Ms. Senait Gebregziabher Bayessa joined SOS Children's Villages on 14 January 2019 as International Director Region (IDR) ESAF. Senait' a native of Ethiopia' brings 26 years of experience in the humanitarian and development sector to the organisation. She has held leadership and senior management roles with large and complex programmes in Africa and Asia, most recently as the Regional Director' Asia for PLAN International. Senait's breadth of experience also extends to the spheres of policy, advocacy and rights-based programming, as well as field experience in emergency preparedness and humanitarian response. In addition, Senait played a significant role in planning and coordinating our Joining Forces activities with the leading Child Focused Agencies as a PLAN International team member.

Ms. Shubha Murthi in her role as interim IDR ESAF accompanied Senait in the onboarding process and final handover of the IDR ESAF responsibility will happen after the introduction period ends on 31 March. We would like to thank again Deputy COO Shubha for successfully taking this dual responsibility for the Asia and ESAF regions in the interim.