Alanna Armitage

Alanna Armitage, Director of UNFPA’s Regional Office for Eastern Europe and Central Asia has worked to promote women’s health, development and human rights for the past 25 years. Alanna joined UNFPA in 1992, and has served in Africa, the Middle East, Eastern Europe, and Latin America where she was UNFPA Representative in Brazil, and Country Director for Argentina and Paraguay. Before her current assignment, she was Director of UNFPA’s Geneva office for seven years.

Alanna has worked closely with Government policy makers, parliamentarians, non-governmental organizations and leaders from all sectors to champion the health of women and girls, including in humanitarian and emergency settings.

Prior to joining UNFPA, Alanna worked for the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and the United Nations Development Programme. She started her career in the NGO world with community-based organizations promoting women’s health and rights.

Alanna is Canadian and holds a BA in Cultural Anthropology from the University of Western Ontario, Post Graduate degrees in International Development and Cooperation from the University of Ottawa and Health Systems Management from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. She’s completing a PhD in Anthropology and Sociology of Development at the Geneva Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies