Ambassador Yvette Stevens is currently an Executive-in-Residence within the Geneva Centre for Security Policy’s Global Fellowship Initiative. An engineer by training, Yvette – since joining the UN in 1980 – has forged a long and distinguished career in the UN system, demonstrating exceptional leadership and expertise in various fields, notably humanitarian affairs and diplomacy. An engineer by training, Yvette began her UN career as a Technology Expert at the ILO, before going on to hold leadership roles for UNHCR in Africa.

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From 1999 to 2004, she worked as Director in DESA, the UN Office of the Special Advisor on Africa. Before retiring in 2009, she was the UN’s Assistant Emergency Relief Coordinator and Director of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Geneva (2004-2006). In 2009, Ambassador Stevens was appointed as permanent Representative for the Government of Sierra Leone in Geneva, a position she held until 2012. Currently, Ambassador Stevens serves as a Trustee at Engineers for Change Sierra Leone. She holds degrees from the Moscow Power Engineering Institute and the Imperial College of Science and Technology, University of London. She also served as a lecturer in Engineering at the University of Sierra Leone for six years.