The PEI programme in Africa was formed by the merger of several country poverty-environment mainstreaming programmes initiated under the UNDP PEI, funded by the European Commission (EC) and UK’s Department for International Development (DFID), and several country programmes initiated by UNEP, with funding from the Governments of Belgium and Norway.  Since 2005, this regional programme has been managed jointly by UNDP and UNEP. 

Each PEI-supported country programme has been initiated to meet country-level demand and is tailored to specific national policy processes such as:

• The development or revision of national planning processes such as PRSPS and national Development Plans and their budgets;
• Sector development policies strategies, such as Agriculture, Water, and other Natural Resource; sectors; and land budgets.
• Mainstreaming initiatives and policies to combat the effects of Climate Change.

The UNDP-UNEP PEI Africa programme is active in ten countries: Botswana, Burkina Faso, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda. 

	Botswana		Burkina Faso		Kenya		Malawi
	Mali		Mauritania		Mozambique		Rwanda
	Tanzania		Uganda

As with other regions, the PEI programme is being scaled up in Africa.  Two new PEI country programmes have been launched in Botswana and Burkina Faso (2010). In addition support is being provided for specific activities in Liberia.

PEI also contributes to the One-UN process in Mozambique, Rwanda, Tanzania – for example through the PEI country programme being part of the One UN work-plan and by supporting UNEP’s engagement in the One-UN processes in these countries.

At an operational level, a team located at UNEP HQ in Nairobi is responsible for supporting country programmes.  The function of the team is to provide strategic direction to the PEI Africa Programme; Provide support to governments and UNDP country offices to facilitate PEI implementation; and to Promote the sharing of knowledge and lessons learnt from the different countries in the programme.  The team includes:

David Smith
David is the Manager of the PEI Africa team and has a long history of working on the Africa PEI programme.

Louise Sorensen
Louise is a Task Manager and has a Master’s degree in International Development Studies and Geography. Louise joined the UN system in early 2002 and was working with UNDP and FAO before joining the UNDP – UNEP PEI Africa Team. She is especially engaged in Mozambique and Rwanda.

Angela Lusigi
Has a background in pro-poor policy formulation, monitoring and evaluation with experience from several African countries including Botswana, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, and Zambia. Her previous work experience includes IFAD, FAO and UNDP and she is currently the focal point for PEI country programmes in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda

Jean-Jacob Sahou
Jean Jacob is from Benin where he worked for the UNDP country office and was in charge of the Energy and Environment portfolio. Jean Jacob is supporting the implementation of PEI country programmes for African Francophone countries.

Themba Kalua
Themba Kalua has a background in UN Programme/Project management and operations. Themba was the head of the Programme Management Support Unit in UNDP Malawi and also worked in the Resident Coordinator’s Office on UN reform and UN coordination. Themba has also worked with UNEP’s Quality Assurance Section. Currently, he is providing support to the implementation of country programmes, including Malawi.

Elise Christensen
Elise has experience from civil society organisations in Norway, UK and Latin America and has for the past three years worked as programme coordinator for Latin America for Norwegian development organisations. She has a Master’s Degree in International Studies and Diplomacy. She is currently the country focal point for Rwanda and Mozambique.

Anne Nielsen
Anne has a Master’s Degree in International Development Studies and Geography. Anne has for the past four years been working in Laos, South East Asia. Anne joined the UN system in 2006 and was working for FAO Laos. Anne is supporting the implementation of PEI country programmes for Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda.

Amath Pathe Sene
Pathe is country focal point for Mauritania and supports PEI country programmes for African Francophone countries. Before joining the PEI Africa team, Pathe worked as program officer at the UNDP Mauritania Environment & Energy Unit for two years. By training, Pathe is an Engineer in Agronomic Science and Natural Resources Specialist with degrees from Moroccan and French Universities including comprehensive agricultural research experience in France, Morocco and Senegal.

Anne Mburu
Anne is a Programme Assistant and has been working with the UN System for several years. Anne has been with the PEI Africa team since it started and supports the team by follow-up on financial reporting of country focal points, consultant contracts, quarterly status reports for all countries, country briefs, background research, staff travel and administrative issues.

For any questions regarding the PEI Africa regional programme please contact us at: facility.unpei@unpei.org