Introducing Colleagues at the Governing Council Secretariat

Dear Colleagues,

It is my pleasure to introduce Ms. Marie-Pia Tixier who has recently joined the Governing Council secretariat in Nairobi.

Marie-Pia will assist the Governing Council secretariat as an Associate Coordination Officer. She will provide support in the preparations towards the first session of the UN-Habitat Assembly in May 2019 and will contribute to the transition from the existing governance structure to the new mechanism.

Marie-Pia is a French national and has a double Law and linguist background. She holds a Master’s degree in Real Estate and Urban Law from Paris II-Panthéon Assas University in Paris and a Master’ Degree in Legal Translation (English and Spanish languages) from ISIT Intercultural School of Paris.

Before joining the secretariat, she worked for 3 years as a programme officer within UN-Habitat’s Urban Legislation Unit in Nairobi, on assessment of urban legal frameworks, planning law and human rights issues. She also has over 5 years of work experience in the private sector as an in-house Legal Counsel specializing in land and business law. She worked in Vietnam for Audier & Partners LLP law firm and in France for the LVMH group.

Marie-Pia sits in NOF Block 4, Level 1, North Wing and she can be reached on:

Email: marie-pia.tixier@un.org

Landline: Ext 23443

Mobile: +254 7 12 60 75 08

It is my distinct pleasure to introduce Vanessa Kimuna who is interning with the Governing Council secretariat.

Vanessa, who prefers to be called Nekesa,  studied International Relations and Politics at Keele University in England, United Kingdom, earning her a Bachelor of Arts degree with an Independent Study Project on mental health awareness, producing a visual interpretation of the physical and mental ramifications of anxiety.

Shortly after, Vanessa begun her postgraduate studies, pursuing a Master of Arts degree in International Journalism at Cardiff University, Wales. In 2017, she carried out her postgraduate research in Rwanda and her thesis was about the 1994 Rwanda Genocide against the Tutsi, focusing on the transition from pre - to post genocide Rwanda and the importance of women’s role in the nation’s reconstruction process. Vanessa produced a 15-minute documentary film on the same topic, which accompanied her thesis. While in Cardiff, Vanessa received specialized training on Information Gathering & Analysis and gained the skill to develop and exploit human and textual sources in preparing pieces of journalism.

Before joining UN-Habitat, Vanessa worked at CleanStart Kenya, a nonprofit organization that helps wrongly convicted women and young children in Kenya’s prisons integrate back into life in society once they’re released. Vanessa managed the social media presence of CleanStart Kenya with the aim of reaching an increasingly broad audience and engaging volunteers and stakeholders. She delivered efficient and effective communication of all projects, ideas and activities within the organization; skills that form a vital part of her work within the UN Habitat Governing Council secretariat.

Vanessa enjoys ‘alternative’ music, yoga and arts across the board.

She can be reached via Email at vanessa.kimuna@un.org, Ext at (+254) 20 7624885 and sits in NOF Block 4, Level 1, North Wing.