It is my privilege to lead the UNESCO team and work in Southern Africa, including Zimbabwe. I am looking forward to supporting the country in the direction of its national development through support for science and technology, quality and accessibility of education from early childhood to tertiary and higher, health and wellbeing of young people, and integration of culture and nature in development.
Nisha, UNESCO ROSA Director and Representative, presenting her credentials to Zimbabwe's acting Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade.
In her current role, Ms Nisha's overall responsibility will involve leading UNESCO's work in Southern Africa which covers Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Simultaneously, she will serve as UNESCO Representative to the Republic of Zimbabwe.
We are pleased to house the UNESCO Regional Office for Southern Africa in Zimbabwe and we will continue doing everything possible to support the organisation through the Zimbabwe office.
Sithembiso Nyoni, acting Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade.
Before coming to Southern Africa, Nisha served as the Director of the Office and UNESCO Representative to the Pacific States. In the Pacific, Nisha recalibrated the UNESCO Office for the Pacific States to focus on the long-term purpose of the Organization while tending to the urgent operational issues to bring the Organization closer to the national stakeholders. She expanded the Organization's work, presence, and resources in the Pacific Region and set up four new Offices to cover three sub-regions of the Pacific.
Nisha's overall work has been centered on multi-sector development, humanitarian action, labour and human rights, peacebuilding, and local, national, and regional development. In addition to working with UNESCO, Nisha worked internationally with Oxfam GB, Christian Aid, UNDP, UNIFEM, and the ILO in several countries in the East and Horn of Africa, South Asia, and Arab States, and with civil society organizations in India.
UNESCO ROSA collaborates with Member States, civil society organizations, and institutions for programmes that advocate for and support countries' capacity for:
- the provision of universal access to quality secondary, tertiary, and higher education;
- the development and application of science, technology and innovation at one end, and geological and biosphere management for social development;
- the promotion of cultural diversity and the preservation of cultural heritage;
- the expansion of access to information and communication technologies, media development and freedom of press, and protection of documentary heritage;
- promotion of knowledge of the General History of Africa, in particular, Southern African Liberation History and management of Artificial Intelligence and;
- inclusive development including the rights of the people with disability, gender equality and youth and sport.
Through the Regional Office for Southern Africa, UNESCO aims to end poverty and bring about lasting peace, security, and sustainable development in the region.
