Ms Fatoumata Keita-Ouane, a national of Mali, took office as the new Head of Chemicals Branch, Division of Technology, Industry and Economics, UNEP in January.

Ms Keita-Ouane holds a degree in Pharmaceutical Sciences and an advanced degree in Toxicology from the “Université Catholique de Louvain”, Belgium.

She began her international career in Geneva at the World Health Organization’s Division of Pharmaceuticals and then worked in UNEP’s International Register of Potentially Toxic Chemicals (IRPTC), which later evolved to become Chemicals Branch, until 2006. She was responsible for chemical management capacity building, particularly in African countries. Mr Keita-Ouane also initiated activities to build national chemical management infrastructures and supported countries with the negotiations of the Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions.

From 2006 to 2010, Mr Keita-Ouane was appointed Senior Scientific Affairs Officer at the Stockholm Convention Secretariat and led the establishment of the Persistent Organic Pollutants Review Committee and the Effectiveness Evaluation Programme for the Convention.

In 2010, she moved to the Division of Early Warning and Assessment (DEWA) where she held the post of Chief of the Scientific Assessment Branch.