Secretary-General Appoints Hopolang Phororo of Lesotho United Nations Resident Coordinator in Namibia

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appointed Hopolang Phororo of Lesotho as the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Namibia, with the host Government’s approval.  She takes up her post on 1 December.

Prior to her appointment as United Nations Resident Coordinator, Ms. Phororo served as Director in the Country Office for Zimbabwe and Namibia for more than seven years with the International Labour Organization (ILO).  She was the ILO Deputy Director in the Country Office for the United Republic of Tanzania, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda; and in the Regional Office for Africa, as the Youth Employment Specialist and Decent Work Focal Point Officer.

Before joining the United Nations system in 2003, she worked in Namibia as a researcher at the Namibia Economic Policy Research Unit.  In Lesotho, she served as National Project Officer at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and, prior to that, as a research fellow at the Institute of Southern African Studies and as Marketing Officer in the Ministry of Agriculture.

Ms. Phororo has written and published several working papers and selected articles and chapters in books on HIV/AIDS, youth employment and agricultural marketing topics, including an inspirational book titled Joy Comes in the Morning.  She is an advocate for gender-based violence and is passionate about leadership and empowering women and youth. 

She obtained her master’s degree in agricultural economics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Duquesne University.  She holds an honour’s degree in psychology from the University of South Africa.