By Irene Gaitirira
Published January 29, 2016

Kaddu Kiwe Sebunya ,African Wildlife Foundation, to focus on advancing a clear policy agenda for wildlife as part of Africa’s future, ensuring the continent’s blueprint for development and growth includes space and protections for Africa’s natural heritageA leading conservation organisation focusing on African wild lands and wildlife has elected a Ugandan as its President.

Nairobi (Kenya)-based African Wildlife Foundation (AWF) says it has elected Kaddu Kiwe Sebunya to serve as its new President. Sebunya, it says, “will focus on advancing a clear policy agenda for wildlife as part of Africa’s future, ensuring the continent’s blueprint for development and growth includes space and protections for Africa’s natural heritage.”

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“I am excited to be stepping into the role of president at a time when Africa’s economies are surging, and when important decisions are being made as to how Africa should manage its natural resources responsibly and with accountability,” says Sebunya. “The continent is undergoing a profound change, and we must help to guide this change so it benefits Africa’s people and wildlife.”

A statement issued by Kathleen Garrigan, Media Relations Manager for AWF, says Sebunya began his career as a project manager with WaterAid and as a relief programme officer with Oxfam UK.

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Sebunya, who holds a Bachelor’s degree in Social and Political Science from Uganda’s Makerere University and two Master’s (in Sustainable Resource Management and Policy from London’s Imperial College; and in Law, Policy and Diplomacy from Tufts University’s The Fletcher School) degrees, served as Associate Director for the United States Peace Corps in Uganda before opting focus on conservation. He later served as a country programme coordinator with the World Conservation Union—now the International Union for Conservation of Nature, or IUCN—and as a senior policy and planning advisor for Conservation International.

African Wildlife Foundation's programmes are designed to protect the wild lands and wildlife of Africa and ensure a more sustainable future for Africa’s people

Sebunya moved to Washington, DC and became AWF’s Director of Programmes in 2006. He developed and implemented a legislative program to engage US lawmakers on issues affecting conservation and development in Africa. In 2013, he became Chief of Party for the USAID/Uganda Biodiversity Programme before transitioning to AWF’s president.

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AWF, the organization to be headed by Sebunya, says its programmes are ‘designed to protect the wild lands and wildlife of Africa and ensure a more sustainable future for Africa’s people’, is registered in USA.