ABOUT ME

Dr. Roselyn Akombe is the Chief of Peacebuilding Strategy and Partnerships at the United Nations Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, New York. In this role, she leads a team within the Peacebuilding Support Office to enhance UN capacities for peacebuilding and sustaining peace. Her team collaborates closely with UN Agencies, offering liaison, advisory, and programmatic support to UN Resident Coordinators and field missions. Together, they build strategic partnerships with international financial institutions across the humanitarian-development-peacebuilding nexus. Dr. Akombe also coordinates the annual UN-civil society dialogue on peacebuilding and sustaining peace and leads initiatives on youth, peace, and security.

 

Before this position, Dr. Akombe served as the Governance and Peacebuilding Regional Coordinator at UNDP’s Regional Service Centre for Africa in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and as Chief of Policy in the Policy and Mediation Division of the Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs at the United Nations. In 2017, she was appointed Commissioner at Kenya’s Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) and has worked with the African Union as an economist.

 

A dedicated advocate for human rights, social justice, environmental protection, and the inclusion of youth and women in political and socio-economic spheres, Dr. Akombe has a long history of activism. Prior to her work with the African Union and the UN, she was active in the Kenyan student and women’s movements and continued her advocacy in the United States, working with WomenRising Inc. to promote economic opportunities for Black women. Dr. Akombe is deeply committed to causes that champion social justice and the empowerment of youth and women.

 

She holds a Bachelor's degree from the University of Nairobi and a Master’s and Doctorate from Rutgers University. Born in Kenya in 1976, Dr. Akombe is a mother of two.