Two years ago, I arrived in Rwanda carrying experience, conviction, and a deep respect for the responsibility ahead. I stepped into the role of Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), transitioning from a career built on technical expertise to one defined by leadership, profound responsibility, and most importantly, PEOPLE.

If you had asked me in the last five years what my day-to-day looked like, I would have described my life as a Regional Policy Adviser at UN Women covering East and Southern Africa, or as an Economics Adviser for UNDP in South Sudan, covering Eritrea, and in Ghana, covering The Gambia too. I supervised small, agile teams of three to seven people. My focus was intensely technical, part of a larger machine. My only true “duty of care” was outside the office walls, with my husband and three children, ensuring they were healthy, happy, and thriving, whether I was physically present or miles away on mission.

But leadership at the helm of an agency is a different crucible. Suddenly, you are no longer just contributing to the impact; you are entirely responsible for it. You are the one who must look a colleague in the eye during a difficult moment, represent your institution at the highest levels of government, and still find the energy to inspire a team the morning after a hard day. And you quickly realize that you cannot achieve any of it alone.

As I celebrate two years in this role, I reflect on what we’ve achieved through collective effort with an extraordinary team, the UN family, the government, and the resilient people of this country. This is not a report card. It is a letter of gratitude to everyone that made the blooming possible. 

Thinking Bigger to Deliver Results at Scale

Serving in Rwanda is a privilege. Here, ambition has a rhythm. It shows up in the speed of institutions, the seriousness of national planning, and the appetite for innovation. You are constantly challenged to think bigger and pushed to focus not only on projects, but on systems, scale, and long-term transformation. By aligning our work closely with Rwanda’s national development strategies, including the National Strategy for Transformation (NST2) and Vision 2050, that strategic thinking has shaped initiatives that have led to tangible, life-changing results. It is this same spirit of partnership that we captured in the UNDP@30 video, celebrating three decades of UNDP’s journey with Rwanda, after the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, a story of resilience, trust and shared commitment to the country’s transformation.

Many of these results are captured in our 2024 Annual Report and 2025 Annual Report, which tell a broader story of how partnership, innovation and systems thinking are translating Rwanda’s ambitions into practical change.

Together with partners, we have championed youth entrepreneurship through the  Aguka Programme providing thousands of young innovators with the tools to build sustainable businesses. We positioned Rwanda as Africa’s emerging health innovation center by launching the timbuktoo HealthTech Hub  in Kigali, one of ten hubs in Africa that represent a possible shift in how Africa can finance its own development. 

We have advanced digital justice, supporting the roll-out of alternative dispute resolution centers and the AI-enabled Amategeko app to reduce court case backlogs and bring legal access directly to citizens’ mobile phones. 

I have witnessed the impact firsthand while traversing many of the districts in Rwanda. The climate-smart  hydroponic farming and home biogas project which we are working to scale with government and other partners has left an indelible mark. Farmers are growing fodder with 90% less water. Cows fed with the fodder are producing more milk and their waste is turned into clean cooking gas, replacing firewood, protecting forests and improving the air women and children breathe inside their homes. Born out of a shared commitment to strengthen Rwanda’s ecosystem, we launched the Innovate Rwanda Platform, a national innovation platform co-created together with the Ministry of ICT and Innovation (MINICT), bringing together entrepreneurs, investors, institutions, and ecosystem support organizations in one connected space. 

UNDP has supported gender-responsive tax and fiscal reforms, including efforts to generate better sex-disaggregated data and make policy more responsive to women in informal work, cross-border trade, small business and vulnerable life situations such as teen motherhood.

Through the Shine Together Renewable Energy Initiative, we reached some of the most remote communities in Rwanda, proving that clean energy can travel the last mile. We installed 1,200 standalone solar systems, electrified 36 cell offices, powered five health posts, and created over 160 decent jobs - bringing light, services, opportunity, and dignity closer to the people who need them most. 

One area especially close to my heart has been the Country Office’s growing investment in knowledge. I deeply value the policy briefs, strategic reports and analytical products we produce, not as documents that sit on shelves, but as tools that help government and partners think through complex choices, shape better policies, and turn evidence into action for Rwanda’s long-term transformation. 

Through the Green Amayaga project, we unlocked millions in climate finance and helped restore landscapes in ways that protect nature while improving lives and livelihoods.

We also walked alongside Rwanda as it advanced its ambitious digitalization and AI agenda, including support to the AI policy, strengthening the trust, skills, infrastructure and computing power needed for responsible AI to take root, including GPU-powered capacity for advanced AI development. Together, these efforts are helping position Rwanda as a leader in inclusive, AI-driven solutions aligned with national development priorities.

Through the University Innovation Pod (UniPod), we have supported Rwanda’s young innovators with the tools, space and confidence to turn ideas into prototypes, enterprises and solutions for Africa’s future. 

Through the  Biodiversity Finance Programme, we have supported Rwanda to move biodiversity from commitment to investment, turning nature protection into a driver of sustainable development.

Together with milestones such as maintaining our Gold Gender Seal certification, these achievements reflect what happens when an empowered team partners with a visionary government.

The Internal Work: Values That Shaped the Journey 

In all honesty, I did not fully know what to expect when I came to Rwanda. But I knew the role would require personal evolution as much as professional leadership. Looking back now, I realize that the four core values expected of leadership in the UN: Humanity, Humility, Inclusion, and Integrity, shaped that journey. They are no longer just words on a charter to me; they have become the daily practice of leadership.

Humanity became more personal. I have always believed that no strategy or programme succeeds unless people feel respected, safe, and valued. As the firstborn in my family, caring for others came naturally early in life, but leadership deepened that instinct. I became more intentional about creating a workplace where people feel heard and supported. Over the last two years, we introduced initiatives focused on staff wellbeing and connection: redesigned staff meetings, wellness activities, safe spaces for women and men, staff exchanges, and the reopening of the office canteen as a shared community space. Watching colleagues stop, to simply, laugh and share a meal, reminded me that community is something you build deliberately, one small gesture at a time. We also introduced the monthly “secret buddy” initiative to lift morale during a period of financial pressure and contract uncertainty. Through small gestures of kindness shared in the office WhatsApp group, private acts of care became moments of collective celebration. Over time, the practice strengthened trust, encouraged connection across units and age groups, and turned staff meetings into joyful spaces of recognition and belonging. Our Country Office consistently ranked among the top-performing offices globally in UNDP’s engagement survey, proving that organizational culture and performance are deeply connected.

Humility also changed its meaning for me. Earlier in my career, I thought humility meant staying quiet, avoiding titles, and working hard without visibility. Today, I see humility as creating space for others to grow. It means listening more, sharing leadership, and helping others succeed without seeking recognition for yourself. Simple decisions sometimes had the greatest impact: riding the staff bus during retreats instead of using an official vehicle, or rotating leadership of management meetings to give colleagues visibility and experience, ensuring that staff meetings are chaired by staff on a rotational basis as I observe. Over time, I watched quieter colleagues become more confident leaders.

Inclusion also became less theoretical and more human. It is not only about representation. It is about whether people genuinely feel they belong. That includes professional staff, drivers, cleaners, guards, and colleagues living with disabilities. We created safer and more open spaces for staff conversations, while also investing in career growth through initiatives like the Staff Transformation Exchange Programme (STEP), The STEP programme earned the Country Office the 2025 People for 2030 Learning and Growth Award for creating meaningful professional development opportunities. Additionally, seven colleagues have since transitioned into international positions after coaching and exposure opportunities. Each departure was painful, but it also carried a deeper joy: seeing exceptional new talent step in, and with it, creating opportunities for more Rwandans to serve within the UN. Behind each one of them was a story of potential that simply needed a door opened. 

Integrity may be the value that evolved most sharply for me. Earlier in my career, integrity meant doing the right thing personally. Leadership taught me that integrity also requires the courage to uphold standards consistently, even when uncomfortable. Every decision by a leader sets the tone for others. In a world where multilateralism is being tested and development funding is under pressure, integrity is no longer just a personal virtue but an institutional responsibility. And as a mother raising two girls and a boy, I know children learn more from what they see us do than from what we say. Leadership is no different. Teams observe actions more closely than speeches.

Looking Ahead

To bloom where you are planted, you must first understand the soil. Over the past two years, that has meant learning about Rwanda, its people, culture, way of working and even the language. Whether in meetings with government leaders or conversations in local communities, I have learned that transformation begins with genuine connection. I made a personal commitment to visit and engage with all 30 districts of Rwanda and so far, I have visited 19, with 11 more to go. And when I speak a few broken lines in Kinyarwanda, it’s my commitment to being fully present in the ecosystem I serve.
 

As my responsibilities have grown, so has the visibility that comes with leadership. Over time, I have learned to hold that visibility with humility and purpose, not as a spotlight on myself, but as a platform to elevate the work, celebrate the team, and honor the country I serve. At my core, I remain a mother, a wife, a daughter, a sister, a friend, a firstborn, and a public servant. These identities do not compete with leadership, they complete it. 

If these two years have taught me anything, it is that no one blooms alone. Every root is held by soil. Every branch is strengthened by light. Every season of growth is made possible by those who water, shelter, challenge and believe.

A Note of Gratitude

To Ms. Ahunna Eziakonwa, UNDP Assistant Secretary-General and Director of the Regional Bureau for Africa, it is not a small thing to extend confidence across distance, across contexts, and across the particular pressures of this moment in multilateralism's history. Your trust is both my anchor and my compass. And to all former supervisors, mentors whom I had the honor of acknowledging during my first year celebration, I say, thank you.

To the Government of Rwanda, thank you for being a partner that demands excellence, moves with purpose, and never loses sight of the people this work is meant to serve. Working in Rwanda makes me a more grounded leader, and a more hopeful human being, every single day.

To our development partners, fellow UN agencies, civil society, the private sector, and the many individuals who lend their expertise, their networks, and their belief to this shared mission: thank you. None of what we are building belongs to any one institution. It is the fruit of our collaboration.

And to my dynamic colleagues at UNDP Rwanda, you are, without question, the reason any of this works. You bring dedication when the hours are long and the stakes are high. You bring creativity when the old answers are no longer enough. And you bring resilience when the world asks more of us than seems reasonable. You do not simply implement programmes. You care about the people behind them. And it is that caring, more than any strategy or budget line, that turns a project into a transformation. Working alongside you is one of the great privileges of my career.

This milestone is not mine. It belongs to every one of you. I am simply the one holding the pen.

Fatmata Lovetta Sesay is the Resident Representative of UNDP in Rwanda. She is passionate about purpose-driven leadership, mentorship, and creating inclusive spaces where women thrive.