UNFPA Executive Director Dr Natalia Kanem has appointed Mr Sennen Hounton as Director of the UNFPA Regional Office for West and Central Africa (WCARO). Mr. Hounton took up his new position in Dakar, Senegal, on July 1, 2023.

A medical doctor by training, Mr. Hounton brings more than 20 years’ experience in strategic foresight, leadership and management at country, regional and global levels in demographic dividend, resilient health systems, and prevention of conflicts. With a strong humanitarian and development background, Mr Hounton is an expert of the West and Central Africa region where he has demonstrated his ability to navigate the socio-political complexities of multiple and intersecting crises, as well as advocating for the centrality of populations and girls’ human capital for the Sustainable Development Goals. He has a strong record of forging broad-based partnerships that deliver results for women, girls and young people.

Prior to his position as Regional Director, Mr Hounton was UNFPA Representative in Chad (2021 – 2023), Representative in the Democratic Republic of Congo (2017 – 2020), UNFPA Representative a.i in Sierra Leone (2016) and served in various advisory and managerial roles notably as Senior Emergency Coordinator in South Sudan, and Family Planning Team Leader (2013 – 2017), as well as Maternal Health Advisor (2009 – 2013) at UNFPA Headquarters.

Before joining UNFPA, Mr Hounton worked at the World Health Organization (WHO) Multi Diseases Surveillance Center in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso as Regional Programme Coordinator; at Centre MURAZ, an International Biomedical Research Center in Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso as Maternal Health Scientist; and at the Oklahoma State Department of Health (USA) as Epidemiologist.

Mr. Hounton earned his medical degree and Bachelor’s degree in sociology-Anthropology from the Abomey-Calavi University, Benin, a Master’s degree in Epidemiology and Biostatistics from the University of Oklahoma in the United States, and a PhD in Public Health from the University of Aberdeen, Scotland. He served 5 years as Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee member for the WHO Alliance for Health Systems and Policy Research.

A national of Benin Republic, Mr. Hounton is fluent in English and French. He is married and has three children.

About UNFPA: UNFPA is the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency. UNFPA's mission is to deliver a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe and every young person's potential is fulfilled. UNFPA calls for the realization of reproductive rights for all and supports access to a wide range of sexual and reproductive health services.

For more information please contact:

• Emmanuelle Landais Lopez, landaislopez@unfpa.org, UNFPA Media and Communications Specialist : +221 78 184 4517 
• Mame Oumy Ndoye, mndoye@unfpa.org, Communications Associate:  +221 77 655 17 80