Harare, 02 November 2016 – The new UNICEF Representative to Zimbabwe Dr. Mohamed Ayoya has presented his credentials to the Government of Zimbabwe.
Dr. Ayoya takes over from Mr. Reza Hossaini who left in February to head UNICEF’s Global Polio Eradication Initiative. Dr. Ayoya assumes leadership of UNICEF at a critical juncture when the organization is looking to build on and sustain the gains made in recent years together with the government, communities and development partners.
“It is critical that we build on the progress we have collectively made in reducing maternal and child mortality, increasing access to education, ensuring communities have safe water and sanitation, and providing protection services to vulnerable children,” says Dr. Ayoya. “However, now more than ever, we are required to do more with less, and that means we must make smart, strategic choices about where we spend our resources, how we spend them, and with what results,” he adds.
Prior to this appointment, Dr. Ayoya served as UNICEF Representative in Guinea, where among others, he played a critical role in leading UNICEF’s response to the Ebola outbreak. Dr. Ayoya first joined UNICEF in 2006 as a Nutrition Specialist in the regional office for West and Central Africa based in Dakar, Senegal. He has since worked in nutrition in Sierra Leone, India, and Haiti, where he also headed UNICEF’s child survival and development programme, was responsible for developing child survival strategies and capacity-building interventions using the human rights approach. He also served as Deputy UNICEF Representative in Haiti.
A national of Mali, Dr. Ayoya holds a medical degree from the School of Medicine of Mali and a PhD in Nutrition from Cornell University in the United States.
