Our Team in Malawi

Mr. Shadrack Omol is the UNICEF Representative in Malawi, effective 17 July 2023. He has more than 24 years of experience working with UNICEF in various countries, including Yemen, Uganda, Zambia, Ethiopia, India, and Sudan. Before joining UNICEF, he worked in the private sector in East Africa for 10 years. Over the years, Mr. Shadrack Omol has extensively worked on child rights advocacy, development and humanitarian programming, private sector engagement, and organizational leadership/management. Mr. Omol is a Kenyan national and holds post-graduate and graduate degrees in civil engineering.

Bernadette Mazarura Mukonyora is the IFAD Representative and Country Director for Malawi, effective from 14 November 2022. Prior to that, Bernadette has served as IFAD’s Country Director for Eritrea and South Sudan, based in IFAD’s Multi-country Office in Addis Ababa. She has also periodically served as Officer-in-Charge for IFAD’s Multi-Country Office in Ethiopia.

Bernadette joined the United Nations family in 2007, and has worked in various capacities including as Project Manager, Portfolio Coordinator for Regional Programmes in East and Southern Africa, Institutional Focal Point for agriculture policy platforms African Green Revolution Forum (AGRF), Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) and NEPAD/AUDA Rural Development Forum.

Bernadette brings extensive experience from her work in portfolio management across rural and agriculture projects in diverse contexts, including in fragile and post-conflict contexts. She has over 16 years of working experience in the design and implementation of policies, strategies and programmes with a focus on agriculture development, blue economy, community demand driven development, innovative rural finance and rural enterprise development in East and Southern Africa.

Bernadette holds two Masters Degrees - Masters Degree in Food Systems and International Agri-food Governance & Masters Degree in Applied Media Studies, and a Bachelors Degree in Media & Cultural Studies.

Mr. Kouame Cyr Modeste is the UNHCR Representative in Malawi since February 2021. He has 22 years of experience in protection and management. Previously, he worked as UNHCR Representative in the Republic of Congo from 2016 to 2020, following his rising through the ranks from a Protection Officer, through Head of Office in several operations. He started his career in Côte d'Ivoire working for a partnership project between CNCAR and UNHCR from 1997 to 1999. Kouame Cyr Modeste is a lawyer holding a Master’s in Legal, Administrative and Political Sciences.

Fenella joined the UN Country Team as the UNDP Resident Representative for Malawi in August 2023.
Prior to her arrival in Malawi, Fenella served in UNDP HQ as Acting Chief of the Regional Bureau for Africa’s Country Office Oversight Team.
Fenella served as UNDP Resident Representative to the Union of Comoros between 2019-2022.
She also served as the UNDP Deputy Resident Representative in the Republic of Cameroon from 2016 to 2019.
Fenella joined UNDP in 2005, leading the disaster risk reduction and resilience team in Haiti (2010-2016) and supporting disaster risk reduction and resilience issues for UNDP’s Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery in Geneva (2005-2010).
Prior to joining UNDP, she worked for the UK’s Department for International Development as lead advisor on disaster reduction (2000-2005).
Fenella started her career working in post-conflict contexts in the Balkans on recovery and governance programming and institutional development with NGOs and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.
Fenella studied international relations at the University of St Andrews and London School of Economics and Political Science. She is a New Zealand national, born in the UK.

Letty Chiwara is the Country Representative of UN Women in Malawi. She started her mission in April 2022. She has extensive leadership, representational and administrative experience. Previously, she was the UN Women Representative to Ethiopia, African Union Commission (AUC) and the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA). Letty has represented UN Women in several inter-governmental fora, including at the Africa Union, SADC, IGAD and ECOWAS. She has led various UN programmes in Africa, Asia and the Pacific Region, Latin America and the Caribbean and East and Central Europe. She possesses a Master of Science in Urban Development Planning from University of London, UK, and a Bachelor of Science in Rural and Urban Planning from University of Zimbabwe.

Dr. Neema Rusibamayila Kimambo is the Representative of the World Health Organization (WHO) in Malawi since May 2022. She is a senior public health specialist and paediatrician with over 25 years of national and international experience. Prior to her appointment, she served as medical officer responsible for child and adolescent health at the WHO Regional Office for Africa (WHO/AFRO) since 2018. Between November 2019 and February 2021, she acted as the WHO Representative for Ghana. Before joining WHO, she served in several positions in Tanzania, including as the Director of Preventive Services (DPS) at the Ministry of Health of the Government of Tanzania. Dr. Kimambo is a graduate of Medicine and has a Master’s in Paediatrics and Child Health from University of Dar-es-salaam, Tanzania, and another Master’s in Public Health from London University - London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

Nomagugu Hanyana NCUBE is the Chief of Mission for the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Malawi. She has been working with IOM for more than 15 years in various capacities within the fields of migration health and migration management. She has previously served in Zimbabwe, Nigeria, South Africa and Zambia, with her most recent posting in Zambia as Chief of Mission. Ms Ncube has over 20 years’ experience in community development and public health work covering aspects of public health, migration management, migrant protection and research spanning several countries in Southern Africa and beyond. She holds a Master’s Degree in Public Health from the University of Zimbabwe, an Honours Degree in Gender Studies from the University of South Africa, a Bachelor of Technology in Environmental Health from Pretoria Technikon and a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Development Studies from the University of South Africa.

Nuha Ceesay, a Health Planner by profession, is the current UNAIDS Acting Country Director for Malawi. He was deployed to Malawi in 2019. He joined UNAIDS in 2007 as Country Officer for the Gambia and opened the UNAIDS office before taking up international duties as Investment and Efficiency Adviser for Swaziland and currently PEPFAR/Global Fund Implementation Adviser for Zambia. He holds a Master’s in Health Management, Planning and Policy, from the Nuffield Institute, University of Leeds.

Paul Turnbull is the Country Director and Representative of the UN World Food Programme in Malawi. He started his mission in Malawi in June 2021. Previously, he served as WFP Ethiopia’s Senior Deputy Country Director since July 2018 and WFP’s Deputy Country Director in Kenya from 2013‐2018 as well as Chief of the Programme Review and Support Unit at WFP’s headquarters in Rome from 2006 to 2013). He has worked for WFP for over 25 years. Paul holds a Master of Agricultural Science in Tropical Agricultural Development from the University of Reading and a Bachelor of Agricultural Science in Agriculture from Wye College, University of London.

Mr. Wellington Chibebe – the ILO Country Director for Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique is a Zimbabwean national.

Born on 22 October 1963, Mr. Chibebe joined the International Labour Organization (ILO) in 2018 as Director of the ILO Country Office for the United Republic of Tanzania, Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda.

Between 2011 and 2017 he held the post of Deputy General Secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) in Brussels, Belgium. During his tenure, he was in-charge of development cooperation and education, oversight of the legal department, relations with Commonwealth and Francophone countries.

He was also charged with the responsibility of dealing with general ITUC administration/ management of the solidarity fund, as well as political responsibility for the Africa region, TUAC and GPEDC/UN and ILO desk.

Prior to that post, he was Secretary General of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU). Mr. Chibebe began his career in his country’s national railways, quickly becoming involved in the trade union movement, including as Secretary-General of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions, thereby acquiring extensive experience in social dialogue, human rights, and first-hand knowledge of the most relevant world of work issues in the Africa region, coupled with his personal qualities.

From 1988 to 2001, Mr. Chibebe worked as Diesel Plant Fitter/ Mechanical Engineering Technician at National Railways of Zimbabwe, where his union activism started from after being elected as President of the Railway Artisan Union from 1990 to 2000.

Currently, he is pursing Master of Laws in Labour Law University of South Africa, South Africa upon completing Bachelor of Laws from the same University.

Zhijun Chen is the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Representative for Malawi. He started his mission as FAO Representative in May 2019. He has worked for FAO for about 15 years, serving in different capacities such as Irrigation and Rural Infrastructure Engineer at FAO Headquarters in Rome, Senior Irrigation and Rural Infrastructure Engineer and Investment Support Officer in Thailand. He joined the UN as the Irrigation and Water Management Officer at the UN Peace-Keeping Department in Timor-Leste in 2000. Zhijun holds a PhD in Farmland Water Conservancy, a Master in Fluid Machinery and Fluid Power Engineering, as well as a Bachelor in Irrigation and Drainage, from Wuhan University, China.