Partners in Population and Development (PPD) is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Jack Onyisi Abebe, a Kenyan National as Head of Programme at the PPD Secretariat, effective 20 July 2026. A Kenyan national, Dr. Abebe joins PPD with extensive leadership experience within the United Nations system and a distinguished record of managing complex regional and global development programmes across Africa.
Dr. Abebe most recently served with UN Women Eastern and Southern Africa Regional Office as Regional Programme Manager, where he provided strategic, technical, and operational leadership for multi-country programmes in knowledge management and research. In this role, he guided programme planning, implementation, monitoring, evaluation, quality assurance, policy engagement, and reporting, while supporting senior management decision-making and ensuring accountability for programme delivery across the region.
Prior to this position, Dr. Abebe served as Regional Coordinator for a Government of Canada-funded global programme at UN Women, leading results-based programme management, donor reporting, resource mobilization, partnership development, and stakeholder engagement. Through these roles, he worked closely with governments, United Nations entities, development partners, regional institutions, civil society organizations, academia, and the private sector to advance sustainable development outcomes and strengthen institutional capacity.
With fourteen years of progressively responsible experience in international development, Dr. Abebe has established himself as a respected programme management, policy, and partnerships specialist. His expertise spans strategic planning, programme design and implementation, results-based management, monitoring and evaluation, resource mobilization, governance, policy advocacy, knowledge management, and organizational leadership. Throughout his career, he has successfully managed diverse programme portfolios and fostered high-impact partnerships that have delivered measurable results across the continent.
Dr. Abebe holds a PhD in Disaster Management and Humanitarian Assistance, an MBA in Strategic Management, a Bachelor of Laws (LLB), a Postgraduate Diploma in Law from the Kenya School of Law, and a Bachelor of Arts in Communication and Media Technology with Information Technology. He is an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya and a practicing human rights lawyer.
Welcoming the appointment, PPD Executive Director, Professor Dr. Joseph Akinkugbe Adelegan expressed confidence that Dr. Abebe’s extensive United Nations experience, strategic leadership, and commitment to sustainable development will significantly strengthen PPD’s programme portfolio and support its mission across its 28 Member Countries.