NEW YORK, April 15, 2015/African Press Organization (APO)/ — United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is pleased to announce the appointment of Ronald Kayanja of Uganda as the Director of the United Nations Information Centre (UNIC) in Lagos, Nigeria. The Information Centre in Lagos covers Nigeria. Mr. Kayanja assumed his new duties on 1 April 2015.
Since November 2011, Mr. Kayanja has held the position of UNESCO Adviser for Communication and Information in West Africa, covering Benin, Cote d’Ivoire, Guinea, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Togo working on media, communication and the use of ICTs for development in those countries. In this role Mr. Kayanja has supported capacity building of journalists, promotion of press freedom and safety of journalists, in addition to policy dialogue with member states on the use of community media. Most recently he led UNESCO’s response to the Ebola crisis in Liberia and Sierra Leone through the use of community media.
He also has United Nations mission experience, serving as Programme Officer with the United Nations Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste from June 2007 until October 2011. He worked with the UN Mission, the UN agencies, national authorities and civil society on mechanisms of strengthening the participation of media and civil society in the nascent democracy of Timor-Leste.
He has worked as a public information officer for more than 15 years, with field experience in the Philippines, the Syrian Arab Republic, Uganda, Zambia and Timor-Leste.
Prior to joining the United Nations, Mr. Kayanja was aDirector at the Panos Institute, a major actor in media development and communication for development. He also worked as a journalist for a decade.
Mr. Kayanja holds a master’s degree in journalism from the University of Wales in United Kingdom, as well as a Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communication from Makerere University in Uganda. He is married and has four children.
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