Kenya: Top Diplomat Lands Unicef Job

By Eric Sande

NEW YORK---United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon Thursday 21 October in New York appointed Martin Mogwanja, a Kenyan, as Deputy Executive Director of the United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef).

Mr. Mogwanja takes over from Omar Abdi.  Unicef chief Anthony Lake, stated he is "very pleased" by Mr Mogwanja's appointment. Ban Ki-moon expressed his gratitude to Mr. Mogwanja’s exemplary loyalty and contribution to Unicef. 

When he first joined Unicef as a young man in 1977, Mr Mogwanja was an Assistant Project Officer in Nairobi which has seen him rise through the ranks, serving in several capacities. He served as the organisation's representative in Uganda and Democratic Republic of Congo as well as in Pakistan, where thousands of children were recently displaced by flooding. He has also worked for Unicef in Lesotho, Swaziland, Cote d'Ivoire and at UN headquarters in New York. Mr Mogwanja has long and broad experience in international relief work.

Mr. Mogwanja holds a Master of Science degree in development studies (1993) from Imperial College, United Kingdom, and a Bachelor of Science degree in control theory engineering (1977) from the University of Leeds, United Kingdom.

In hailing Mr Mogwanja’s appointment, Mr Lake said: “Martin has done a remarkable job in Pakistan as Unicef representative and recently as acting humanitarian coordinator, and I have full confidence in his abilities and leadership.”