Mr Rugabira, a national of Rwanda, holds a B.Sc. in Forestry (Hons) from the University of Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania, a post-graduate Diploma in Forest Surveys and an M.Sc. in Forestry Management from the International Institute for Aerospace Surveys and Earth Sciences (ITC), the Netherlands. Mr Rugabira started his career in 1974 as Personnel Officer for a Rwanda Mining Company. In 1980, he became a Forestry Officer for the Afforestation Pilot Project in Kibuye, Rwanda. From 1983 to 1984, he worked as Forestry Officer for the Ministry of Agriculture of Rwanda where, in 1984, he was appointed Division Chief for Planning and Forest Management. In 1989, he joined FAO in Rome working first as Project Operations Officer, Special Service Agreement, and then as Project Operations Officer, Forestry Operations Division. In November 1995, he moved to the Technical Cooperation Department as Project Operations Officer. From January 1998 to June 2001, he served as Country Projects Officer at the Regional Office for Africa, Ghana. In July 2001, he returned to Headquarters as Forestry Officer in the Forestry Department. Since April 2004, Mr Rugabira had been working as Programme Coordinator for the Forestry Department. Mr Rugabira succeeds Mr Camarada as FAO Representative in Kenya.