Musonda Mumba a Zambian National, is the Director for The Rome Centre for Sustainable Development under United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in close collaboration with Italian Government (Ministry of Environment and Ecological Transition). The Centre focuses on three priority areas notably: Climate Change, Sustainable Development and Nature Protection. In her role, she provides strategic leadership on these matters through convening, collaboration, connecting and co-creation as the world navigates complexity and uncertainty, with the aim of achieving the SDGs collectively. Her ambition is that this work is done with a Systems Thinking lens and also Systems Leadership. She has over 25 years’ experience in environmental and conservation issues globally. She is the recently past Chair of the Global Partnership on Forest and Landscape Restoration (GPFLR) and just ended her tenure Vice-Chair for the Collaborative Partnership on Forests (CPF). She is also the Founder of the Network of African Women Environmentalists (NAWE) my work has received numerous accolades including being named one the 100 most influential African Women in September 2021. She is a Visiting Senior Research Fellow at the Perry World House (PWH) of University of Pennsylvania and Honorary Senior Research Associate at University College London (UCL). She has published widely in various journals, newspapers, articles and contributed to book chapters and is a world-renowned speaker and moderator. Before joining UNDP, Musonda was the head of United Nations Environment Programme – UNEP’s Terrestrial Ecosystems Programme and served in various roles over a period of 12 years. Before working for UNEP, Musonda worked for the Zambian Government, Ramsar Convention on Wetlands (in Switzerland), WWF (at International, UK and East Africa Regional Offices) and as such working with governments on Africa, Europe, Asia and Latin America.
Musonda received her BSc. Ed degree at University of Zambia (UNZA) and has a PhD from University College London (UCL) in Wetland Conservation and Hydrology. Outside her work her interests include abstract painting, cooking, running, yoga, mountain climbing and introducing her children to and teaching them about the natural world. She speaks English, Bemba, French and KiSwahili.