Africa-Press – Mauritius. The planetary crisis, climate, nature, biodiversity loss and pollution, were the focus of discussions between the Attorney General, Minister of Agro-Industry and Food Security, Mr Maneesh Gobin, and the Acting Deputy Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Ms Sonja Leighton-Kone, this afternoon during a meeting held in Port-Louis.
In a statement, the Acting Deputy Executive Director emphasised that UNEP wanted to congratulate Mauritius on the successes it has had as a Small Island Developing State (SIDS) and also to highlight what has been achieved in terms of the One Food Summit and managing food wastes.
Ms Leighton-Kone also indicated that the support of Mauritius has been sought, as a leader and champion among the SIDS, to tell the stories in the achievement of such successes.
The purpose of the visit of the Acting Deputy Executive Director is to strengthen collaboration between UNEP and the Government of Mauritius. She will also engage with the UN family and partners to explore avenues for continuing partnership with Mauritius and further collaborating to advocate for SIDS.
Ms Leighton-Kone is also, since 2018, the Director of the Corporate Services Division at UNEP leading the organisation’s strategic engagement with Member States, UN agencies and partners in global environmental financing mechanisms, resource mobilisation and, financial and human resource management.
The Acting Deputy Executive Director has more than 30 years of experience in international development overseeing operations in complex environments, including emerging and fragile States.
As a senior member of the UNEP leadership team, she has introduced a wide range of initiatives to strengthen the organization’s systems, donor partnerships and capacity building programmes.
She has held a series of high-level positions at UNICEF, including Regional Chief of Operations in Jordan, Chief of Operations in Ethiopia, Senior Operations Officer in South Sudan and Operations Officer in Myanmar.
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