Our Team in Malawi

Maria

Maria Jose Torres Macho

UN
Resident Coordinator
torres8@un.org
 
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Maria Jose Torres Macho is the United Nations Resident Coordinator for Malawi. She started her mission in Malawi in January 2018. Previously, she served as the UN Senior Post Conflict Adviser and the Head of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Colombia, as well as the Deputy Head of Office for OCHA in the occupied Palestinian Territory. She has also worked for the UN in places like Rwanda, Guatemala, Somalia and New York. Maria Jose studied Law in Spain and holds a Master in European Studies from Pontificia University of Salamanca, a Master of International Relations from Free University of Brussels, and a Master of International Humanitarian and Human Rights Law (LLM) from Essex University.
Clara

Clara Anyangwe

Representative
clara.anyangwe@unwomen.org
 
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Clara Anyangwe is the UN Women Representative for Malawi. She started her mission in April 2016. Prior to joining the Malawi team, she was the Representative ad interim for the UN Women Rwanda Country Office, as well as the Deputy Representative. She started out in Rwanda as the One UN Programme Manager and was appointed Chair of the Programme Planning and Oversight Committee (PPOC). Previous experiences include working as the National Programme Officer for UNIFEM in Cameroon and conducting trainings on gender-based violence for peacekeeping missions. Clara holds a Master in Agricultural Economics from University of Ibadan, Nigeria.
Cyr Modeste Kouame

Cyr Modeste Kouame

UNHCR
Representative
kouame@unhcr.org
 
 
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.
Dylan

Dylan Van Tromp

ILO
Senior Project Officer
vantromp@ilo.org
 
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Dylan Van Tromp is the Senior Project Officer of the ILO’s regional ACCEL Africa project, and holds delegated authority to represent the ILO in the Malawi UNCT. Dylan commenced his mission in October 2019, prior to which he served as Chief Technical Advisor of development cooperation projects at the ILO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific and the ILO Country Office for Indonesia and Timor-Leste. Dylan has more than 15 years of experience with the ILO, UNICEF, UNDP, OHCHR, non-governmental organizations, a national human rights institute, and the private sector. He holds a Master of Public and International Law (LL.M) from the University of Melbourne.
Mpilo

Nkomo Mpilo

IOM
Chief of Mission
mnkomo@iom.int
 
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Mpilo Nkomo is the Chief of Mission for the International Organization for Migration (IOM) Mission to Malawi. He started his mission as Project Coordinator / Head of Office in February 2016. Before joining the IOM Team in Malawi, he was the Head of Sub-Office at the IOM Sub-Office in Musina, South Africa. Mpilo holds a Bachelor’s in Public Administration and Communication Facilitation from the University of South Africa (UNISA) and a Postgraduate Diploma in Disaster Management from the University of the Free State (UFS), South Africa.
Rose

Nonhlanhla Rose Dlamini

WHO
Representative
dlaminin@who.int
 
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Nonhlanhla Rose Dlamini is the WHO Representative for Malawi. She started her mission in July 2019. Before joining WHO, she worked at the National Department of Health in South Africa as the Chief Director for Child, Youth and School Health. Prior to this, she was the National Director for HIV Prevention Strategies. Her experience is centred around policy formulation, programme design, and implementation of major public health programmes. Dr. Dlamini is a registered Medical Doctor and holds a Master’s in Medicine, as well as a Master’s in Public Health.
Nuha

Nuha Ceesay

UNAIDS
Country Director
Ceesayn@unaids.org
 
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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

Paul Turnbull

WFP
Country Director
paul.turnbull@wfp.org
 
 
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.
Rudolf

Rudolf Schwenk

UNICEF
Representative
rschwenk@unicef.org
 
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Rudolf Schwenk is the UNICEF Representative for Malawi. He started his mission in August 2019. After working with NGOs in Germany, he joined the United Nations in 1995 and worked with UNRWA in Jordan and with UNICEF in Niger, India, Denmark and Bhutan. He has worked in various programme functions as well as in operations, and has achieved sustainable results for children in Field Office, Country Office and Headquarters locations. Prior to his arrival in Malawi in August 2019, he was the UNICEF Representative in Bhutan. Mr. Schwenk holds a Master’s in Modern Middle East, Political Science and History from the Free University of Berlin.
Shigeki

Shigeki Komatsubara

UNDP
Representative
shigeki.komatsubara@undp.org
 
 
Shigeki Komatsubara is the UNDP Resident Representative for Malawi. He started his mission in May 2019. Prior to his current assignment, he was Tokyo International Conference of African Development (TICAD) programme advisor in the UNDP Regional Bureau for Africa (RBA). He also regularly served as RBA officer-in-charge. Shigeki has also been Deputy Resident Representative in Ghana and Country Programme Advisor in the Regional Bureau for Africa. Shigeki holds a Master’s in International Relations from London School of Economics (LSE) and a Bachelor’s in International Relations from Tokyo University of Foreign Studies.
Young

Won Young Hong

UNFPA
Representative
whong@unfpa.org
 
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Won Young Hong is the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Representative for Malawi. She started her mission in August 2018. She has over 16 years of experience in international and local development, as well as policy analysis, youth programming, and capacity development. Previously, she served as UNFPA Deputy Representative in Mozambique and the Assistant Country Director for UNDP in Bangladesh, as well as the Capacity Development Advisor for UNDP in South Africa. Young holds a Master’s in Political Science from Kyung Hee University, an MPA in Public Administration from National University of Singapore, and a Bachelor of Law from Ewha Woman’s University in Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Zhijun

Zhijun Chen

FAO
Representative
Zhijun.Chen@fao.org
 
 
Zhijun Chen is the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Representative for Malawi. He started his mission 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.