UN appoints Babatunde Ahonsi as resident coordinator in Turkey

António Guterres, secretary-general of the United Nations (UN), has appointed Babatunde Ahonsi as the organisation’s resident coordinator in Turkey.

Ahonsi’s appointment was announced in a statement released by the UN on Wednesday.

According to the statement, Ahonsi has 26 years of experience in international development acquired inside and outside the UN.

Prior to his appointment, he served as the UN’s resident coordinator in Sierra Leone where he coordinated and facilitated the organisation’s operational activities in the country.

The statement said he led the country’s team and ensured system-wide accountability on the ground for the UN sustainable development cooperation framework.

“He has also coordinated UN support to Sierra Leone in its implementation of the 2030 Agenda and the UN Secretary General’s Prevention Agenda,” the statement added.

Announcing his exit from the West African country via his X page, Ahonsi said he envisioned Sierra Leone’s development prospects as bright given the critical investments being made in education, agricultural transformation, and peace sustenance.

Before his role in Sierra Leone, the development expert served as the UN resident coordinator in China shortly after he moved from his position as the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) representative in China.

Other positions he has held within the UN include country director for Mongolia from January 2017 to June 2020 and as UNFPA representative in Ghana from 2014 to 2016.

The statement added that the former lecturer held senior management positions with the Ford Foundation (covering West Africa) and Population Council (covering Nigeria), overseeing reproductive health, women’s empowerment, and youth development programmes and initiatives between 1997 and 2014.

He had also lectured at federal universities in Ilorin, Calabar, and Lagos, during the 1980s and 1990s.

Ahonsi holds a BSc (First class honours) degree in sociology from the University of Lagos and a PhD in population studies from the London School of Economics and Political Science.