Kevin Kelly
Current member of the board
Ireland, representing Western European and Other States
2015 - current

Before being appointed to his current role, Kevin served as Ambassador of Ireland to the Netherlands and Special Envoy of the Government of Ireland to Africa for Ireland’s campaign for election to the UN Security Council. (2016 – 2021)

Immediately before that ambassadorial appointment, Kevin served as Director for OSCE, Council of Europe, UN Coordination and Conflict Resolution in the Political Division of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in Dublin.

Prior to that, Kevin was Director for Humanitarian Affairs in the Development Cooperation Division of the Department (2011-2014).

Between 2007 and 2011, Kevin served as Ambassador to Uganda and Rwanda based in Kampala. Before that he worked as Director for Africa in Political Division of the Department of Foreign Affairs, as Head of Development in the Embassy of Ireland in Ethiopia and as Senior Governance Adviser for the World Bank in Addis Ababa.

In 2019 Kevin was appointed Special Envoy of the Government of Ireland to Africa for Ireland’s Campaign for election to the UN Security Council 2020.

Kevin holds two Masters Degrees, from the Queens University Belfast and University College Dublin and has experience of working with civil society organisations in Ireland, UK and Botswana. He has also been responsible for the planning and implementation of non-formal human rights and global education programmes with the National Youth Council of Ireland.

Kevin is married to Pamela Uwakwe and has two children, Maya aged 27 and Noah aged 17.