On April 16th 2019, UNFPA appointed Mr. Dereje Wordofa, Deputy Executive Director. A national of Ethiopia, he has over 28 years of successful experience in providing strategic leadership, advocacy, programme development and managing operations in complex and challenging environments, largely focused on Africa.

Before joining UNFPA, Mr. Wordofa served as the International Regional Director for the Eastern and Southern Africa Region for SOS Children’s Village International and he was responsible for the region’s programme interventions and operations overseeing 4,500 employees, and leading the management of social development, humanitarian response, and advocacy programmes with a focus on children and youth.

Mr. Wordofa also previously served as Regional Director for Africa at the American Friends Service Committee, where he led sustainable programmes at regional and country levels, the formulation of public policy, and the development of a comprehensive advocacy strategy. 

Prior to this, he served as Country Representative for Oxfam in Uganda and later Head of Policy where he oversaw the management of the country programme, providing strategic leadership, programming and representation of Oxfam when liaising with various networks, alliances, government, donors and non-governmental organizations, as well as providing leadership and direction to a team of regional policy advisors.  

Other earlier roles include: Deputy Programme Director at Save the Children; Regional Programme Development Advisor for East and Great Lakes Region, Oxfam Great Britain; and National Rehabilitation Programmes Coordinator, and Manager and Emergency Coordinator, both with Save the Children, Ethiopia. 

Mr. Wordofa holds a Masters of Business Administration (MBA) from Oxford Brooks University, Oxford, UK; Masters of Science in Social Policy in Developing Countries from the London School of Economics, London, and a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Business Management from Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia.