Hon Fatou Kineh is a Gender Specialist with over 29 years of experience in women, gender and development, programme/project management, strategic planning and results based management. Prior to her appointment as Minister of Women, Children and Social Welfare, she was the technical lead on gender programming and support at the UNFPA Gambia Country Office. Chief among her responsibilities was ensuring that programmes and policies address gender (i.e. GBV, early marriage) and FGM related issues and the empowerment of women. She successfully coordinated the joint UNFPA / UNICEF Programme on FGM from 2010 to February 2019. She also led the development of the joint UN Programme on women’s empowerment.   Honorable Kinteh served as the chairperson of the UN Gender Theme Group in The Gambia, which aims to empower women. She was also the focal person for Humanitarian Response from 2012-16, training partners on gender-based violence during disasters.