Our Team in Botswana

Ms. Abigail Noko is the Regional Representative of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Southern Africa. She is responsible for overseeing human rights work in the region including technical assistance in human rights to States, UN agencies, sub-regional organizations, national human rights institutions, and civil society organizations.

Mr Alankar Malviya, a graduate of London School of Economics, has over 25 years of diverse development sector experience, with government, private sector and with UN. He started his career with Civil Services in India and has worked with UN since 2005. His current portfolio is of Senior Regional Advisor Fast Track for Eastern and Southern Africa, for UNAIDS regional office based in Johannesburg, where has been instrumental in galvanizing partnerships on reinvigorating prevention and sustainable financing under SADC umbrella, leveraging Information Communication Technology for advancing SRHR services to youth amongst his other many achievements. He also was Director a.i. for the Regional Support Team of UNAIDS in East and South Africa (RST ESA) in recent years.

Before joining UNAIDS RST ESA, he worked as Country Director a.i. in Vietnam, as Senior Advisor in Ethiopia and as Advisor in India, Nepal, and Bhutan. He has delivered results in the areas of Strategic Information, Program Support, Policy and Strategy in his various roles. He has a long list of papers published in journals of repute, on issues ranging from HIV estimates, Gender and SRHR issues, governance and issues relating to Key Populations.

Mr Malviya is passionate about removing inequalities and working on gender issues.

Aleta Miller served as Country Representative at UN Women Afghanistan since April 2018 and prior was the UN Women Representative of the Fiji Multi-Country Office, covering 14 Pacific Island nations.
Aleta has extensive experience in Women’s Rights, Human Rights, Refugee Rights, Public Health, and International Development, gained through more than 25 years of professional engagement, including with UN Women, UNFPA and UNAIDS, and several NGOs and Governments.

In addition to the above, she served in Myanmar, China, Hong Kong, Nepal, Papua New Guinea, Eastern Europe, and Central Asia, as well as New York, and her native Australia.
Aleta is a Clinical Psychologist (Australian registered, non-practicing status) and holds a Master's degree in International Public Health, along with undergraduate degrees in Behavioral Science and in Occupational Health.

Alexio has more than over twenty-five years of experience in international development across various African nations. Before assuming his role as ILO Director for Country Office Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho and South Africa and Decent Work Team for Eastern and Southern Africa, Alexio held several leadership positions in the ILO. He served as the ILO Representative in Ethiopia, Djibouti, Somalia, Sudan, and South Sudan. Additionally, he served as the ILO Special Representative to the African Union and Economic Commission for Africa from 2019 to 2024. Prior to that, he was the ILO Country Director for Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique from 2015 to 2018, and the ILO Director for East Africa from 2008 to 2015. Alexio embarked on his UN career as a Programme Officer in 1998 at the ILO Regional Office for Africa in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. Throughout his tenure, he has led various ILO teams and represented the organization across numerous countries in East, Southern and Horn of Africa. Alexio holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Economics from the University of Zimbabwe and a master’s degree in development economics from Williams College, Massachusetts, USA. He is a certified coach form CAPP institute, USA.

Balázs is UNDP RR in Botswana. Prior to taking up the post in November 2021, he served as UNDP Chief Economist for Asia-Pacific, as Director of UNDP’s Seoul Policy Centre, UNDP Country Director in South Sudan, and in various other capacities in UNDP and the International Monetary Fund. Balázs is Hungarian and holds a PhD in Economics.

Ms Carla Mucavi has served as the FAO Representative to Botswana since May 2024.

Prior to this appointment, Ms Mucavi worked as FAO Representative to Kenya, and most recently as Director of FAO Liaison Office in New York from 2015. In this capacity, she represented the Organisation at the United Nations General Assembly, Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), as well as related Committees, functional Commissions, and Subsidiary Bodies, ensuring that FAO mandate and strategic priorities remain at the centre of the Global Agenda, due to its relevance for the attainment of the 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development.

Ms Mucavi is a career diplomat having served in different functions in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of Mozambique between 1989 and 2015. This includes the Division for International Organizations and Conferences; Division for Europe and North America and Latin America; as Deputy Director of State Protocol; and as Chief of Cabinet of the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation. She also served at the Embassy of Mozambique in Ethiopia. Between 2007 and 2015 she was Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Mozambique to Italy, Greece and Malta, and Permanent Representative to FAO, WFP and IFAD.

A Mozambique national, Ms Mucavi holds a Bachelor’s Degree in International Relations from the Institute for Higher Studies in International Relations, Mozambique and a Master’s Degree in Cooperation and Development Planning from the University La Sapienza, Italy.

Dr. Joan Matji serves as UNICEF’s Country Representative to Botswana and Representative to SADC. Dr. Matji, a national of South Africa has worked with UNICEF since 1998 and has held several senior positions including as Head of the Nutrition programme in Ethiopia (2011 – 2014) and as the Regional Nutrition Advisor in Nairobi (2015 – 2020) providing technical support and oversight for 21 countries in Eastern and Southern Africa. She has also served in a representational role on behalf of the Regional Director in the UNICEF Regional Hub for Botswana, Namibia, Eswatini and Lesotho (BNLE) from 2017 - 2018.

In addition to UNICEF work, Dr. Matji has experience working with the Southern Africa Regional USAID office on Nutrition and HIV as an Advisor. She has also served as a lecturer for both undergraduate and post graduate courses and research management with the Medical University of Southern Africa. Dr. Matji has conducted a doctoral research through a joint partnership with the Universities of Yale and Pretoria focused on the nutritional status of HIV positive mothers and assessment of infant feeding practices. She has written extensively about nutrition issues in Eastern and Southern Africa in both academic journals as well as regional reports and frequently serves as a Reviewer for the South African Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Dr. Matji holds a Master of Science degree from the University of London (London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine) and obtained her Ph.D. degree in Public Health Nutrition in 2009 from the University of Pretoria. She speaks Southern Sotho, Setswana and is literate in French.

Monique Ekoko is a Cameroonian national and is the Representative of the South Africa Multi-Country Office (SAMCO) based in Pretoria, South Africa, which also covers Namibia, Botswana, eSwatini, Lesotho, Madagascar, Mauritius, Comoros, and the Seychelles.

Ms. Ekoko has just ended her mission as Representative of the UNHCR Multi-Country (MCO Office) in Dakar, Senegal which she has headed since March 2020. Previously, she was Representative in Malawi from July 2015 to December 2019 and prior to that she served as Deputy Representative to the UNHCR Representation to the African Union and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (RAUECA) based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Ms Ekoko joined UNHCR in 1993 and has gained 29 solid years of experience working with UNHCR in various capacities including holding several managerial positions. She has served UNHCR in many countries namely Kenya, Serbia, Switzerland, South Africa, Botswana, Pakistan, Ethiopia, and Malawi mostly working in the areas of legal protection and policy.

Ms Ekoko has a passion for working with marginalised groups including asylum seekers and refugees and has championed this cause in most of her assignments.

She holds a bachelor’s degree (LLB) in English Private Law, a post-graduate Diploma in International Shipping Law, and a Master’s degree (LLM) in International Maritime Law from the University the University of Yaoundé, Cameroon and the from University of London in the United Kingdom respectively

Ms. Tlangelani Shilubane, is the Head of Office for United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in the Republic of Botswana. A Social Worker by profession with a Masters in Community Development and Social Policy Making, Ms. Shilubane brings over 18 years experience from prior engagement in the civil society sector, the South African Government as well as in both the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) East and Southern Africa regional office and the South Africa Country Office. Key contributions in Ms. Shilubane’s background have been directed towards strengthening development efforts for the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This has led Tlangelani to be at the forefront of policy, programme and development efforts within the strategic areas of population dynamics, sexual reproductive health and rights (SRHR), adolescent and youth, ending gender based violence and promoting gender equality as well as ending new HIV infections for the achievement of sustainable development.

As the Head of Office, Ms. Shilubane’s responsibilities include effective management of UNFPA programmes in Botswana, ensuring accountability through monitoring results achieved as well strengthening UNFPA’s support to the United Nations Development System.