New Director-General chosen for UN’s industrial development organization
A former trade minister of Sierra Leone, Kandeh K. Yumkella, has been tapped to head the United Nations body that aims to reduce poverty by raising productivity in developing countries and countries with economies in transition.
A former trade minister of Sierra Leone, Kandeh K. Yumkella, has been tapped to head the United Nations body that aims to reduce poverty by raising productivity in developing countries and countries with economies in transition.
Mr. Yumkella was nominated yesterday by the Industrial Development Board (IDB), which oversees the work of the 171-state UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), to be the next UNIDO Director-General.
He is expected to be confirmed by the UNIDO General Conference at its next session, scheduled to take place from 28 November to 2 December. He will then be appointed for a period of four years.
Mr. Yumkella has been a Senior Adviser to the current Director-General, Carlos Magariños, since 2003. He joined UNIDO in 1996 as Special Adviser to the previous Director-General, Mauricio de Maria y Campos.
He subsequently became Director of the Africa and Least Developed Countries Regional Bureau until 2000 when he was appointed UNIDO Representative and Director of the Regional Industrial Development Centre in Nigeria, a position he held until 2003.