Director of Programmes and Advocacy 

Paul Watson joined Lepra at the start of December 2014 as Head of Programmes and Advocacy. 

In a career spanning more than 25 years Paul has managed development and emergency programmes for UNAIS, Oxfam GB, UNICEF, Christian Aid and Trócaire in a number of different countries, mostly in Africa - notably Tanzania, Burkina Faso, Somalia, Burundi, South Sudan, DRC, Kenya and Rwanda, but also including Sri Lanka and the Lebanon.

Paul holds a Master of Science Degree in Land and Water Management from Silsoe College, Cranfield Institute of Technology and a Bachelor of Science Degree in Geography, from the University of Huddersfield. Alongside his studies, Paul was a founding member of Third World First at Huddersfield and General Secretary of Student Aid for Agricultural Development (SAFAD) at Silsoe College.

While working for Christian Aid, from 2003-07, Paul was an active Executive Member of the All Party Parliamentary Group on the Great Lakes and Genocide Prevention, a role that brought him into regular contact with UK government ministers and members of parliament. Over the same period Paul served as a Board Member of EurAC, a European network of INGO’s working in Central Africa, operating out of a Secretariat in Brussels.