building health systems for crisis management, including prevention and control of emerging infectious diseases outbreaks. He has over 15 years of experience on infectious disease surveillance and response to outbreaks and other public health crisis and has worked in Darfur in Sudan, Iraq, Pakistan, Yemen, Syria, South Sudan and Afghanistan in different capacities. He has special interest in health system capacity-building. Dr Malik has a Bachelor’s degree in Medicine and Surgery (M.B.B.S.) from the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh, Postgraduate Diploma in Health Economics and a Master’s Degree in Health Economics from the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh. He is a national of Bangladesh.

Mr. Neil Walsh is the Regional Representative for the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in Eastern Africa since December 2021. He serves as the Head of Mission for 13 countries in the East Africa and Western Indian Ocean Region, including Somalia. The UNODC Regional Representative is tasked with delivering UNODC Strategic Vision for Africa which includes response to crime, terrorism, security, and health threats.

Mr. Walsh joined the UN in 2016 and led the UNODC's global Cybercrime, Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Financing of Terrorism Department in Vienna. Prior to joining the UN, he served for over 15 years within the UK National Crime Agency countering international serious organised crime and terrorism including long-term postings to Europol headquarters in The Hague and the British High Commission in Malta. Mr. Walsh holds a B.Sc. (Hons) in Psychology and Criminology and an M.Sc. in Criminal Investigation. He comes from Belfast, Northern Ireland, and is married with four children.

Mr. Muniandy (Andy) Shanmugam is joined the UN in Somalia as the Principal Security Adviser in September 2017. He focuses on security risk assessments, crisis management and emergency preparedness. He monitors security developments countrywide and develops minimum operating security standards, policies and procedures. He advised the Secretary-General’s representative in Somalia and the Country representatives of 23 UN agencies, funds and programnes on all aspects of security for their personnel, family members, premises and operations. He has a Masters Degree in Emergency Management and Terrorism, Safety & Security from Charles Sturt University.

Mr. Niyi Ojuolape is the UNFPA Representative for Somalia. He has previously served as UNFPA Representative for Ghana. Prior to this role, he served as UNFPA’s Chief of Staff a.i. at the Headquarters in New York and before that, as the Special Assistant to the Executive Director. In that position, Mr. Ojuolape doubled as the Head of Secretariat of the Executive Committee. In the course of his rich career in the international development sphere, he also worked in the Democratic Republic of Congo, as the Deputy Representative a.i. of the organization, liaising with political influencers within government, colleagues and Development Partners for the initiation of the landmark advocacy on Demographic Dividend. Before joining UNFPA in 2011, Mr. Ojuolape served the Nigerian Government in different capacities, as Special Assistant to the Minister of Health and as the Chief Programme Officer for Donor Coordination in the Nigerian National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA). In that Agency, he worked between 2002 and 2009 on several bilateral and multilateral projects alike including those funded by DFID, the World Bank and the Global Fund. Mr. Ojuolape holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Banking and Finance, a Masters in Finance as well as Masters from Bocconi University in the Management of International Organizations.

Mr. Omar Ebrima Njie, a national of The Gambia, is the Country Director for IFAD’s portfolio in Somalia and is currently based at the IFAD Multi-Country Office in Cairo, Egypt. Prior to this appointment, Mr. Njie has been responsible for the management of the IFAD programmes in Lebanon and Syria since April 2021 in the IFAD Near East, North Africa and Europe Division (NEN). Prior to this assignment, Mr Njie worked for 10 years as the Senior Audit Officer in the Office of Audit and Oversight at IFAD Headquarters in Rome.

He holds a Master of Business Administration degree in finance and entrepreneurship, in addition to several professional certifications in finance, accounting and audit, public procurement and information technology. He has a long-standing experience working in rural development, government and private sector organizations in various countries in the region, the Asia and the Pacific Islands, USA, and across several countries in Africa. Mr Njie has worked for more than 24 years in contributing to enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of development projects, coordinating and leading teams in a number of areas of development work, as well as in private sector activities, such as banking, energy services and aviation.

Mr. Sadiq Syed brings over 20 years’ experience serving with the United Nations. He has been working with the UN Women since its inception and since held the positions of Deputy Country Director for Afghanistan, Deputy Regional Program Director in the South Africa Regional Office, Country Representative in Iraq and most recently, Regional Program Manager, Ending Violence against Women and Girls of the UN Women East & Southern Africa Regional Office (ESARO) and has led the EU-funded Spotlight Initiative Stream 1 in the region.

In his earlier career, Mr. Syed worked with the United Nations (OHCHR and UNFPA) in Ethiopia, Eritrea, East Timor, India, Liberia and Sudan. He also served at the National Commission for Women, Government of India and also as a faculty at the Indian Law Institute-India, visiting fellow at the Clark University and contributed to the fellow’s paper to the Harvard Kennedy School of Government-USA. Mr. Syed is the exponent of the ‘Coordinated Responses Approach (CRA) in Addressing GBV’ in 1997 and specializes in gender, human rights, peace and security and has authored and co-authored several publications on human rights and gender. He holds LL.M. in International Human Rights Law and PhD in Women’s Rights Law.

Mr. Tim Lardner is the Country Director of UNOPS Somalia, providing strategic guidance and leadership to the UNOPS Somlia country team on a broad portfolio of programmes supporting the best interests of the people of Somalia. Mr Lardner holds a Master of Science (MSc) from Cranfield University and a Master of Arts (MA )in Global Diplomacy from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London.

Wafaa Saeed Abdelatef has devoted more than 20 years to public service with the UN. She served with OCHA, UNICEF and WFP in large scale complex settings with programme management and coordination experience spanning both humanitarian and development action. Her country level experience comprises Sudan, Somalia, Indonesia, Pakistan, Syria, and Ethiopia. She also served in leadership roles with OCHA in New York and Geneva.Prior to joining the UN System in 2000, she worked with the private sector, academia and non-government organizations in Sudan focusing on planning and delivering services to displaced people and on environmental conservation.Wafaa obtained a Master of Architecture from the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in Belgium, Master of Physical Planning from the University of Khartoum, and a Bachelor Degree in Architecture from the University of Khartoum.

Mr. Scarcia began his career with UNIDO in 2011. He has a great deal of expertise in developing and operating technical cooperation programmes in fragile and post-crisis environments such as Iraq, Lebanon, and Syria. In Iraq, he focused on developing small and medium enterprises, promoting investment, and enhancing livelihood opportunities in sustainable entrepreneurship activities for women and youth. Mr. Scarcia also worked in the technology start-up sector in San Francisco, California. He holds an MBA from the University of San Francisco, California, and a BA and MA in political science and international relations from LUISS University in Rome, Italy.