In January this year, Ms. Chinwe Ogbonna officially took up the post of Representative of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in Kazakhstan and Country Director for Turkmenistan and Kyrgyzstan. This was reported in the UNFPA press release.

Ch. Ogbonna has more than 20 years of experience at the global, regional and national levels in the field of adaptive leadership, intergovernmental relations and strategic partnerships to achieve large-scale results.

The diplomat actively advocates for the need to accelerate and expand multi-sectoral investments to ensure the rights and opportunities of women, adolescent girls and youth.

Prior to her appointment to this position, Ms. Ogbonna served as Deputy Regional Director of the UNFPA Regional Office for Eastern and Southern Africa (ESARO), acted as Head of the UNFPA Country Office in Eritrea, and led the technical hub for middle-income countries (MIC) in UNFPA ESARO.

She has also held various positions with UNFPA, including Deputy Representative in the UNFPA Country Office in Zambia, and Executive Representative, Health Systems Strengthening Specialist and Programme Specialist in Health Economics in the UNFPA Country Office in Nigeria.

Prior to UNFPA, Ms. Ogbonna worked with the World Health Organization (WHO) in Ethiopia, as well as with Family Health International (FHI), USAID and the Government of Nigeria.

A Nigerian, Ms. Ogbonna holds a degree in Pharmacy and an MSc in Health Systems Management from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, University of London, with a focus on Health Economics and Finance. She also holds additional qualifications in Health Economics from Queen Margaret University in Edinburgh and the World Bank Institute in Washington, DC on Sustainable Finance in Emerging Markets and Economies. Ms. Ogbonna is also a 2013 Rockefeller Foundation Fellow (Global Leadership in Social Innovation Program).

She is actively involved in the African health economics and policy community, facilitating strategic partnerships for transformative action that delivers return on investment.