Gilles Fagninou
UNICEF Regional Director for West and Central Africa
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Mr. Gilles Fagninou is a leader in social development, with over 25 years of international experience advancing opportunities and expanding possibilities for vulnerable populations, particularly children and young people.
He is currently UNICEF’s Regional Director for West and Central Africa, based in Dakar, where he provides strategic leadership and guidance to 24 country offices across the region.
Before taking up his current position in February 2024, Mr. Fagninou, a national of Benin, was the Secretary of the UNICEF Executive Board and Director of the Office of the Secretary of the Executive Board from September 2020. Before that, he held various senior leadership positions in UNICEF, including Deputy Regional Director for West and Central Africa; Assistant Secretary of the Executive Board; Deputy Representative in Mongolia; and Chief, Social Policy Analysis, Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation in Afghanistan and in Burundi.
Before joining UNICEF in 2000 as a National Officer, he worked in academia as a researcher on macroeconomics in developing countries. Mr. Fagninou studied Mathematics in college and is Ingénieur Statisticien Economiste.
Mr. Fagninou is married and has three children.
