Caroline KING-OKUMU

Caroline King-Okumu has more than 20 years’ experience of relevant global policy work, building interagency collaborations and knowledge-sharing to enable intergovernmental initiatives. From her early work on the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment to her present involvement with the IPBES Nexus assessment, she has maintained a focus on the challenges facing the regions undergoing serious drought, particularly in Africa. She has led the synthesis team for the previous IWG, co-led its Science-Policy Interface Working Group, contributed to the Knowledge to Action work of the UNFCCs Nairobi Work Programme and served as a Drought Management specialist at FAO. Together with colleagues at FAO, GM and multilateral funds, she has published a working definition of what constitutes effectiveness in transforming drought risks. In addition to thought leadership at the international policy level, Caroline has led practical field investigations with local government, NGO staff and National Agricultural Research and Extension Agency Staff across Africa, West Asia and other dryland parts of the world to assess the impacts and returns on investing in sustainable land and water management. She serves as Deputy-Head of Nature-based Solutions at UNEP-WCMC, maintains a CSO in Kenya, and is a Visiting Fellow at the University of Southampton. She is also a member of WMOs Integrated Drought Management Programme.