UNDP Kuwait Deputy Resident Representative

Sherif Eltokali UNDP Kuwait Deputy resident representative.

From September 2022 to May 2023, He served as the first-ever Data and Digital Manager at the UNDP Crisis Bureau, where he supported the implementation of the Digital and Data roadmap.

Sherif has over 30 years of experience in managing and leading complex (and award-winning) digital transformation and innovation programmes and operations in crisis, post-conflict, and non-fragile contexts.

Sherif joins UNDP Kuwait directly from UNDP Somalia, where he established their Innovation Portfolio, focusing on social innovation initiatives co-designed with communities. He also launched a series of open innovation challenges to support IDPs, create alternative energy solutions for households, Assistive Technology for Persons with Disabilities (PWDs), and a Digital Economy initiative.

Before that, he served as Assistant Resident Representative and ICT4D and Innovation Team Leader for UNDP Egypt, where he established and managed the UNDP Egypt ICT4D Trust Fund. He supported the Government of Egypt in developing Egypt's national ICT and Innovation Strategy, the eGovernment programme, and establishing the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center and the Information Technology Institute. He also supported the national efforts to modernize and digitalize the Egypt Post, and the National Telecom Regulatory Authority, and he led the design of flagship programmes for Supporting PWDs and the National Telemedicine programme.

He built strategic partnerships with multinational organizations and the private sector, including Microsoft, IBM, Cisco, Intel, Oracle, Computer Associate, Vodafone, Orange, Etisalat, GSMA, and others to support digital transformation efforts across the Arab Region. He also helped establish the first UNDP Innovation Lab in the Arab region in 2015.

Sherif holds a master’s in business administration, Information Technology, and Management from the Maastricht School of Management, Netherlands.