Secretary-General Appoints Ozonnia Ojielo of Nigeria United Nations Resident Coordinator in Rwanda

On 10 July, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres appointed Ozonnia Ojielo of Nigeria as the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Rwanda, with the host Government’s approval.

Mr. Ojielo brings to the position more than 25 years of experience in sustainable development work, including experience overseeing a global portfolio of programmes and projects with the United Nations in Central Asia and Africa that covered four continents.  Within the Organization, he most recently served as Resident Coordinator in Kyrgyzstan, after working as Resident Coordinator, Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Representative of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) to the Kyrgyz Republic for one year prior to that.

He also held other leadership positions at UNDP, including Cluster Director for Governance and Peacebuilding in Africa at UNDP’s Regional Service Centre for Africa in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, as well as Director for Conflict Prevention and Recovery at the Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery of UNDP in New York.  He also took on other senior roles with UNDP in Kenya and Ghana.

Prior to joining the United Nations, Mr. Ojielo was an attorney, university teacher, journalist and advised truth, justice and reconciliation, as well as human rights commissions in Ghana, Liberia, Malawi, Namibia and Sierra Leone.  He also served as the President of the Centre for Peace in Africa, a regional non‑profit in Nigeria, and is the founder and first President of The Institute of Chartered Mediators and Conciliators, the largest mediation and conciliation organization in Africa.

Mr. Ojielo authored numerous scholarly and technical publications and holds a PhD in peace and conflict studies from the University of Ibadan in Nigeria, master’s degrees in strategic and project management from the Paris Graduate School of Management in France, as well as in history from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, and bachelor’s degrees in history and law from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka and ASUTECH respectively, both in Nigeria.