Dr Aloys Kamuragiye takes over as head of the UNICEF Office for the Eastern Caribbean Area from November 1, with a pledge to be a strong advocate on behalf of the children of the 12 nations in the sub-region.
Kamuragiye succeeds Khin-Sandi Lwin who went into retirement on October 31 after six years in the top position at the UN children’s agency in the Eastern Caribbean. The seasoned UN manager said he is eager to promote policies to ensure the rights and well-being of boys and girls.
“The Eastern Caribbean Area has made remarkable strides in advancing the rights of children over the past few decades, especially in the areas of health and education, but we have to continually focus on those remaining challenges to ensure that all children have opportunities to reach their fullest potential,” Kamuragiye said.
Even before assuming the leadership position, Kamuragiye’s first major act in the Eastern Caribbean has been to head UNICEF’s emergency response to the large-scale devastation caused by powerful category five hurricanes Irma and Maria across countries such as Barbuda, British Virgin Islands, Dominica and Turks and Caicos Islands.
Underscoring UNICEF’s solid history of collaboration with Eastern Carbbean governments, the new chief said he would continue to ensure that the agency remained relevant and true to its mandate.
A medical doctor by profession, the Burundi national most recently served as UNICEF Representative to Congo before his appointment to the Eastern Caribbean Area multi-country office. He also completed stints as UNICEF’s Representative in Morocco and Djibouti.
The Barbados-based Office for the Eastern Caribbean Area, covers Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, British Virgin Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago and Turks and Caicos Islands.
