United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres appointed Fatou Aminata Lo Diop of Senegal as the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Gabon, with the host Government’s approval.  She took up her post on 30 November.

Ms. Lo has 20 years of experience in the United Nations, including 12 years in leadership roles, with an extensive background in development, gender equality and governance.  She served at United Nations Headquarters and in country offices across Africa, including in Sudan, Rwanda and Zimbabwe, where she held senior positions with the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-Women), most recently as Resident Representative.  She also worked with the Bureau for Development Policy at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), where she served as a programme and policy specialist in the governance team.

Prior to joining the United Nations, Ms. Lo began her career in the private sector in Senegal in 1999 before joining the United Nations Millennium Project in New York in 2004.  She has been recognized internationally for her leadership and advocacy.  She was an official youth delegate and spokesperson at the fourth World Conference on Women in 1995, representing Senegal.  In 2003, she received the Ford Foundation Leadership for Social Justice Award, and in 2005, she was named one of the Faces of the Future by the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, D.C.

She holds a Maîtrise in business law from the University Cheikh Anta Diop of Dakar, Senegal; a master’s degree in development studies from the School for International Training Graduate Institute in Vermont, United States; and a master’s degree in international relations from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy in Boston, United States.