The Resident Coordinator Office

The United Nations Resident Coordinator Office (UN RCO) operates under the strategic guidance of the UN Resident Coordinator. The Office supports the UN Resident Coordinator and UN Country Team (UNCT) in the development, implementation, monitoring, and reporting of the UN Cooperation Framework (former UNDAF). The Office facilitates mechanisms that ensure the full participation of all members of the UNCT in consultations and decision-making processes. In line with the priorities of the UN Cooperation Framework, but also mandates of UN agencies, the UN Coordination Office supports coordination of common programming in relation to Agenda 2030, joint programmes, and development coordination work. 

The UN Resident Coordinator in Sierra Leone

Dr. Babatunde A. Ahonsi is the UN Resident Coordinator in Sierra Leone. He has more than 20 years of experience in international development. Most recently, he served as the acting UN Resident Coordinator in China until September 2020. Prior to this, he served as UNFPA Representative in China from January 2017 to June 2020, while concurrently serving as Country Director for Mongolia. He was UNFPA Representative in Ghana from 2014-2016.

Before joining the UN, Dr Ahonsi was the Population Council’s Country Director for Nigeria from 2010 to 2014. He also served as a Trustee of International Women’s Health Coalition, New York (2010-2014) and on the inaugural Board of the UN University’s International Institute for Global Health, Kuala Lumpur (2008-2014). He was a guest researcher at the Nordic Africa Institute, Uppsala, Sweden in 2009. From 1997 to 2008, he worked as Senior Program Officer of the Ford Foundation in West Africa.

Dr. Ahonsi is a national of Nigeria and holds a Bachelor of Science (BSc) in Sociology (First Class Honors) from the University of Lagos. He also holds a Ph.D. in Population Studies from the London School of Economics and Political Science, UK.