Nigeria : Ugochi Daniels, in charge of the operations of the International organisation for migration

Originally from Nigeria, Ugochi Daniels has been Deputy Director General of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) since May 2021. She was previously Chief of Staff of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) whose mission is to meet the needs of these refugees in terms of health, education, food…

In May 2021, following a decision by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, Ugochi Daniels was appointed Deputy Director General of IOM with the task of managing operations within the agency. This position is a reward for her many years of experience in the humanitarian field.

Ugochi holds a Bachelor and Master’s degree in geography, a diploma in information management for operations, and a diploma in Microsoft systems engineering. She began her professional career in 1992 in the information technology sector. She subsequently worked in the manufacturing industry and in financial services.

In 1999, she joined the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) where she worked until 2002 as an information specialist on the monitoring and evaluation of the agency’s mission in Nigeria. Some time later, she joined the United Nations, in particular the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) as Deputy Program Officer for the African Youth Alliance. She spent the rest of her career there. For five years, she managed the agency’s operations in Tanzania, Ghana, Botswana and Uganda, among others. In 2007, she was appointed Deputy Representative of UNFPA in Nepal and from 2010, she managed the UN agency’s operations in the Philippines. After a decade with UNFPA, she was promoted in 2013 to the position of Director of the Humanitarian Fragile Situations department.

Drawing on her experience in the humanitarian field, the United Nations appointed her in 2018 as the UN Resident Coordinator and Authorised Officer for security matters in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Two years later, she was chosen as Chief of Staff of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), whose mission is to respond to the needs of these refugees in terms of health, education, food…

Thanks to her long experience within the UN and in the humanitarian field, she was appointed last May as Deputy Director General of the International Organization for Migration alongside Antonio Vitorino, Director General of the organization.

In addition to her administrative duties, Ugochi Florence Daniels is also very involved in initiatives to raise awareness and finance the specific needs of girls and women, particularly in humanitarian contexts. This has earned her the title of (S)hero of the United Nations for her actions on behalf of vulnerable girls and women.