Tuesday, May 7, 2019

Elke Wisch is the new UNICEF Representative for Nepal

UNICEF has welcomed Elke Wisch as the new UNICEF representative for Nepal, succeeding Tomoo Hozumi.
Wisch is a German national with a long record of realising the rights of children and women. She brings a wealth of experience and insight to UNICEF’s work in Nepal, according to a press note issued by the UNICEF office in Kathmandu.
“I have wanted to come to Nepal for a very long time,” Wisch, said, adding that she felt very privileged to be in this beautiful country and to have the opportunity to serve the children and women of Nepal.
For over 23 years, Wisch has been working to improve the lives of children and women and their communities in a range of development, transition and emergency contexts. Wisch joined UNICEF in 1996 as Child Protection Officer in Rwanda, and subsequently served as Child Protection Chief in Liberia. Between 1999 and 2001, she worked in the Balkans region as Programme Coordinator during the Kosovo Emergency and as acting FYR Macedonia Representative. From 2001 to 2003, Wisch held senior positions in Emergency Coordination and Child Protection during the Afghanistan Emergency Operation prior to serving as the UNICEF deputy representative in Myanmar from 2003-2007.
In 2008, Wisch took on the role of Senior Peace building and Recovery Coordinator for Northern Uganda within the UN Country Team, and then held the position of UNICEF deputy regional director for the Eastern and Southern Africa region from 2009-2014.
She was appointed as the UNICEF representative in Madagascar in 2014, a position she held for four years. In August 2018, Wisch joined the UNICEF Regional Office for South Asia, serving as the Deputy regional director ad interim, until taking up the representative posting Nepal.
Wisch holds a Master of Arts in Social and Political Sciences from Munich University and a Master of Public Administration from the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. Prior to joining UNICEF, Wisch worked for various conflict resolution organisations and academic institutions in Germany and the United States.

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