Biography

Nyaradzayi Gumbonzvanda

Ms. Nyaradzayi Gumbonzvanda (Zimbabwe) assumed her duties as UN Assistant Secretary-General and UN Women Deputy Executive Director for Normative Support, UN System Coordination, and Programme Results on 6 February 2024. Ms. Gumbonzvanda brings more than 35 years of experience in the fields of development with a focus on women’s empowerment, gender equality, and women’s and children’s rights.

Before her current position, she served as Founder and Chief Executive of Rozaria Memorial Trust, was appointed the first African Union (AU) Goodwill Ambassador on Ending Child Marriage (2014-2022) and paved the way for the development of the AU Convention on Violence against Women and Girls in 2023. She was also appointed a member of the High-Level Group on HIV Prevention and Sexual Health for Young People in Eastern and Southern Africa by the United Nations,
Regional Director in the East and Horn of Africa for the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM, now part of UN Women) between 2001 and 2007, and Human Rights Officer in Liberia and National Child Rights Adviser in Zimbabwe for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) between 1998 and 2001. She is a trained human rights lawyer with extensive experience in conflict resolution and mediation.

She was awarded a Doctor of Laws degree (Honoris Causa) by the University of Massachusetts, United States, and holds a Master in Laws from the University of South Africa, a Post Graduate Certificate in Conflict Transformation from Uppsala University in Sweden, and a Bachelor of Laws, Honors Degree, from the University of Zimbabwe.