Our Team in Zimbabwe

Mr. Kallon has devoted more than 30 years of his career to public service, working – both at the United Nations and externally – in complex emergency, transition and development context in conflict and non-conflict settings across lower- and middle-income countries. At the United Nations, he most recently served as the Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria, following an assignment as Resident Coordinator in Jordan. He also held senior positions with the World Food Programme (WFP) in Bangladesh, India, Iraq, Somalia, and Uganda after starting his United Nations career as a United Nations Volunteer assigned to WFP in Afghanistan.

Mr. Clement Mhlanga is the Officer In Charge for UNOPS Zimbabwe. Clement is a Zimbabwean citizen with over 30 years of working experience with Humanitarian and Development organizations including the UN and Government institutions. Mr. Mhlanga has been with UNOPS Zimbabwe since February 2019 in the capacity of Partnerships Liaison Officer. Prior to joining UNOPS, Clement worked for Save the Children International (SCI) as Director of Program Operations from 2013-2018. From 2005-2013, he worked as Senior Programmes Manager at Oxfam Great Britain in Zimbabwe. Mr. Mhlanga has also served the University of the Free State in South Africa as the Coordinator of Short Courses in Disaster Management, Emergencies Coordinator at Save the Children UK in Mozambique and Plan International as a Programmes Coordinator. Mr. Mhlanga holds a Masters Degree in Disaster Management.

Ms. Cartier has over two decades of experience in international development, humanitarian aid, recovery, and stabilization across the globe. Since joining IOM in 2006, Ms. Cartier has worked in Zimbabwe, Sudan, Norway, and Chad, focusing on emergency and post-crisis contexts, as well as migration development and governance to maximize the benefits of migration. Additionally, Ms. Cartier has served in IOM’s headquarters in Geneva within the central evaluation office and most recently held the position of Chief of Mission in IOM Costa Rica.

Ms. Cartier is a dual national of France and the United States and was raised in Morocco and Uganda. She holds a Master’s degree in International Development from the Institute of Political Sciences in Paris, France, and a Bachelor’s degree from Macalester College in Minnesota, United States. Before joining IOM, Ms. Cartier worked with NGOs and consulting firms on community development and migrant and refugee support in the United States, South Africa, and Mozambique.

Dr Patrice Talla Takoukam, a national of Cameroon, has been the FAO Subregional Coordinator for Southern Africa, as well as FAO Representative in Eswatini, Lesotho and Zimbabwe since September 2020. Prior to that, Dr Talla was FAO Representative in Madagascar, Comoros, Mauritius and Seychelles, under the multiple accreditation scheme.
Dr Talla joined FAO headquarters in 2001 as Legal Officer in the Law and Development Service of the Legal Office. In 2004, he transferred to the World Bank in Washington DC, United States, as Legal Officer/Counsel in the Environment and International Law Unit, Legal Department. He returned to FAO headquarters in 2010, where he served as Legal Officer in the Development Law Service, Legal Office. He holds a Doctor of Philosophy in International Environmental Law and Public Law from the University of Limoges in France.

Dr Ayodele Odusola took office as UNDP Resident Representative for Zimbabwe in September 2023. Dr. Odusola joined the UN Country Team in Zimbabwe after serving as UNDP Resident Representative for South Africa from June 2019 to August 2023. For almost 30 years, Dr. Odusola has held key leadership roles within the United Nations, spearheading initiatives that include addressing joblessness, poverty, and inequality. His work has impacted sectors including youth entrepreneurship, access to renewable energy, and green value chains across Africa. He is the author of more than 100 publications in books, journals, policy briefs, and technical reports, including Africa's Agricultural Renaissance: From Paradox to Powerhouse, (Palgrave Macmillan2021). He holds a PhD from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria.

Dr. Desta Tiruneh took office as the World Health Organization (WHO) Representative to Zimbabwe in April 2024. Prior to this, he served as the WHO Representative in The Gambia from September 2017 to March 2024.
Dr. Tiruneh joined the WHO in 2001 and served as an Advisor in immunization programmes as well as in the prevention, control, elimination, and eradication of communicable and non-communicable diseases/conditions for more than 17 years. He began his professional career as a medical doctor in Ethiopia and served as an Assistant Professor in a Medical School. He has also held various management positions in health programmes and offices at the district, regional, and national levels. Dr. Tiruneh holds an MD and an MPH from the University of Addis Ababa.

Mr. Boubacar Bamba, a national of Burkina Faso, brings over 35 years of experience at both government and United Nations levels. He began his career with UNHCR in 1997 as a UNV Programme Officer in Conakry, Guinea. Throughout his tenure, he has held various significant roles, including Head of Field Office in Liberia, Senior Programme Officer (Abidjan), Senior Liaison Officer (Dakar), Assistant Representative (Programme) in Nigeria, Uganda, and most recently in Rwanda. In April 2024, he assumed his current position as UNHCR Representative in Zimbabwe.

Before joining UNHCR, Mr. Boubacar Bamba served as the Head of the Planning and M&E Department under the Ministry of Agriculture in Burkina Faso. He holds an Engineering degree in Agriculture from the University of Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso) and an Associate of Science degree in Conflict Resolution from the University of Catalonia, Spain.

Mr. Henry Damisoni a Malawian national, took office as UNAIDS Country Director in Zimbabwe on 16 September 2024. Prior to that Mr. Damisoni was the Regional Adviser for Strategic Information for East and Southern Africa. Mr. Damisoni has over 25 years of Public Health experience in several African countries: Malawi, Botswana, Federal Republic of Nigeria, South Africa, Zambia and Kenya.
Mr. Damisoni holds a Master of Health Science degree in Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Biostatistics from the Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health in the United States of America.

Ms. Barbara Clemens is the current World Food Programme (WFP) Zimbabwe Representative and Country Director. An African American born in Liberia, she has over 30 years of experience as a programme leader in both the public and private sectors. Her career began in banking and public accounting before transitioning to international development. Since joining the WFP in 2005, she has held various roles in Malawi, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Italy, Jordan, Bangladesh, and Nigeria and was the previous Representative and Country Director in Ghana. Barbara has led key initiatives, such as WFP's policy on cash-based transfers, designed processes for crisis interventions, and revolutionized cash transfers during COVID-19. As the Representative and Country Director in Zimbabwe, she focuses on public-private partnerships, resilience building, and climate-smart agriculture, emphasizing sustainability and social protection systems.

Ms. Eneida Fernandes, a Brazilian national, took office as World Bank Country Manager in the Republic of Zimbabwe in October 2023. Ms. Fernandes was previously the Resident Representative of Cabo Verde, where she played a pivotal role at the height of the COVID pandemic; and a Senior Private Sector Specialist in the Africa Region, Finance, Competitiveness and Innovation Unit, at the Headquarters in Washington D.C. and in Antananarivo, Madagascar. With more than 20 years experience in the development practice spanning operational and management space, Ms. Fernandes worked in Latin America and the Caribbean, and Africa, in close collaboration with IFC and MIGA and other development agencies, for both low- and middle-income countries, and Fragile and Conflict-affected States. She has authored or co-authored various publications and has had numerous speaking engagements at local and global events.

Ms. Fernandes has a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration (Hotel Management); and Master's degrees in Business Administration from Les Roches Hotel Management School in Switzerland; and Tourism Administration from George Washington University, United States of America.

Etona Ekole is the UNICEF Representative in Zimbabwe since July 2024. She has over 30 years of experience in the promotion and protection of the rights of children across various country and operational contexts.

She is responsible for advocating for the realisation of child rights and improved development outcomes for children In Zimbabwe. In collaboration with national authorities, donors, non-governmental organizations, civil society organisations, parents and caregivers, religious and traditional leaders, as well as young people themselves, she is tasked with facilitating innovations in programming, whilst fostering a duty of care for staff as they strive to achieve ambitious targets for children in health provision, nutrition, education, water, sanitation and hygiene, protection services and participation.

She provides leadership and managerial oversight of the UNICEF country office in Zimbabwe, including in resource and partnership mobilisation for children and risk management of UNICEF programmes. In this regard, she coordinates closely with other UN agencies and development partners to attain the Sustainable Development Goals.

She has held senior positions with UNICEF in Guinea Bissau, the State of Palestine, and UNICEF New York Headquarters. She has worked alternatively in the fields of Education, Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation and Social Policy, and Programming Policy and Guidance. She has led teams in developing and implementing strategies to strengthen results-based management, adolescent development and youth participation and instrumental in convening UN teams and other development partners around the promotion and protection of child rights. She has served in Yemen, Chad, Haiti, and in Cameroon.

Ms Ekole is a national of Cameroon and holds a BA (Hons) degree in International Relations from the University of Keele in the United Kingdom, an MA (Econ) Development Studies and an MSC in Human Resource Development from the University of Manchester in the UK.

Ms. Fatou Aminata Lo started her career in the private sector in Senegal in 1999 before joining the UN Millennium Project in New York in 2003 and later moving to the UNDP Bureau for Development Policy. In 2006, she joined UNIFEM in New York and worked successively as programme specialist and policy specialist in the Governance team. Since 2013, she has served as UN Women Deputy Representative in Sudan, Deputy Representative in Rwanda and Country Representative in Rwanda.

She holds a Masters Degrees in Law from University Cheikh Anta Diop of Dakar, a Masters in Sustainable Development from the SIT Graduate Institute, and a Masters in International Relations from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy in Boston.
Ms Lo was an official youth delegate and spokesperson at the Fourth World Conference on Women in China (the Beijing Conference) in 1995. She was awarded the Ford Foundation Leadership for Social Justice award in 2003 and was portrayed as one of the Faces of the Future by the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington in 2005. An avid reader and writer, she has authored and contributed to published work, including the "Investing in Development Report" in 2005 also known as the UN Millennium Development Goals Report.

Ms. Miranda Tabifor, a national of Cameroon, currently serves as the UNFPA Representative in Zimbabwe starting from 1 July 2023. With over 20 years of experience in technical, programmatic, and managerial leadership within the United Nations across diverse cultural and political contexts in Africa. Prior to her current role, she held various positions in UNFPA, including Deputy Representative in Madagascar, covering Comoros, Mauritius and Seychelles, and Deputy Representative in Uganda.
Ms Tabifor holds a Master of Art Degree in International Relations from the University of Nairobi; a Post Graduate Diploma in Educational Psychology/Pedagogy; Maitrise in Linguistics and Bachelor's Degree in Modern English Letters (ARTS) respectively from the University of Yaounde, Cameroon.

Nisha, national of India, brings over 35 years of experience to her current role as the Regional Director and UNESCO Representative to Southern Africa. Her role as a Representative encompasses Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Before coming to the Southern Africa region, Nisha served as the Director of the Office and UNESCO Representative to the Pacific States. Nisha’s experiences are focused on multi-sector development, humanitarian action, and international norms and standards. Prior to working with UNESCO, Nisha worked with the ILO, UNIFEM (antecedent of UN Women), UNDP and UN RCO, Christian Aid, and Oxfam GB in countries in East and Horn of Africa, South Asia, and the Arab States. Nisha’s foundational years of work were with civil society organizations in India.

Philile Ntombikayise Masuku was appointed Director of the ILO Country for Zimbabwe and Namibia on 1 May 2023.

Prior to that, she held several positions including that of Deputy Head of Mission (2017-2023) in the Permanent Mission of the Kingdom of Eswatini in Geneva, Switzerland and had been acting Chargée d’affaires from 2020 in the same mission. From 2015-2017 Ms Masuku was Acting Deputy Head of Mission in the Embassy of the Kingdom of Eswatini in Brussels, Belgium. She was also First Secretary for Trade, Investment and Tourism in the same Mission from 2007 -2015.

She started her career as Trade Information Analyst Ministry of Commerce, Trade and Industry, Mbabane, Eswatini.

Philile holds a Master’s in International Trade from the University of Saskatchewan and a Masters' in International Studies from Stellenbosch University in South Africa, and a Bachelor of Communications and International Marketing from St Andrews University in the USA.