Anna Mutavati Regional Director UN Women East and Southern Africa

Anna Mutavati is UN Women’s Regional Director for East and Southern Africa.

Prior to her appointment in 2024, Anna had served as the UN Women Kenya Country Representative since 2019. She has 26 years’ experience in development programming, strategic partnerships, strategic planning, leadership and mentorship. She was the UN Women Deputy Representative in Uganda from 2014-2019. She has also held several OIC roles during her work at the UN Women including Deputy Regional Director a.i. for Eastern and Southern Africa (2023/2024), Representative a.i. Ethiopia (2022) and Deputy Representative a.i. South Africa (2019).

Before joining UN Women, Anna worked as the Gender and Human Rights Advisor at UNICEF Zimbabwe (2012-2014), Senior GBV Programme Coordinator (2009-2012), Regional Programme Coordinator (2008-2009) at UNFPA Uganda, National Programme Officer for Gender and Advocacy at UNFPA Zimbabwe (2005-2008) and Programme Manager for Legal Aid at the Zimbabwe Women Lawyers Association (1999-2004). Anna holds a bachelor’s degree in law (Honours) and a master’s degree in Women’s Law from the University of Zimbabwe.

An Alumni of the Akina Mama wa Afrika Young Women Leadership Programme Anna is passionate about mentoring young people and positioning them to lead.