Habib Abdel Aziz Sow joined the Global Initiative in June 2025 as Programme Manager for the West Africa Observatory.

He has a strong background in international development, with a focus on criminal justice and human rights—particularly in relation to human trafficking and migrant smuggling. Habib began his career in Senegal, working with the Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie (AUF) West Africa Regional Office, EMN, and later with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), first at its Regional Office for West and Central Africa, and subsequently at the Programme Office in Gabon.

At UNODC, he served as a Programme and Monitoring & Evaluation Specialist, overseeing a portfolio of projects on trafficking in persons and smuggling of migrants across 13 countries in West and Central Africa. His responsibilities included project implementation and monitoring, budget planning and oversight, project proposals development, and support for the delivery of technical assistance to criminal justice practitioners and civil society organizations,etc.

Habib holds a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science and International Relations from the Madiba Leadership Institute, and is currently finishing a Master’s degree in Financial Engineering from ISM-Dakar.

A native of Senegal, he is fluent in both French and English