Zimbabwean Woman Lands High Post at United Nations
She has over 25 years of experience with the United Nations system, and most recently held the position of Deputy Assistant Administrator and Deputy Director in the Bureau of External Relations and Advocacy for the United Nations Development Programme in New York.
WASHINGTON D.C. — Zimbabwean Fadzai Gwaradzimba was Friday appointed by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon as the international organization’s Assistant Secretary-General for Safety and Security. She succeeds Ms. Mbaranga Gasarabwe of Rwanda, who was appointed as Deputy Special Representative for Mali in May. “Ms. Gwaradzimba brings to the United Nations a wealth of experience in strategic management and leadership, coupled with in depth knowledge of international development, crisis prevention and recovery, evaluation design and practice and gender issues,” said Mr. Ban said in a statement. She has over 25 years of experience with the United Nations system, and most recently held the position of Deputy Assistant Administrator and Deputy Director, Bureau of External Relations and Advocacy (BERA) for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in New York. Prior to that, she was the Division Chief for South and West Asia for six years. Previously, Ms. Gwaradzimba worked as the Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in The Gambia, and Deputy Resident Representative in Malawi and Barbados. She began her career with UNDP in Somalia in 1989 and held various positions with the UNDP in New York as Programme Manager and Senior Evaluation Advisor. She also served with DPKO as a Deputy Municipal Administrator in Kosovo from 2000-2001. Ms. Gwaradzimba holds a PhD in International Relations from the Johns Hopkins University, a Master’s degree in Public Affairs and International Studies from the University of Oregon, a Diploma in Economics from the University of Colorado, and a Bachelor of Political Science and Public Administration from the University of Zimbabwe.