Patron of the Visiola Foundation
Abdoulie Janneh is the Executive Director and Liaison with Governments at the Mo Ibrahim Foundation. He is the former Under Secretary General and Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa.
Abdoulie Janneh previously served as Assistant Secretary-General and UNDP Regional Director for Africa from June 2000 to October 2005. In that capacity, he managed UNDP’s largest Regional Bureau, covering 45 countries in sub-Saharan Africa with over 1,500 staff. Prior to that, he held a number of senior positions in UNDP and its affiliated funds, including Resident Coordinator and Resident Representative in Ghana (1996-1999) and Niger (1993-1996), as well as Deputy Executive Secretary of the United Nations Capital Development Fund (1990-1993). As a senior UN manager, Abdoulie Janneh was a strong advocate for development efforts that responded effectively to Africa’s national and regional priorities. Under his leadership, UNECA took significant steps to support African countries in the areas of regional integration, poverty eradication, trade, financing for development, ICTs, governance, statistics, climate change, the fight against HIV/AIDS, and natural resources management.
Mr. Janneh remains particularly interested in the institutional transformation of the African Union and in the successful implementation of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), including the Africa Peer Review Mechanism (APRM), as critical initiatives for achieving the Millennium Development Goals.
Abdoulie Janneh has been striving to enhance partnership-building for Africa, as a necessary vehicle to mobilize support and build inclusiveness for shared development objectives. In this regard, he cultivated strong partnerships at the highest levels between UNECA, governments, the private sector, civil society, as well as national, regional and international organizations. Abdoulie Janneh serves on the advisory panels of a number of organizations involved in Africa’s development and has delivered a number of keynote addresses, policy statements, as well as articles on issues that are germane to Africa’s development.