Secretary-General Appoints Babatunde Ahonsi of Nigeria United Nations Resident Coordinator in Sierra Leone

On 21 September, UN Secretary-General António Guterres appointed Babatunde Ahonsi of Nigeria as the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Sierra Leone, with the host Government’s approval.

Mr. Ahonsi has more than two decades of experience in international development, both within and outside the United Nations.  He recently served as the Acting United Nations Resident Coordinator in China after occupying leadership positions with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), including Representative in China, Country Director for Mongolia and Representative in Ghana.

Before joining the United Nations, Mr. Ahonsi held senior programme management positions with the Ford Foundation in West Africa and worked as Country Representative for the Population Council, an international non-governmental organization, in Nigeria.  He also lectured at various federal universities in Nigeria.

Mr. Ahonsi holds a bachelor’s degree with honours in sociology from the University of Lagos in Nigeria and a doctorate in population studies from the London School of Economics and Political Science in the United Kingdom.