Barbara Manzi

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has appointed Barbara Manzi of Italy as the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Burkina Faso, with the host Government’s approval. She will also serve as Humanitarian Coordinator.

Ms Manzi has long-standing United Nations experience in development and complex settings, focusing on planning and delivering services to people. Within the Organization, she most recently served as Resident Coordinator in Djibouti, after holding other leadership positions, including Head of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Ukraine, Iraq, Myanmar and Sri Lanka. She also served with the Organization in the southern Africa region, as well as in Angola, Central African Republic, Ethiopia and Haiti.

Prior to joining the United Nations, Ms Manzi worked in the private sector and collaborated with non-governmental organizations, think tanks and universities on development, disaster management and reconstruction, as well as peace building initiatives.

She holds a master’s degree in post-war reconstruction and development studies from the University of York in the UK, and a Master’s degree in architecture from the Universita’ degli Studi di Firenze in Italy.