The newly appointed UNDP Resident Representative to Sierra Leone, Fredrick Hans Ampiah, has presented his letter of Credentials to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Timothy M. Kabba in Freetown. The presentation of the Letter of Credentials signals the official commencement of his duty tour in Sierra Leone.

Speaking at the ceremony Mr. Ampiah reiterated UNDP's dedication to deepen its ties with the people of Sierra Leone. He said , "Our purpose is to enhance this partnership, serve Sierra Leone, and aid in tackling key development challenges including addressing youth unemployment, supporting the Rule of Law, and access to justice, and promoting the interest of the people of Sierra Leone."

He also congratulated the government of Sierra Leone on the country's election to the United Nations Security Council non-permanent seat category.

Honourable Kabba on behalf of His Excellency Dr. Julius Maada Bio, welcomed Mr. Ampiah and appreciated UNDP's close collaboration with ministries and the government in delivering essential services over the years. 

He highlighted the need for development partners to support the Five Big Game Changers of the government .

The Minister reassured the UNDP Resident Representative and his team of the government's steadfast commitment to partnering with development allies to fulfill its mission.

 About Fredrick  Ampiah 

Mr. Ampiah has over 28 years of development and management experience in varied contexts- fragile states, post-conflict/conflict countries, and on a range of thematic areas including Democratic Governance, Peace, and Security (Elections, Small Arms and Light Weapons -SALW), Sustainable Development (ICTs for development and–Technology/Innovation management, Private sector development). 

Prior to this position, he was the UNDP Regional Coordinator (SALW) for the West and Central Africa Sub-Regional Hub, based in Dakar and Regional Project manager of the Organized Crime West Africa Response to Trafficking (OCWART) and the Cross-Border Management of Small Arms projects in the ECOWAS region. 

He also served as Acting Chief of the Country Oversight Support Team (COST) with the Regional Bureau for Africa in New York. He was the Regional Coordinator of the EU-funded ECOWAS project across seven ECOWAS States (July 2015 – 2020), and has served in different senior leadership roles in UNDP including Resident Representative in UNDP Nigeria; UNDP Deputy Country Director (Programme) in Nigeria, Assistant Country Director - Partnership Resource Mobilization in UNDP in Somalia, Partnerships Adviser with UNDP Ghana and Ebola Crisis Manager in Liberia (Oct 2013-Feb 2015), in addition to his role as the Partnerships and Compliance Adviser in UNDP Liberia. Fred has other country working experience in India, Honduras, and Panama.

 Before joining UNDP, Fred worked in the Private sector notably with J. Ottman Consulting in New York, Select Service Partners in Denmark, and Price Waterhouse Coopers (PwC) in Ghana.

Mr. Ampiah is a  Harvard Kennedy School of Government Executive Education in Emerging Leadership graduate. He holds a Master’s degree (MSc) in International Business Economics and a Post graduate degree in International Management from Aalborg University, Denmark. He graduated from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana with Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology and History.