| Biography
K.Y.
Amoako is the sixth Executive Secretary of the United
Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA). He has
led the organisation, the regional arm of the United
Nations in Africa, at the rank of Under-Secretary-General
of the United Nations since 1995.
Mr.
Amoako's priorities as Executive Secretary have been to
initiate and manage a process of wide-ranging reforms
aimed at making the Commission a more rigorous centre
of excellence that is better equipped to deliver high-quality
services and products to meet the complex needs of Africa's
governments and people. Under his leadership, the organization
has revamped its research and advocacy work to ensure
it is policy relevant and at the cutting edge of Africa's
development agenda. Its activities are now focused on
the following priorities:
- Tracking
performance, identifying best practices, and facilitating
peer learning among African countries in key areas
including, macroeconomic and growth policies, poverty
reduction, gender policies and governance;
- Enhancing
African regional economic integration and increasing
the continent's participation in, and benefits from,
global trade;
- Supporting
the growth of an information society on the continent
through the harnessing of information and communication
technologies (ICTs);
- Promoting
the application of scientific and technological innovation
to food security and sustainable development;
- Assessing
the impact of HIV/AIDS on key areas of governance
and economic development and assisting African policy
makers to devise effective policies to deal with the
pandemic; and
- Promoting
a transformed partnership between Africa and its international
development partners that is based on African ownership
and responsibilities, as well as donor aid effectiveness
and policy coherence.
Prior
to ECA, Mr. Amoako worked in the World Bank for two
decades, latterly in senior positions including: Director
of the Education and Social Policy Department with responsibility
for providing strategic leadership for the Bank's programmes
on poverty reduction, education, gender, labour markets
and social protection (1993-1995).
Mr.
Amoako is Chair of the Commission for HIV/AIDS and Governance
in Africa (CHGA), convened by UN Secretary-General,
Kofi Annan and a member of the Commission for Africa
established by Prime Minister Tony Blair. He is also
a member of the Taskforce on Global Public Goods. Mr.
Amoako is a board member of the Development Gateway
Foundation and Chair of its Editorial Committee. He
is also a member of the Global Information and Infrastructure
Commission (GIIC) and serves on the World Bank Institute's
(WBI) Advisory Council. He recently served as a member
of the Commission on Capital Flows to Africa and on
the World Health Organization's high-level Commission
on Macroeconomics and Health (CMH).
K.Y.
Amoako received his B.A. (Hons) with a concentration
in Economics from the University of Ghana in Legon and
his M.A. and Ph.D. in Economics from the University
of California at Berkeley. In 2003, the Addis Ababa
University at an event organized to commemorate the
40th anniversary of the Organization of African Unity
(OAU) awarded him a Doctor of Laws degree, honoris causa.
Among
Mr. Amoako's principal publications is 'Balance of Payments
Problems and Exchange Rate Policy: The Ghanaian Experience'
(1974). 'Perspectives on Africa's Development' (2000) contains
the texts of 40 major speeches he has delivered on the
region's challenges since 1996. In addition, he supervised
the preparation of major World Bank reports and policy
papers including: 'Higher Education: The Lessons of
Experience' (1993); 'Enhancing Women's Participation
in Economic Development' (1994); and 'Advancing Social
Development: A Contribution to the Social Summit' (1995). |
