Ghanaian Mr Sydney Hushie has been appointed Chief of the Digital Centre of Excellence at the headquarters of the United Nations Population Fund in New York, one of the organisation's leadership roles in technology and innovation.
The appointment was made by the Executive Director of the Fund and United Nations Under-Secretary-General, Ms Diene Keita.
Mr Hushie will lead the Fund's Digital Centre of Excellence, the unit responsible for how digital innovation, data, emerging technologies and institutional systems are used to advance the organisation's mandate across its country and regional offices as well as improve the lives of women, girls and young people worldwide.
The role places a Ghanaian at the centre of a global shift in how a major United Nations agency delivers its services. The Fund works to end preventable maternal deaths, meet the unmet need for family planning, and end gender-based violence and harmful practices. Digital tools, from data systems that guide decisions to technologies that extend the reach of health services, are increasingly central to that mission.
Mr Hushie takes up the position after six years at the Fund's East and Southern Africa Regional Office, based in Johannesburg, where he led the region's innovation and digital transformation portfolio. During that period, he oversaw, among other large-scale projects, the introduction of medical drones to deliver maternal health commodities to remote communities, the use of virtual reality for training health workers, the deployment of artificial intelligence-powered point-of-care ultrasound devices and the mobilisation of new financing for innovation from governments, development banks and private partners.
"This appointment is a responsibility I take seriously," Mr Hushie said. "Digital transformation succeeds when it improves a real decision, widens access, and reaches a woman or young person who would otherwise be left behind. That is the standard I intend to hold the work to."
Mr Hushie's career spans development finance and innovation. He has previously worked with the African Development Bank and the British Council and has professional experience across more than 20 countries. He holds a Master of Laws from the University of Cumbria in the United Kingdom and a postgraduate certificate in innovative finance from the University of Cape Town in South Africa.
"I remain, at heart, a Ghanaian doing this work for people like the ones I grew up around," he said. "I am grateful to my family, my mentors and colleagues, and to everyone at home who has supported this journey. I hope it encourages young Ghanaians that our talent belongs on any stage in the world."
While in New York, Mr Hushie is expected to continue working closely with the Fund's offices across Africa, where several of the digital initiatives he helped design are being scaled for wider use.
