Ghanaian Sydney Hushie has been appointed Chief of the Digital Centre of Excellence at the headquarters of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in New York, one of the organisation’s senior global leadership roles in technology and innovation.

The appointment was made by the Executive Director of UNFPA and United Nations Under-Secretary-General, Diene Keita.

Hushie will lead the Fund’s Digital Centre of Excellence, the unit responsible for how digital innovation, data, emerging technologies and institutional systems are used to advance UNFPA’s mandate across its country and regional offices and improve the lives of women, girls and young people worldwide.

The role places a Ghanaian at the centre of a global shift in how a major United Nations agency delivers its services.

UNFPA works to end preventable maternal deaths, meet the unmet need for family planning, and end gender-based violence and harmful practices. Digital tools, from data systems that guide decisions to technologies that extend the reach of health services, are increasingly central to that mission.

Hushie takes up the position after six years at UNFPA’s East and Southern Africa Regional Office in Johannesburg, where he led the region’s innovation and digital transformation portfolio.

During that period, he oversaw several large-scale projects, including the introduction of medical drones to deliver maternal health commodities to remote communities, the use of virtual reality to train health workers, the deployment of AI-powered point-of-care ultrasound devices and the mobilisation of new financing for innovation from governments, development banks and private-sector partners.

“This appointment is a responsibility I take seriously,” Hushie said. “Digital transformation succeeds when it improves a real decision, widens access, and reaches a woman or young person who would otherwise be left behind. That is the standard I intend to hold the work to.”

Hushie’s career spans development finance and innovation. He has previously worked with the African Development Bank and the British Council and has professional experience across more than 20 countries.

He holds a Master of Laws from the University of Cumbria in the United Kingdom and a postgraduate certificate in innovative finance from the University of Cape Town in South Africa.

“I remain, at heart, a Ghanaian doing this work for people like the ones I grew up around,” he said. “I am grateful to my family, my mentors and colleagues, and to everyone at home who has supported this journey. I hope it encourages young Ghanaians that our talent belongs on any stage in the world.”

Based in New York, Hushie is expected to continue working closely with UNFPA offices across Africa, where several of the digital initiatives he helped design are being scaled for wider use.