KANDEH YUMKELLA RECOMMENDED FOR UNIDO’S NEXT DIRECTOR-GENERAL

(Reissued as received.)

VIENNA, 21 June (UNIDO) -- The Industrial Development Board (IDB) of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), within its thirtieth session which opened yesterday in Vienna, met this morning to nominate a candidate for the next UNIDO Director-General.

After a secret ballot, the IDB members recommended Kandeh K. Yumkella of Sierra Leone for the post after the first round of voting.  The candidate will be nominated for confirmation by the UNIDO General Conference at its eleventh session scheduled to take place from 28 November to 2 December.  He shall then be appointed for a period of four years.

Kandeh 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.  Afterwards, he 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.

Between 1994 and 1995, he was Minister for Trade, Industry and State Enterprises of Sierra Leone.  During his earlier career, he occupied several academic and research positions in the United States.  Mr. Yumkella has also co-authored numerous articles, books and staff papers on international trade and development issues.  He holds a Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics from the University of Illinois.

The thirtieth session of the IDB will end on 23 June and will also review the implementation of the Cooperation Agreement with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and develop UNIDO’s strategic long-term vision statement.  Furthermore, the Board will consider other issues such as the programme and budgets for the biennium 2006-2007, the activities of the Joint Inspection Unit, personnel matters and the implementation of the medium-term programme framework.

The Industrial Development Board is composed of 53 member States and reviews the implementation of UNIDO’s work programme, the regular and operational budgets and, every four years, recommends a candidate for Director-General to the General Conference for appointment.

The current members of the IDB are:  Algeria, Austria, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, China, Colombia, Côte d'Ivoire, Cuba, Denmark, Ecuador, Egypt, France, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iran, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Lesotho, Luxembourg, Mexico, Morocco, Netherlands, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, Philippines, Poland, Republic of Korea, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Slovakia, South Africa, Spain, Sudan, Switzerland, Syria, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Uruguay, Venezuela and Zimbabwe.

The procedure for the recommendation and appointment of the Director-General is outlined in Rule 61 of the IDB Rules of Procedure and Rules 100, 103 and 104 of the General Conference Rules of Procedure available at:  www.unido.org/idb/rules and www.unido.org/gc/rules.  More information on the candidates is available at http://www.unido.org/file-storage/download/?file_id=37724.

Note for Editors

The UNIDO is a specialized agency of the United Nations that focuses its efforts on relieving poverty by fostering productivity growth.  It helps developing countries and countries with economies in transition in their fight against marginalization in today’s globalized world. The UNIDO has 171 member States.  For more information, please visit www.unido.org.

Contact for further information: J. Orlowski, Chief, Secretariat of Governing Bodies, tel: +43-1-26026-3599, e-mail: J.Orlowski@unido.org.

For more information on UNIDO, please contact:  Cristina Stricker, Information Officer, tel.: +43-1-26026–3034, e-mail: c.stricker@unido.org.

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