Benoit Kalasa
Keynote Speaker
Director, Technical Division UNFPA
Mr. Benoit Kalasa is the Director of Technical Division at UNFPA Headquarters, the unit responsible for providing global thought leadership, develop tools and nurture technical partnerships in support of UNFPA mandate. The Division also leads global thematic funds, such as the Maternal Health Thematic Fund and the UNFPA Supplies Programme.
Mr. Kalasa has more than 20 years of international work and has served UNFPA in different countries and capacities, playing a leading role in advocating for the ICPD goals, ensuring the integration of issues of sexual and reproductive health, population and development and gender in plans and policies and the broader development agenda. Prior to his appointment at HQ, he served as UNFPA representative in Ethiopia, Comoros, Madagascar, Mauritius and as Director to the Regional Office for West and Central Africa (WCARO), overseeing 23 countries.
Mr. Kalasa holds a PhD in Economics, with specialization in Economic Demography at the Institute of Political Studies (Sciences Po) in Paris, France.