Betty Bigombe

Until recently Betty Bigombe was Senior Director, Fragility, Conflict and Violence at the World Bank. Bigombe has played a key role in conflict resolution in Africa. She led the peace and humanitarian efforts in northern Uganda, first in the 1990s as Minister of State for Northern Uganda and again as chief mediator to the conflict in the mid-2000s. She is a recipient of many international awards including the Ordre National de la Legion d’honneur, in 2016, being one of a number of awards honoring her long-standing commitment to peace and humanitarian affairs throughout her career. Prior to her appointment to the World Bank Group, Bigombe served as State Minister for Water Resources in the Ugandan Cabinet and Member of Parliament.  She is currently the Uganda Special Envoy to the peace process in South Sudan.

She has been a visiting scholar at John Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies, the Woodrow Wilson Center, and a Fellow at the United States Institute of Peace, consulting on the impact of war and violence. She has served as a Commissioner for the Women’s Refugee Commission and led election observer missions in Zimbabwe and Rwanda.

Her career has included a development focus in previous positions at the African Development Bank and at the World Bank where she was a Senior Social Scientist focusing on gender and conflict, disarmament, and child soldiers. Bigombe holds a Master’s in Public Administration from Harvard University and a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and Rural Economy from Makerere University in Uganda.

Source: World Bank