Lieke van de Wiel is the UNICEF Deputy Regional Director for Eastern and Southern Africa since 15 February 2021. As Deputy Regional Director, Ms. van de Wiel leads a team of regional technical advisors in support of the programme development, formulation and implementation in 21 country offices in the Eastern and Southern Africa Region. She provides guidance, oversight, and country specific advice on programme and policy issues, as well as on operational issues, ensuring high-quality support to UNICEF programmes at the country level.

Prior to her current assignment, Ms. van de Wiel was the Chief of Programme and Planning in the UNICEF Regional Office for the Middle East and North Africa Regional Office. Ms. van de Wiel also served as Deputy Representative in the UNICEF Country Offices in Syria and Turkey. Ms. van de Wiel has also served in various other positions and field locations with UNICEF in Nepal, Yemen, Mexico and New York, in areas such as Education, Child Protection and Humanitarian Policy.

Before joining UNICEF Ms. van de Wiel worked with WHO in their South Eastern Regional Office based in New Delhi on emergency and humanitarian action. She has also carried out assignments with the European Commission’s department of Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operation (ECHO) in Belgium, as well as with NGOs in her home country.

Ms. van de Wiel is a national of the Netherlands and holds two Masters’ degrees in Public Administration and Sociology from the University of Leiden. She also holds a certificate from London School of Economics on International Relations as well as a certificate in Education from the Ibero-American University in Mexico.