Joseph Foumbi is a senior United Nations

United Nations

The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...

 official working for the United Nations Children's Fund

United Nations Children's Fund

United Nations Children's Fund was created by the United Nations General Assembly on December 11, 1946, to provide emergency food and healthcare to children in countries that had been devastated by World War II...

 (UNICEF).

Born in 1955, Cameroon

Cameroon

Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon , is a country in west Central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west; Chad to the northeast; the Central African Republic to the east; and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo to the south. Cameroon's coastline lies on the...

ian by origin, he spent most of his life in France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 and the USA.

From 2003 to 2006, he was appointed as head of the UNICEF office in Bangui

Bangui

-Law and government:Bangui is an autonomous commune of the Central African Republic. With an area of 67 km², it is by far the smallest high-level administrative division of the CAR in area but the highest in population...

, Central African Republic

Central African Republic

The Central African Republic , is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It borders Chad in the north, Sudan in the north east, South Sudan in the east, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of the Congo in the south, and Cameroon in the west. The CAR covers a land area of about ,...

. During that time, he led efforts to promote the rights of children in the country, and school attendance as well as child nutrition also improved.

In January 2006, Secretary-General Kofi Annan

Kofi Annan

Kofi Atta Annan is a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh Secretary-General of the UN from 1 January 1997 to 31 December 2006...

 also appointed him as United Nations

United Nations

The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...

 Resident Coordinator

Resident Coordinator

A United Nations Resident Coordinator is the highest United Nations official and the chief of UN diplomatic mission in a country . It confers the same rank as an Ambassador of a foreign state...

 and Humanitarian Coordinator

Humanitarian Coordinator

The Humanitarian Coordinator is the senior-most United Nations official in a country experiencing a humanitarian emergency. The Humanitarian Coordinator is appointed by the United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator when a new emergency occurs or an existing humanitarian situation "worsens in...

 in the country, as successor to Stan Nkwain

Stan Nkwain

Stanislas 'Stan' Nkwain, a national of Cameroon, is a senior United Nations official working for the United Nations Development Programme ....

. In such capacity, he played an important role in advocating to raise funds for humanitarian work in the country, supported by the local OCHA

Ocha

Ocha is a genus of moth in the family Lasiocampidae....

 office headed by Souleymane Beye

Souleymane Beye

Souleymane Beye is a Senegalese official with the United Nations.Beye has spent most of his life in Rome and London.The first part of his career was with the World Food Programme, for which he worked in Guinea and the Sudan....

.

In November 2006, he was promoted and appointed as head of UNICEF in Kigali

Kigali

Kigali, population 965,398 , is the capital and largest city of Rwanda. It is situated near the geographic centre of the nation, and has been the economic, cultural, and transport hub of Rwanda since it became capital at independence in 1962. The main residence and offices of the President of...

, Rwanda

Rwanda

Rwanda or , officially the Republic of Rwanda , is a country in central and eastern Africa with a population of approximately 11.4 million . Rwanda is located a few degrees south of the Equator, and is bordered by Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo...

.