Irfan Akhtar
Deputy Representative of UNICEF Guyana and Suriname
Mr. Irfan Akhtar is the UNICEF Deputy Representative for Guyana and Suriname. He has over 20 years’ experience working with international organizations, including 10 years with UNICEF, and has worked in the Middle East, Asia and the Caribbean. Prior to Guyana and Suriname, he served in Lao PDR, DPR Korea, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Yemen and India.
As the Deputy Representative, he leads the current country programme 2017-2021, which has four priority areas: safety-justice, lifelong learning, social inclusion-child rights monitoring and emergency preparedness and response. He is responsible for overall programme planning, partnerships, coordination, strategic direction, providing policy support, advocacy, monitoring, quality assurance and reporting.Irfan has technical expertise and experience in Social Policy, Research, Evaluation, Health, Nutrition, HIV/AIDS, Youth Participation and Social Sector Planning and Budgeting for Children.
He had managed partnerships with Governments, UN agencies, Parliamentarians, Civil Society Organizations, Faith Based Organisations and the Private Sector.
Mr. Akhtar is an Indian national. He received his master’s in social work from the University of Delhi, India, and has completed several short courses in development planning and results-based management, including the Leadership Development Programme. He speaks Hindi, Urdu, English and Arabic.