Andres Ilves

Andres Ilves is a journalist and writer, currently Director, Near East and Eastern Europe at Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Previously he worked for over a decade at the BBC, where he headed the Somali Service at BBC Africa, and prior to that as head of the Persian and Pashto Service of the BBC World Service, where he was responsible for BBC radio and online output in the languages of Afghanistan, Iran, Tajikistan, and the border areas of Pakistan. At the BBC he also served as Head of Development, Global News Marketing Communications & Audiences. He was also based in Nairobi, Kenya as the country director for Kenya and Somalia for BBC Media Action, where he oversaw a weekly Swahili-language Question Time-style television program and launched a ground-breaking radio drama for Somali youth.