Tegegnework Gettu heads the United Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP) Africa Bureau in addition to serving as Assistant Administrator of UNDP and Assistant Secretary-General of the UN. Gettu has been in his current position since February 2009.

His diverse career spans UNDP, academia, government and the private sector.

Gettu served as Chief of Staff and Director of UNDP’s Executive Office (2006-2009). From 2003 until 2006 he was the UN Resident Coordinator/UNDP Resident Representative in Nigeria. Prior to 2003, Mr. Gettu was the Country Director for Southern Africa and Indian Ocean countries and Acting Resident Representative in Liberia and Sierra Leone.

During his academic career, he was a fellow to Columbia University; Assistant Professor and Lecturer at the University of Rochester in New York, Hunter College and Addis Ababa University. He has also worked in Ethiopia’s Ministry of Planning and Economic Development and the private sector.

In June 2009, the Director of UNDP's Africa Bureau and the Administrator of UNDP set out on an Africa visit that took them to Liberia, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Ethiopia, where they met with Government and local leaders and toured UNDP programmes. From 1 May 2010, Gettu accompanied Helen Clark on a four-country tour of Africa to highlight progress towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in the run up to the MDGs Summit in September 2010. Together, they will travel to Mali, Burkina Faso, Tanzania, and South Africa.

From 14 to 17 July, the Director was present at the Regional Bureau for Africa's Regional Management Meeting which convened the UNDP Administrator and more than 45 Resident Representatives from across the region.

On November 1-2, Gettu attended the Africa-China Poverty Reduction and Development Conference, an event which contributed new elements to the conceptual thrust and approaches towards breakthrough strategies for poverty alleviation in Africa. The conference will begin with interventions from high level speakers, including opening statements from the UNDP Administrator and the Chinese Head of Delegation, followed by a key note address by His Excellency, the Prime Minister of Ethiopia.