ILO appoints Nigerian, Cynthia Samuel-Olonjuwon, Regional Director for Africa

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) has appointed a Nigerian, Cynthia Samuel-Olonjuwon as its Assistant Director-General and Regional Director for Africa. Guebray Berhane, the Senior Communication Officer of ILO Regional Office for Africa in Abidjan, announced the appointment in a statement e-mailed to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Lagos.

The appointment, confirmed after due consultation with its governing body, takes effect from Nov. 10. “Guy Ryder, the Director-General of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), after having duly consulted the Officers of the Governing Body, has appointed Cynthia Samuel-Olonjuwon of Nigeria as Assistant Director-General and Regional Director for Africa, in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire with effect from Nov. 10, 2017,’’ the statement read.

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Until her new position, Samuel-Olonjuwon was the Deputy Regional Director for Africa, a post she held since July 15, 2016. She joined the ILO in 1995, where she held different positions in the field and Geneva, including Chief of the ILO Programming Unit for Africa and Deputy Director of the ILO Office in Pretoria. She has been a member of the senior management team of the ILO Regional Office for Africa for more than nine years.

The Nigerian has played an important role in the development and implementation of regional strategies to deliver quality programmes, fostering opportunities for cooperation, particularly with the African Union and Regional Economic Communities, and alliance building throughout the region.

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Born in 1961, Samuel-Olonjuwon holds a B.Sc in Sociology and a Masters’ Degree in Industrial and Labour Relations from the University of Ibadan. With more than 32 years of experience in the world of work, she had worked as Assistant Director of the Nigerian Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA). She also worked as a lecturer on gender, industrial sociology and group dynamics at the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.

Ms Samuel-Olonjuwon was appointed to the Board of the International Sociological Association (Research Committee on Women in Society) from 1986 to 1990. She has significant experience in leadership, management and strategic partnerships to promote decent work and development outcomes at regional, sub-regional and national levels.