Jean-Luc Stalon is a seasoned development practitioner with over 30 years of service to the United Nations, driving transformational change across Africa, Asia, and the Pacific. 

He currently serves as the Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Kenya, where he leads strategic partnerships focusing on accelerating the Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda, strengthening governance systems, youth engagement, environment & climate change.

Throughout his career, Mr. Stalon has held senior leadership roles within UNDP, including Resident Representative in Cameroon and the Central African Republic, Country Director in Senegal, Senior Deputy Country Director in South Sudan and Mali, as well as Acting Director of the UNDP Global Centre for Public Service Excellence in Singapore. In these capacities, he has consistently championed innovation, governance reforms, and large-scale development programmes, often in fragile and complex contexts.

His expertise spans crisis management, peacebuilding, economic transformation, large-scale development acceleration programmes, and governance reforms. Mr. Stalon is widely recognized for his ability to build multilateral partnerships and enhance government co-financing to deliver impactful programmes that foster inclusive growth, democratic governance, and sustainable peace.

An accomplished writer and thought leader, he has published extensively on issues such as inequality, inclusive growth, democratic governance, remittances, climate change, and peace diplomacy. His notable works include:

• Book: The Elitist Growth: Proposition of a New Index on Inequality (original French title: La Croissance Élitiste), Éditions du Cygne, Paris, 2022.
• Articles: Harness the Potential of the Continent’s Demographic Dividend (Mail & Guardian, 2025).
• Translating Peace into Shared Prosperity in the Great Lakes Region (Mail & Guardian, 2025).

He also contributes actively to contemporary debates on Africa’s development. In his widely cited article, “Return of coups: Why Africa needs a new social contract”, he highlights governance challenges, rising inequalities, and the urgent need to rebuild fractured social contracts.

Mr. Stalon holds a PhD in Political Science from the University of Yaoundé II, Cameroon, and a Diploma in Advanced Studies in Social Sciences from Sorbonne Nouvelle University, Paris.