Our Team in Malawi

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.

Nisha brings 38 years of experience to the role of Director of Office and UNESCO Representative to Southern Africa. She previously served in the same capacity at the UNESCO Office for the Pacific States. Her work focuses on multi-sector development, humanitarian action, and advancing international norms. She has held key roles in organizations like the ILO, UNIFEM, UNDP, UN RCO, Christian Aid, and Oxfam GB, driving positive change across regions including East and Horn of Africa, South Asia, and the Arab States. Her journey began in civil society organizations in India, where her commitment to community empowerment, women's rights, labour rights, and humanitarian action and sustainable development took shape.

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.

Sayed Mohammad Farooqui is the UNOPS Representative in Malawi, joining the United Nations Country Team in November 2023. With over 20 years of dedicated service at UNOPS, he brings extensive experience in programme and project management across diverse and challenging contexts.
Prior to his current role, Mr. Farooqui served as the UNOPS Head of Programme in Somalia, where he led impactful initiatives in infrastructure and development. He has also held key positions in Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, and South Sudan, contributing to sustainable development, capacity building, and resilience efforts in complex environments.
Mr. Farooqui holds a Bachelor’s degree in Architecture, reflecting his strong technical expertise and leadership in advancing sustainable development goals globally.

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.