Mr. Alain AKPADJI has over 25 years of experience working with governments, international development organizations, and civil society to achieve the goals of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). He has contributed to the development and/or facilitation of complex partnerships between NGOs, civil society organizations, the private sector, multilateral institutions, governments, and United Nations agencies, to integrate the SDGs into policies and strategies addressing the needs of vulnerable people (women, youth, girls, migrants, refugees, and people with disabilities).
He served as UNFPA Resident Representative in Burkina Faso (2022-2025), and also held the responsibilities of interim Resident Coordinator/Humanitarian Coordinator and Authorized Security Officer (2023-2024). He effectively managed relationships and fostered trust between the United Nations and transitional governments. In a complex political, security, and humanitarian context, he facilitated strategic dialogue to strengthen coordination mechanisms with the government, focusing on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), humanitarian response, and human rights.
Mr. Alain AKPADJI served respectively in Côte d'Ivoire and the Central African Republic (2015-2022) as interim Resident Representative and Deputy Resident Representative of UNFPA.
He worked at UNDP and the Ministries of Health (2003-2014), respectively as HIV and poverty reduction specialist and as program coordinator for the Global Fund to Fight HIV, Tuberculosis, and Malaria in Benin and the DR Congo. Subsequently, he worked as a regional aid effectiveness specialist (2003-2014) in the two UNDP regional offices for West and Central Africa based in Dakar, Senegal, and for Africa based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
He was a member of the joint UNDP/OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) secretariat on the Paris Declaration and the Global Partnership for Effective Development, supporting the New Deal and COMPACT processes for fragile states, leading high-level policy dialogues and discussions with donors, regional institutions (NEPAD, ECOWAS, and the African Union), CSOs, and the UN.
Before joining the United Nations System, Mr. Alain AKPADJI worked with USAID and URC (University Research Corporation) as Manager of the Integrated Family Health Program (1999-2003) and with faith-based civil society organizations (FBO, United Bible Society: 1994-1999) in Benin.
Mr. Alain AKPADJI is a Beninese national, married with two children. He holds a Master's degree in Public Policy Management from Sciences Po Paris (France) and a Master's degree in Economics from the University of Abomey-Calavi in Benin.
