Ms. Mbaranga Gasarabwe has had a stellar and distinguished career within both the United Nations and non-UN setting. In 2015, she was appointed by the UN Secretary general as the United Nations Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General for MINUSMA and Resident Coordinator, Humanitarian Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative for Mali.
In this capacity, she was responsible for the coordination of humanitarian, recovery and development assistance throughout the country. Prior to her role in Mali, she had worked as the Assistant Secretary-General for the Department of Safety and Security in New York, managing issues of safety and security for UN Offices and staff around the world.
Before joining the Secretariat, she served in various capacities with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) for over 20 years, amassing extensive experience in international development, humanitarian, peace and security issues. Over years of her career with the United Nations, Ms. Gasarabwe served in Mali, Guinea, Djibouti, and Benin as Resident Coordinator, Humanitarian Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative.
Across these varied settings, she effectively engaged with governance, development and humanitarian challenges and led efforts to improve democratic governance, implement economic reforms, coordinate humanitarian interventions, advocate for humanitarian principles and facilitate delivery of services to vulnerable and conflict affected populations. In Djibouti, she worked effectively with the Arab League and the African Union counterparts and explored opportunities to further liaise with Arab nations in the Middle East, building solid partnerships with the Islamic Development Bank and Kuwait Fund, among others.
Prior to working for the United Nations, Ms Gasarabwe worked as consultant for organizations such as the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the World Bank.
Ms. Gasarabwe, a native of Rwanda, holds a Master of Economics from the University of Burundi and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the Arthur D. Little School of Management, now known as the Hult International Business School in Cambridge, Massachusetts/USA.
