Our Team in Lesotho

Dr. Innocent B. Nuwagira is the current World Health Organization (WHO) Head of Mission and Representative in the Kingdom of Lesotho. A highly experienced global health diplomat and public health leader with over 25 years of hands-on experience spanning health leadership, infectious disease management, maternal and child health, data and analytics, and health & community systems strengthening.
In his current role, Dr. Nuwagira leads WHO’s strategic engagement with the Government of the Kingdom of Lesotho, development partners, and civil society to advance the country’s health agenda. His job is to lead WHO’s ambitious threefold mission: to promote health by addressing the root causes of diseases; to provide health by strengthening health systems based on primary health care and expanding access to health services and financial protection; and to protect health by preventing, preparing for, mitigating, detecting and responding rapidly to health emergencies.
A Ugandan medical doctor, Dr. Nuwagira served as the WHO Representative ad interim in Sierra Leone for more than 2 years, and in various public health capacities including more than 18 years with WHO among others. An accomplished leader, manager and mentor, Dr Nuwagira is also a scholar, publisher and a certified management/personal development coach.
Dr. Nuwagira holds a degree of Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBChB) and a Master of Arts in Demography from Makerere University in Uganda, as well as a Master of Public Health (MPH) from the University of Nottingham in the United Kingdom, among others.

Dr. Jacqueline Saline Olweya holds a Doctor of Philosophy Degree (Ph.D.) in Economics and Planning of Education from Kenyatta University, Kenya, and a Master of Philosophy Degree in the same discipline from Moi University, Kenya. She has published several books and articles on a wide range of topics including Education, Governance, Security, Poverty Reduction, HIV&AIDS, and Strategic Planning from a gender perspective.
With over 20 years of experience in development practice, she provides high level policy, advisory, teambuilding support and capacity development initiatives for governments, United Nations, civil society organizations and academia.

Prior to being appointed as the UNDP Resident Representative in the Kingdom of Lesotho Jacquiy, as she is fondly known, served as the Deputy Resident Representative for Programmes in UNDP Somalia. Dr. Olweya also served as the Head of the Regional United Nations Sustainable Development Group for Eastern and Southern Africa (R-UNSDG ESA) covering 22 countries; Training Policy Specialist with the United Nations Development Operations Cooperation Office (UNDOCO); Assistant Resident Representative with UNDP Kenya in charge of Governance and Gender Programmes and National Gender Advisor to the Government of Kenya. She also worked as Programme Manager with Care International for an EU funded education project in Somaliland.

A Kenyan citizen, Jacquiy brings a strong track record of leadership and demonstrated exemplary performance in change management, research undertaken and contributions to policy debates in various subject areas.

Innocent Modisaotsile prior to joining the Lesotho country office was the Officer in Charge of the UNFPA Country Office for South Africa and interim Country Director for Botswana and Eswatini. He was also the SRH/HIV Advisor for UNFPA Regional Office for East and Southern Africa. From October 2021 to July 2022 he served as an interim head of office for UNFPA Botswana office.

He has over three decades work experience in the development space, particularly championing sexual and reproductive health and rights, gender equality and health equity. He is highly knowledgeable and experienced in policy development, strategic planning and advocacy. Prior to Joining UNFPA in 2016, he had spent over 13 years with SADC Secretariat where he is credited for a number of achievements in regional policy harmonization, cooperation in Health and multi-country program management.

He has extensive work experience with the United Nations systems having worked for UNDP and UNICEF as well as serving as a country focal person for UNAIDS and UNIFEM. He has also worked for Ministries of Health in Botswana and South Africa. He has led regional projects (multi-country) initiatives funded by European Union and African Development Bank.

He started work in 1988 with the Ministry of Health of Botswana where he held several positions including heading the maternal child health and family planning Unit of the Ministry until he joined UNDP in 1994.

He is a multi-faceted professional possessing two masters degrees in Business Administration and Public Health.

Elliot Vhurumuku is the Country Director and Representative of WFP Lesotho. He is a national of Zimbabwe and holds a MSc in Agricultural Economics from University of London, Wye College.

Elliot career spans over a period of 38 years. Elliot worked in Sudan as Head of West and Central Darfur Area Office in January 2021, managing a complex operation reaching out to over 2 million beneficiaries. The operation also included piloting the World Bank social safety net programme, expansion of cash-based transfers and use of mobile money. With the outbreak of the Sudan war in April 2023, he moved to Chad and setup the Chad Sudan cross-border WFP offices and operation.

Elliot also worked in the Johannesburg Regional Bureau as WFP/FAO staff member seconded to the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) in Botswana, where he was supporting the Regional Vulnerability Assessment Committee (RVAC), covering southern Africa. He also worked in Ethiopia and South Sudan as Head of the Food Security Analysis Unit. Elliot also worked in Regional Bureau Bangkok as a Regional Food Security Advisor, and then moved to Regional Bureau Nairobi as head of Food Security Analysis Unit, where he worked with IGAD among other activities.

Prior to that, he worked for FEWS NET Zimbabwe as Country Representative and as Farm Business Management Expert with the Government of Zimbabwe’s Ministry of Agriculture.

Dr Patrice Talla Takoukam, a national of Cameroon, has been FAO Sub-Regional Coordinator for Southern Africa since September 2020. Prior to that Dr Talla was FAO Representative in Madagascar and covering Comoros, Mauritius, and Seychelles, under the multiple-accreditation scheme.

Dr. Talla joined FAO headquarters in 2001 as Legal Officer in the Law and Development Service of the Legal Office. In 2004, he transferred to the World Bank in Washington DC, United States, as Legal Officer/Counsel in the Environment and International Law Unit, Legal Department.

He returned to FAO headquarters in 2010, where he served as Legal Officer in the Development Law Service, Legal Office. He holds a Doctor of Philosophy in International Environmental Law and Public Law from the University of Limoges in France.

Deepak Bhaskaran was appointed as the Representative for the Lesotho Country Office in January 2022. He assumed his role on June 27th, 2022.

Mr. Bhaskaran brings over twenty-one years of experience in strategic digital innovation and development, ICT, technology partnerships, and emergency and operations management in Africa, Central Asia, Europe, and the Middle East.

Before this assignment, Mr. Bhaskaran served as UNICEF Deputy Regional Director Eastern and Southern Africa Region a.i, responsible for management and operations oversight for 21 countries. He also served as Chief of ICT UNICEF HQ Geneva, where he managed the private sector fundraising Business systems and ICT for Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Between 2005 and 2009, Mr. Bhaskaran served as the Specialist Emergency Response Operations and ICT for UNICEF, where he led the rapid deployment of emergency kits for UNICEF operations and global capacity building. In addition, from 2001-2005, he served as an ICT and Emergency specialist at UNICEF Middle East and North Africa, where he was responsible for ICT and emergency response support for 14 Middle East and North Africa countries. Mr. Bhaskaran, a national of India, joined UNICEF in April 2000 and has held several senior positions.

Mr. Bhaskaran holds a Master’s in Business Administration (Strategic Management) from the University of Wales.

Ms. Kavita Belani is a Malaysian national and a senior international civil servant with 25 years of service with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Over the course of her career, she has held leadership and advisory roles across Asia, Africa, Middle East and Europe, working in complex political and humanitarian contexts.

She previously served as UNHCR Representative in Armenia, leading the Office’s engagement with national authorities and regional partners. Her prior assignments include Deputy Chief of Mission in India, Senior Protection Cluster Coordinator in South Sudan, and Liaison Officer to the African Union and the Economic Commission for Africa in Ethiopia. She has also served in Lebanon, Sudan, Tanzania, Bangladesh, Kazakhstan, South Africa, Iraq, Pakistan, Ghana, and Thailand in various protection, management, policy and coordination roles.

Ms. Belani is a law professional and a trained classical pianist, with a strong foundation in legal practice and the arts that has supported her cross-cultural and diplomatic work.
Fluent in Malay and English, she also speaks Indonesian, Hindi, Urdu, Swahili, and Thai, enabling her to operate effectively in diverse linguistic and cultural environments.

She brings to her work a principled commitment to international law, refugee protection, and the strengthening of multilateral cooperation in response to global displacement challenges.

Ms Pepukai Chikukwa joined the UN in Lesotho in July 2022, serving as the UNAIDS Country Director. Overall, she has over 28 years progressive experience in HIV, and health and development in general, holding senior positions in government, civil society organizations and the United Nations.

Prior to per appointment in Lesotho, she served in the same capacity in Liberia since September 2020. Before her assignment as Country Director, Ms Chikukwa worked as Strategic Information Adviser for UNAIDS in Lesotho, Eswatini and Malawi since 2009.

Prior to working with UNAIDS, she worked for 6 years for an international NGO i.e., Frontline AIDS (formerly International HIV/AIDS Alliance) at its Headquarters in the UK departing as M&E Manager. She has also worked in South Africa for a national NGO and in Zimbabwe for UNICEF and the Ministry of Health, where her professional career began in 1992. She has also worked for a university research institute in her native Zimbabwe.
Her work has seen her support in strengthening government leadership and coordination of HIV responses, defining and refining national HIV priorities, with development and review of strategic plans as well as for the health sector, helping position and strengthen countries for funding opportunities including for Global Fund and oversight of the grants, capacity building and technical guidance in different HIV technical areas and strategic information including health information systems, development and management of corporate accountability systems. Her work with civil society has helped develop and strengthen nascent organizations into national organizations managing significant Global Fund grants for example. She has experience leading interagency and multidisciplinary teams for defined national and/or UN priorities.

In addition to the 6 countries she has lived and worked in, Ms Chikukwa has provided direct technical assistance to national and sub-national civil society organizations in over 20 countries across the globe. Ms Chikukwa’s qualifications include an MPH (Epidemiology and Biostatistics) from the University of Pretoria, an MSc in Development Management from the Open University – UK, and a BSc in Statistics and Computer Science from the University of Zimbabwe. She is a native of Zimbabwe with one daughter.