PRESS RELEASE

New Malawi UN Resident Coordinator takes office

Lilongwe, January 28, 2009: Mr. Richard Dictus, is the new UNDP and UN Resident Coordinator in Malawi. Dictus, a Dutch national, presented his credentials to the President His Excellency, Dr Bingu wa Mutharika on January 25, 2009 at Sanjika Palace in Blantyre.

Dictus brings to Malawi twenty years of service with the United Nations with a strong track record in change management – qualities valuable to Malawi as the United Nations System gathers momentum in its reform efforts. In the last four years in a similar capacity in Fiji, he developed several innovative approaches to UN System coherence across 16 Pacific Island countries and 15 UN agencies. Heading the humanitarian effort, he formed the Pacific Humanitarian Team comprising United Nations agencies, development partners and civil society focused on response and rehabilitation following natural disasters and other emergencies, including Tsunami relief in Solomon Islands.

Dictus joined the UNDP as Junior Professional Officer (JPO) in South Yemen in 1987. He has served in different capacities in Sudan, Lesotho and Bangladesh in environmental management, rural development, micro finance, human rights and disaster management practice areas. As UNDP Deputy Resident Representative for Pakistan and he played a significant role in coordinating humanitarian assistance during floods and cyclones and the safety and security of UN staff.

Dictus was later appointed as Deputy Director of Human Resources at the UNDP Headquarters in New York, where he repositioned of human resource function and contributed to the change management and transformation processes across the organization.

His vision is for a unified and coordinated UN System in Malawi, which supports the country achieve its development efforts with increased efficiency and innovation. “I am committed to lead a United Nations System that is cohesive and working strategically to make an even stronger contribution to the development of Malawi than it has done for the past thirty years,” Dictus said. He recognizes that, the success of development efforts is based on national leadership, ownership and management, and the UN avails itself to support the aid effectiveness agenda of Government.

For more information contact:
Susan Muguro , UN Malawi +265 9 967 991, susan.muguro@undp.org
Andrew Massa, UNDP Malawi +265 08898434, andrew.massa@undp.org 

The United Nations’ mission in Malawi is to support Malawi achieve the Millennium Development Goals and contribute to equitable economic growth and poverty reduction by strengthening systems of accountability and the delivery of quality social services to every woman, man and child. For more information visit www.unmalawi.org