Prior to being the Executive Secretary of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), Dr. Workneh Gebeyehu, was Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia between 2016 and 2019. He was Minister of Transport between 2012 and 2016. Dr Workneh has had a long career in the Civil Service in the Oromia Region of Ethiopia where he served in the Administration and the Security.

He was born in 1970 in the town of Shashamane in the Oromia region of Ethiopia. Dr. Workneh studied at Addis Ababa University where he obtained a Bachelor and Masters degree in International Relations. He holds a PhD in Criminology from the University of South Africa (Unisa) in Pretoria. Dr Workneh is married and a father of three.