Economist in Botswana

Meet Taimur Khilji, the economist in the Resident Coordinator’s Office in Botswana, supporting the work of the UN in this Upper Middle Income landlocked country.  

During the height of COVID-19 pandemic, which coincided with Botswana’s presidency of United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), Taimur convened the economists in the UN entities and International Financing Institutions (IFIs) to help Government draw attention to the issues of land-locked development countries (LLDCs) in the ECOSOC discussions, including the role of international trade and investment , equal access to vaccines, and regional connectivity and infrastructure.

Taimur’s coordination role has enabled the Resident Coordinator to establish the UN as a trusted partner on economic policy and planning. He supported the UN’s work with the government in preparing the UN-Government Framework for economic recovery from the COVID pandemic, and coordinated UN-wide support to the Government for Botswana’s 2nd Voluntary National Review (VNR) in 2022, and is supporting the development of the country’s 12th National Development Plan. He is a co-chair of an SDG Task Force (UNDP, UNICEF, UNFPA, FAO and the World Bank) with the Ministry of Finance, and coordinates the multi-agency SDG financing initiative. 

Botswana
Africa

Taimur Khilji

Economist

Nationality: Pakistani and United States of America
Language: English, Urdu