Mr Nichola Mandil Ukeil is an award-winning journalist. He has been working in the media for over 22 years since 1997, and has working experience in Sudan, Kenya, South Sudan, and Ethiopia. As a journalist, he has attended a number of academic and professional trainings in Sudan, Kenya, Uganda and the United States of America. He also attended a number of regional and international media conferences. During his work over the past two decades, he had an opportunity to cover the conflicts in Sudan and the current conflict in South Sudan. He spent 20-months in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, reporting extensively on the negotiations between the government and the opposition groups. During the conflict, he also travelled to a number of hotspot areas in South Sudan.  Mr Mandil Mukeil has worked for a number of media houses both locally and internationally including the BBC World Service.  Recently, he has reported and contributed to a number of programmes on the BBC’s Flagship programmes: Focus on Africa and The News Day Breakfast show. During his work as a journalist, he has interacted with and interviewed some high profile personalities and news makers, both at home and abroad. He was the first African journalist on the continent to interview the former U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry during his visit to Kenya to prepare for the historic visit of President Barak Obama.