Dr. Marit Yayehyirad Kitaw (Economic Affairs Officer, Natural Resources Management section, UNECA, Addis-Ababa, Ethiopia) has rich experience in economic research, advisory service and leadership role. She received her PhD in Economics from the University Nice Sophia Antipolis, France. As Program Director of a consultancy firm in Ethiopia, she directed comprehensive analyses of African post-conflict countries for UNHCR, including assessments on political and economic governance. She has extensive experience in governance of mineral resources for sustainable development having worked in COMESA; UNECA Eastern Africa (Rwanda); and UNECA African Minerals Development Center (AMDC) in Ethiopia. As a Technical Advisor/ Program Manager for Extractive Industries in UNDP Mozambique, she oversaw the elaboration of the Country Mining Vision for Mozambique and the formulation of a local content policy. She was Program Manager at the Institute of World Affairs (IWA), Washington DC, USA; Governance and Public Administration Officer at UNECA SRO-EA in Kigali, Rwanda; Post-Conflict Reconstruction and Development Expert at COMESA in Lusaka, Zambia; Consultant for the African Development Bank (ADB) in Tunis, Tunisia. She has written a number of papers and articles pertaining to the Extractive Industries and sustainable development; as well as, on poverty; on economic governance; on conflict prevention, among others. Dr. Marit is currently the Board Member of InterAfrica Group-Ethiopia.