Mr. Mamadou DICKO, the new Representative of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) presented his credentials to the Malagasy government on 13 February 2015, represented by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mrs. Béatrice ATALLAH. 

The new Representative has a long experience in the field of population and development in Africa. He was Regional Advisor for Population Policies at the Institute of the Sahel in Mali. He was also the Director of the Regional Office of the Centre for African Family Studies (CEFA) in Lomé, Togo. He has served as the UNFPA Representative in Benin and Chad for almost a decade. 

Mr. DICKO is a Senegalese national. He holds degrees in Political Science, Geography, General Demography and Planning. UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, is a United Nations agency established in 1969 for development. UNFPA's mandate includes reducing maternal mortality and enabling the most vulnerable populations to improve their living conditions, especially women and young people. 

UNFPA has been present in Madagascar since 1978 and is currently implementing is carrying out its seventh programme of cooperation with the Government of Madagascar, whose main activities are concentrated in the disadvantaged regions of the south of the country.