UN Appoints Shalini Bahuguna as Resident Coordinator in Papua New Guinea
UNITED NATIONS — UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has appointed Indian development expert Shalini Bahuguna as the United Nations resident coordinator in Papua New Guinea, placing her at the helm of the organization’s country-level operations.
The appointment was announced Wednesday by UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric, who said Bahuguna brings decades of experience working with international organizations.
Resident coordinators serve as the highest-ranking UN officials in a country, overseeing teams responsible for implementing UN programs and coordinating development efforts.
Bahuguna most recently worked with UNICEF, where she helped develop an artificial intelligence strategy in partnership with Accenture, according to the United Nations. She previously served as UNICEF’s representative in Tanzania, where she advanced initiatives focused on children’s rights and national development priorities.
Her earlier roles include serving as UNICEF deputy representative in Ethiopia and Myanmar, as well as chief of social policy and gender in Nigeria.
Bahuguna began her career in India, working with a non-governmental organization on water and sanitation issues before joining projects involving the Indian government and the World Bank focused on water sector reform. She later worked with the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development, with assignments in China, Indonesia, and Afghanistan.
She is a graduate of Lady Shri Ram College in New Delhi and holds a master’s degree in development economics and international development from Swansea University in the United Kingdom.
The United Nations currently runs 192 programs in Papua New Guinea, with a total outlay of $85.5 million. The Pacific nation, which shares a border with Indonesia, has a population of about 13 million. (Source: IANS)
