The United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres, has appointed Nigerian diplomat and former UN Rwanda Coordinator Ozonnia Ojielo as the new UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Ethiopia. The Ethiopian government approved the appointment, which officially began on March 14.
Ozonnia possesses more than 25 years of experience in sustainable development, governance, peacebuilding, and conflict prevention, including overseeing a global portfolio of United Nations programmes and projects across four continents. Moreover, he served as the UN Resident Coordinator in Rwanda starting in 2022 and previously held the same role in Kyrgyzstan.
During his tenure in Rwanda, Ojielo played a pivotal role in signing the Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (2025–2029) between the UN and the Rwandan government on 20 May 2025.
The framework, aligned with Rwanda’s second National Strategy for Transformation (NST2) and Vision 2050, commits about $1.04 billion over five years to support initiatives in inclusive economic growth, human capital development, governance, climate resilience, and innovation. According to the Ministry of Finance, Rwanda.
Before coming to Rwanda, he held senior leadership positions at UNDP, including Cluster Director for Governance and Peacebuilding at UNDP’s Regional Service Centre for Africa in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and Director for Conflict Prevention and Recovery at the Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery in New York. In addition, he also served in senior UNDP roles in Kenya and Ghana.
In advance of joining the United Nations, Ojielo worked as an attorney, university lecturer, journalist, and adviser to truth, justice, and reconciliation commissions, as well as human rights institutions in Ghana, Liberia, Malawi, Namibia, and Sierra Leone.
Furthermore, he also served as President of the Centre for Peace in Africa, a regional non-profit in Nigeria, and is the founder and first president of the Institute of Chartered Mediators and Conciliators, the largest mediation and conciliation organization in Africa.
Ozonnia has authored numerous scholarly and technical publications. He holds a PhD in Peace and Conflict Studies from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria, a Master’s in Strategic and Project Management from the Paris Graduate School of Management, France, a Master’s in History from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, and bachelor’s degrees in History and Law from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, and ASUTECH, Nigeria.
Rwanda’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Relations, Olivier Nduhungirehe, praised Ojielo’s appointment, calling him a “committed servant of the United Nations” and highlighting his impactful work in Rwanda.
“He did an excellent job in Rwanda, as UN Resident Coordinator, and will certainly do much more in our sisterly country of Ethiopia,” Nduhungirehe wrote on X.
Ozonnia expressed gratitude to the Rwandan government and partners, saying it was “a rare privilege and an honor to have served in the land of a thousand hills.” He added that he is carrying “the Rwandan spirit to the Land of Origins.
Meanwhile, the UN has not yet announced who will succeed Ojielo as Resident Coordinator in Rwanda.
