Our Team in Ghana

Angela Yayra Kwashie works with UNCDF as a Technical Specialist (Local Government Finance) in Accra, Ghana and doubles as the Officer in Charge of UNCDF in Ghana. She coordinates UNCDF activities with other UN agencies as well as key Ministries, Departments and Agencies, development partners and other stakeholders. She was from April 2016 till her current position in 2020, the National Project Coordinator of UNCDF’s Local Climate Adaptive Living Facility (LoCAL), a climate finance facility hosted at UNCDF.

In August 2012, Ms. Kwashie was posted to the DRC with the United Nations Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) under the UN Department of Peace Keeping Operations (DPKO) where she served as the Facilities and Camp Manager of the Engineering Section, mainly in the Equateur and North Kivu regions of the DRC. She was also the environmental focal point for the sector and occasionally travelling to twenty-one UN camps in the DRC made up of military troops and police units in addition to UN civilian offices under her area of responsibility, to ensure UN environmental standards are complied with by both military and civilian personnel. She occasionally served as the Officer-in-Charge of the Field Engineering Offices in MONUSCO regions posted.

Prior to joining the UN, Ms. Kwashie worked with the Canadian High Commission (2008 – 2012) as the International Development Assistant with the Global Affairs Canada, formerly the Canadian International Development Agency, where she had also occupied other positions. Before that (2004 – 2006), she was with the nascent postgraduate medical institution, the Ghana College of Physicians and Surgeons (GCPS) and played a critical role in its establishment as the first in Ghana.

Angela received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Ghana and a master’s degree in Public Administration – International Development from the University of York, UK.

Bernard has been an active member of the UN System in Ghana and has been leading the UNODC office for the past eleven (11) years, in providing intervention in the fight against serious & organized crime, and how to strengthen the criminal justice system. He is an International Relations and project management professional with over seventeen (17) years’ experience in Good Governance, trans-national organized crime interventions, peace building, anti-corruption, research, and Justice Sector Reforms (Rule of law).

Prior to joining the UN, Bernard was the Head of Research and Programme Unit of the Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition (GACC) and had a close working relationship with International organizations in Governance and national partners in the areas of Civil Society advocacy, monitoring and Evaluation of development Policies, Project Management and Public Policy Reforms.

Bernard holds Bachelor of Law (LLB) Degree from the Faculty of Law of the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA). B.A degree in Sociology with Political Science from University of Ghana, an Applied M.A in Development Policies from University of Bremen, Germany and another M.A in International Relations from Jacobs University, also in Germany.

Mr. Osama Makkawi Khogali brings 28 years of international experience in both humanitarian response and development contexts, including with UNICEF and the Government of the Netherlands.

Prior to joining UNIC Ghana country office, he held the posts of UNICEF Representative to Tajikistan (2020 to 2023), Montenegro (2017 - 2020) and Oman (2013 - 2017). Mr Makkawi Khogali was UNICEF Deputy Representative to Iraq (2009 – 2013), Regional Emergency Specialist for UNICEF Middle East and North Africa Regional Office (2006 to 2009); and served as Principal Emergency Coordinator and in other positions with UNICEF Pakistan Office.

Originally from Sudan, Mr. Khogali holds a Master’s degree in Economics from MS University of Baroda, India, and a Bachelor degree in Arts, University of Udaipur, India, and has significant experience in programme design and management, fundraising and partnership building with local authorities, UN agencies, NGOs, and the donor community.

Abena Ntori has over 17 years of experience within the UN system and currently oversees and promotes UN-Habitat work in Ghana while maintaining close collaboration with advisers in regional and headquarters in thematic areas for effective overall coordination.

With over 20 years of experience and expertise in strategic development planning, management and finance that combines policy formulation, programme management and coordination, Abena offers high level advisory support to UN-Habitat and partners. She has knowledge in building strategic partnerships and leading teams of specialists and programme coordinators in the formulation of projects across different thematic areas and organisations.

Prior to joining the UN, she worked briefly in the private sector where she was mainly involved in strategic planning and development initiatives.

Abena holds an MBA (Finance) from the University of Leicester in the UK, and Bachelor of Science (Hons) in Development Planning from the Kwame Nkrumah University and Science and Technology in Ghana.

Ms Amal Elrefaei is a Programme Management Officer in the Division for Africa in the Department of Technical Cooperation at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), since 2017. Her role is to assist Member States in Africa to use nuclear Sciences and Technology to address their development priority needs.
From 2013 to 2016 she has been working for the Section of Radioisotope Products and Radiation Technology at the IAEA providing consultancy service in the area of Radiopharmacy.
From 1998 to 2013, Ms Elrefaei has held several positions: Lecturer of Radiopharmacy, Division of Radioisotope Production, Hot Lab and Waste Management Centre, Atomic Energy Authority, Egypt; Research Fellow, University of Vienna; and Research Fellow, Medical University of Vienna.
Ms Elrefaei is the Liason Officer between Women in Nuclear (WiN) Global and IAEA and is a member in the Executive Committee of WiN Global. She is also a member of the advisory editorial board and reviewer in several specialized international journals in the area of biotechnological and pharmaceutical research.
Ms Elrefaei holds a BSc in Pharmacy, Tanta University, Egypt; and MSc and PhD in Radiopharmaceutical Sciences from Cairo University, Egypt.

Madam Aurore Rusiga is a national of Burundi and has extensive experience in managing humanitarian and development programmes.

She brings 30 years of experience with the World Food Programme (WFP), comprising 9 years as a national professional and 21 years as an international professional.
She joins Ghana from Lesotho where she served as Country Director and Representative from 2020 to 2024. She also served as Deputy Country Director in Burkina Faso between 2016 and 2020 – where she ensured the overall management and leadership of the team. She supervised the Operations unit i.e. Programme, Supply Chain, and IT including playing an active role in resource mobilization, advocacy, and donor engagement activities.
Prior to Burkina Faso, Aurore worked as Programme Policy Officer (Purchase for Progress (P4P) Coordinator) in Zambia Country Office (2012- 2016), and as Regional Logistics Officer for West and Central Africa in Senegal (2008 - 2012), as Deputy Head of Logistics and Supply Unit in Malawi (2005-2008) and as Logistics Officer (Resource Management and Reporting) in same country from 2003 to 2004.

She also served in her home country Burundi from 1994 to 2003 in Reporting, Monitoring and Communication unit as database manager as well as in Logistics as Commodity Accounting Manager.

She graduated from the University of Burundi Institute of Commerce in Tax Systems; she speaks several languages including English and French among the UN official languages.

Dr. Fatima Denton is an accomplished senior leader in the UN system with a depth of expertise in natural resource management, research and policy development. Prior to joining UNU-INRA, Dr. Denton had worked with the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) as Director of the Natural Resource Management Division and as Coordinator of the African Climate Policy Centre. She also worked with the Canada based International Development Research Centre (IDRC), where she managed high-impact action research, as an energy scientist with the United Nations Environment Programme Risoe Centre (Denmark) and as an energy programme manager with Enda Tiers Monde (Senegal).

Dr. Denton has written more than 50 peer-reviewed articles, reports, and books. She holds a PhD in Political Science from the University of Birmingham (UK).

Dr. Wilfred Ochan joins UNFPA Ghana Country Office with over 20 years of work experience having worked in peace, development, humanitarian and recovery contexts and with Government, NGOs and the UN system.

He joins the UNFPA Ghana Country Office from UNFPA Tanzania Country Office where he was UNFPA Deputy Representative for 3+ years. He previously served as UNFPA Deputy Representative in South Sudan (2016 - 2019); UNFPA Deputy Representative in Kabul, Afghanistan (2013 – 2016), he served on Detailed Assignment as Senior RH Adviser with the then UNFPA Africa Regional Office (August – November, 2013) in Johannesburg; and was an Assistant Representative with UNFPA Uganda Country Office from 2008 – 2013.

Prior to joining UNFPA, Wilfred worked with Baylor College of Medicine Children’s Foundation Uganda as Head of Strategy and Development leading a national programme for expansion of pediatric HIV/AIDS treatment and care, research and training in Uganda. He served as Regional Adviser with the International Planned Parenthood Federation, Africa Region (2004 – 2007) and as National Programme Manager (Director of Programmes) with Family Planning Association of Uganda (2002 – 2004). He was National Programme Officer with the Family Health Department of the Population Secretariat in the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development (1997 – 2002). He started his work in clinical practice at Mulago National Referral Hospital and Complex as a Medical Officer with the Ministry of Health.

Dr. Wilfred Ochan is native of Uganda and holds a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery degree from Makerere University in Uganda. He has a master’s degree in Community Health and Health Management from Heidelberg University, Germany.

Mr. Moukala, a Congolese sinologist, holds a master's degree in law, bachelor’s degree in design &
planning and a civil engineering degree. He is an expert in heritage preservation, sustainable tourism,
capacity development of local popula􀆟ons and dialogue among civilizations.

Mr. Moukala has been working for UNESCO for more than 25 years, 11 of which in Asia as part of the “Silk
Road” projects, more specifically in China, Mongolia, both North and South Korea and Japan. From 2004
to 2010, he worked in the Intercultural Dialogue’s Division where he initiated and organized the
commemoration of the bicentenary of the abolition of the slave trade and slavery in the United Kingdom
2007 and in the United States 2008.

He developed with the Department of History of Harvard University, the first Atlas of Scientific and
Cultural Interactions between Africa and the Americas by Afro‐descendants. He also contributed to the
implementation of UNESCO's action plan for the International Decade for the Rapprochement of Cultures
and the promotion of dialogue among civilizations.

From 2014 to 2020, as Head of the Africa Unit of the World Heritage Center he coordinated the
implementation of the 1972 World Heritage Convention in 46 African countries. It is in this context that
he initiated the African World Heritage Day.

He was the Head of the UNESCO Office in Bamako – Mali (2019‐2023).
Since 15 October 2023, he is the Head of Accra Office and UNESCO Representative to Ghana, and Head of
Bamako Office per interim and UNESCO Representa􀆟ve to Mali.

Mr. Moukala undertakes research in the fields of diplomatic relations between Africa and China, Africa
and its development potential and the comparative study of the case of Chinese economic development
and its added value for the development of Africa. He is the editor and co‐editor of several publications,
including the one on heritage preservation and sustainable development.

Fatou Diallo Ndiaye holds a master’s degree in Science of Local Development, a certificate in Administration Management and Diplomacy, and in Project Development/Implementation among others.

For the past 22 years, Fatou has occupied positions of Senior Operations Supervisor, Operations Coordinator, and Programme Manager. She has been Head of Office/Chief of Mission (CoM) since 2011 in Senegal, Niger, Guinea (Conakry) and Liberia/Sierra Leone, and most recently Norway.

In Norway, Fatou - the first female CoM in the country - strengthened collaboration with key partners, embassies, and the government in response to migrants’ needs and rights in the context of safe and voluntary return and labor migration.

Fatou has vast experiences and knowledge of the West and Central African region, which she has used successfully to contribute to migration governance, particularly in the areas of humanitarian post-crisis response, return and reintegration, and community stabilization - from the Libyan to the recent Mediterranean crisis. Fatou managed several migrant protection and reintegration initiatives focused on stabilizing migrants’ communities of origin. She also has vast experiences in joint initiatives as well as multi-agency, multi-partner, and multi-country programming which are key for the United Nation and important for migration management due to its transversality.

Fatou is a Senegalese.

Mr. Hector Sucilla Perez has 20 years of professional experience in public health, public policy, health and public management, HIV response, health governance, academy and research.

He joined UNAIDS in June 2014. Prior to his appointment to Ghana, he served as UNAIDS Country Director in Guatemala,
Multi-Country Office Director a.i. for Honduras and Nicaragua, and as Strategic Information Adviser for the mentioned Central American countries.

Mr. Sucilla Perez served the Federal Government of Mexico for more than six years in the National Center for the Prevention and Control of the HIV/AIDS, performing most of his time as Director of Operations, Research. He has represented his country of origin and the region of Latin America and the Caribbean in different high-level governance instances such as on the UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board, the Global Fund Board, the United Nations
General Assembly Special Sessions on HIV/AIDS and the Technical Cooperation Group of HIV/AIDS Programmes of Latin America and the Caribbean. He also collaborated in the General Directorate for the Control of Sexually Transmitted Infections and AIDS (DIGECITSS) in the Dominican Republic.

Mr. Sucilla Perez graduated as Biological and Pharmaceutical Chemist from the National University of Mexico (UNAM) and has a Master degree in Health Management and Direction of the National Institute of Public Health-Mexico (INSP).

Ms. Ifeoma Charles-Monwuba is a development specialist with more than 29 years’ experience in public health, development communication, social marketing and advertising. She has multi-disciplinary training in mass communication, international law and diplomacy as well as international health and population studies. Prior to joining the UN in 2018, Ifeoma spent nearly 10 years with ActionAid and held a variety of roles in Nigeria, Haiti, and Senegal where she was ActionAid Country Director. Before that she served as Head of Governance, Policy and Partnerships for WaterAid Nigeria (2005 -2009). Prior to WaterAid, Ifeoma worked for Nigeria’s foremost public health NGO, the Society for Family Health (SFH) and for a leading Nigerian advertising agency in the private sector.

Niloy is a Development Economist with expertise in effective institutions and capacity development. Before joining us in Ghana, he led the UN System Affairs Group in UNDP, based in New York. In this role, he managed UNDP’s interface with UN agencies, funds, and programmes, as well as with Member States in the realm of intergovernmental affairs. He also played a significant role in leading UNDP’s engagement in the recent round of UN reforms.

Throughout his career, Niloy has held various key positions, including Director of Knowledge, Innovation and Capacity Development Group and Team Leader and Policy Advisor for Asia-Pacific at the Bureau for Development Policy in UNDP. He has deep experience in the Asia-Pacific region, where he served as a regional policy advisor and was instrumental in establishing the Singapore Policy Center for UNDP.

Niloy was appointed as the Resident Representative for Malaysia, Singapore, and Brunei Darussalam in March 2019.

He holds a master’s degree in economics from Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi and is a Fellow of the City University of New York.

Mrs. Needa Jehu-Mazou has been working for UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency across Africa and in its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland for over two decades.

She has held several roles including as the Chief of UNHCR’s Private Sector Partnerships in Africa where she led teams in East, West and Southern Africa, to build partnerships with private philanthropists, businesses, foundations and faith organizations, in support of UNHCR’s work. With a creative background in film studies, she led the creation of the LuQuLuQu Tribe – an initiative that actualizes the Global Compact on Refugees to engage the whole-of -society and centred on changing the narrative of the African refugee. LuQuLuQu embodies her strong belief in the interdependency of humanity.

Prior to her arrival in Ghana, she was the Senior Strategic Planning Adviser in the Division of External Relations at the organization’s headquarters in Geneva. In this role she worked across the organization, liaising with External Engagement actors in the various Regional Bureaux, forging strategies to ensure cohesion and harmony in UNHCR’s external relations, leading multiyear planning, and advising the Director on programmatic and other matters, fundraising, interagency coordination, communications, and managing the emergency and external engagement team, among other functions.

Ms Priya Gujadhur is the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Representative in Ghana ad interim, appointed to this position on 1 July 2024. She is performing this function concurrently with her responsibility as FAO Senior Regional Resilience Officer for Africa at the FAO Regional Office for Africa, which is also based in Accra.
Ms Gujadhur has served with FAO in different capacities for over 20 years, working in humanitarian response as well as the transition to efficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable agrifood systems.

She began her career with the private sector and moved to FAO in 2003 to work with the Technical Cooperation Department in FAO Headquarters, Rome. Between 2005 and 2010 she provided support to emergency and resilience projects in DPR Korea, Indonesia, Somalia, Sri Lanka and the West Bank and Gaza Strip. In 2011, she moved to the FAO Representation in Kingston, Jamaica, to assist the Government in mitigating the effects of the food prices crisis. In 2012, Ms Gujadhur rejoined the Technical Cooperation Department in Rome, contributing specifically to FAO’s efforts to manage food chain crises in the Sahel and in Madagascar. From 2014, she led operations for FAO’s Coordination Office for the West Bank and Gaza Strip Programme based in Jerusalem. From 2018, Ms Gujadhur engaged in the development and management of FAO’s programme of work in Uganda, first as FAO Representative ad interim and then as FAO Deputy Representative, until her current appointment.
Ms Gujadhur is a national of Mauritius. She holds a Master of Science in Local Economic Development from the Department of Geography and Environment of the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE).

Ms. Vanessa Phala, a South African national, is the Country Director of the ILO Country Office for Nigeria, Ghana, Liberia and Sierra Leone. Prior to this appointment, she worked as a Senior Specialist (Employers’ Activities) at the ILO Office for the Caribbean, in Port of Spain. Before that, she undertook several leading roles in the public and private sectors from 2004 to 2016. She was the Executive Director in charge of Social and Transformation Policy at Business Unity South Africa (BUSA), a non-profit company representing organised business in South Africa. She also served as the Director of the Ethics and Integrity Management Unit and Special Anti-corruption Unit of the South African Department of Public Service and Administration. Her professional career began in 2004, as an Assistant Director in the Policy Research and Analysis Unit of the South African Department of International Relations and Cooperation.
Ms. Phala graduated from the University of the Witwatersrand in 2004 where she obtained a Master’s Degree in International Relations and from the University of the West Indies in 2021 where she obtained an Executive Master of Business Administration. She is currently pursuing a Doctorate in Business Administration.