United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has named Mr. Babatunde A. Ahonsi of Nigeria as the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Türkiye with the approval of the host government.
Ahonsi has 26 years of international development expertise gained both inside and outside the United Nations.
Prior to his present position, he was the UN Resident Coordinator in Sierra Leone, where he oversaw and supported the UN’s development operations in the nation.
He has led the UN country team and achieved system-wide accountability on the ground for the UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework during his term. He has also managed UN assistance to Sierra Leone in the execution of the 2030 Agenda and the Prevention Agenda of the UN Secretary General.
Ahonsi previously served as UN Resident Coordinator in China from June to September 2020. In addition, from January 2017 to June 2020, he was the UNFPA Representative in China/Country Director for Mongolia, and from 2014 to 2016, he was the UNFPA Representative in Ghana.
He held top managerial roles with the Ford Foundation (covering West Africa) and the Population Council (covering Nigeria) between 1997 and 2014, directing reproductive health, women’s empowerment, and youth development programs and projects.
He also lectured at Federal universities in Lagos, Calabar, and Ilorin, Nigeria, in the 1980s and 1990s.
Ahonsi received a BSc (First Class Honors) in sociology from the University of Lagos in Nigeria and a Ph.D. in population studies from the London School of Economics and Political Science at the University of London in England.
