Tuokanjo Sem Shikongo

He previously also served as the Head of the International Environmental Conventions Unit, in the same Ministry. As such he coordinated the implementation of Namibia’s obligations to multilateral environmental agreements. Over the years he served in various capacities of leadership internationally and nationally some notable ones are that he served Chairman (2006-2007) of the Intersessional Intergovernmental Working Group under the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) which develop the ten- year strategic plan of the UNCCD. He also served as member of the Southern African Millennium Ecosystem Assessment Group amongst manner other regional and activities. At national level Taukondjo was appointed in 2007 in his own personal capacity for a three-year term as a Commissioner of the National Planning Commission by the Namibian President at that time, His Excellency Dr. Hifikepunye Pohamba. Since 2011, he is a member of the BMW Young Leader’s programme. Formerly, he served as Africa’s Chief Negotiator on the legally binding, international Protocol on Access and Benefit-Sharing, a protocol set by the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity.

Taukondjo lectured full time and part time in Biodiversity Research and Management and Ecology at the University of Namibia (UNAM) and the Namibian University of Science and Technology (NUST). He further served as Senior Adjunct Professor for Environmental Studies and Management at the International University of Management in Namibia (IUM). As a student of psychology, he serves as motivator and draws from indigenous psychology, culture and tradition to address contemporary challenges facing us.