Tewodros Melesse took up the post of IPPF Director-General in September 2011. An economist who studied at the Catholic University in Louvain, Belgium, he has over 25 years’ experience in family planning and reproductive health, starting in 1984 as a programme officer with FPIA.

He subsequently joined IPPF Africa Region and gained extensive experience planning, developing, monitoring, and managing large-scale development and reproductive health programmes in Africa. He assumed the directorship of the Africa Regional Office in 2002, and vigorously refocused and restructured the operation. Tewodros brings to the role a profound belief in leadership founded on transparency and vision.