Maniza Ntekim.

Regional ECD Advisor for East and Southern Africa, UNICEF 

Maniza joined UNICEF’s East and Southern Africa Regional Office (ESARO) in April 2018 where she leads on providing technical advice, guidance and oversight on Early Childhood Development to 21 UNICEF Country Offices.

Prior to taking up this post she was Senior Programme Officer at the Open Society Foundations (OSF) where she led on OSF’s global ECD advocacy programme, supported ECD systems strengthening in Africa and represented the Private Sector and Private Foundations on the Global Partnership for Education’s Country Grants Committee.

Maniza has worked as a policy advisor and advocate for the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, Amnesty International UK and the Confederation of British Industry which is the UK’s largest employers’ federation. She has also worked as a consultant for Save the Children UK, UNESCO, Oxford Policy Management and DfID. Maniza’s relationship with UNICEF begun in 2007 when she worked as an education advisor in Rwanda and then in Tanzania.

Maniza holds a Masters in International Politics from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London and a BA in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from the University of Oxford.