1. Alhaji Dr Kandeh Kolleh Yumkella was born on July 5,1959 and is a Sierra Leonean agricultural economist, politician who served as a member of parliament and Chair of the Presidential Initiative on Climate Change, Renewable Energy and Food Security under President Julius Maada Bio's government.
Kandeh Yumkella is a public speaker, who addresses global issues, including poverty reduction, climate change, the Millennium Development Goals, and green industry and renewable energy.
Kandeh Yumkella has appeared on several international broadcast networks, including CNN's Amanpour programme, BBC, Sky News, Aljazeera and CNBC.
Kandeh Yumkella is the former United Nations Under-Secretary-General and the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Sustainable Energy for All.
Kandeh Yumkella was the chief executive officer of the Sustainable Energy for All Initiative.
Kandeh Yumkella is a former chairman of UN-Energy and a two-term former Director-General of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization.
Kandeh Yumkella is a devout Muslim and a member of the Susu ethnic group.
Kandeh Yumkella was married to Philomena Yumkella who died on 26 June 2022.
Kandeh Kolleh Yumkella was born on July 5,1959, in the rural village of Kychom, Samu Chiefdom, Kambia District in the Northern Province of Sierra Leone.
Kandeh Yumkella's father, the late paramount chief Alhaji Bai Shebora Yumkella II, was an ethnic Susu and a founding member of the Sierra Leone People's Party.
Kandeh Yumkella's mother Haja Binta Yumkella is an ethnic Fula from Tambakha Chiefdom, Bombali District in Northern Province, Sierra Leone.
Kandeh Yumkella Yumkela was born to very religious Muslim parents in Kambia District, and a devout Muslim himself.
Kandeh Yumkella attended the Christ The King College secondary school in Bo.
In recognition of his leadership and his passion for energy and environment-related causes, Kandeh Yumkella was appointed as Chair of UN-Energy in 2008 by the UN Secretary-General.
Kandeh Yumkella was re-appointed for a second four-year term in office in December 2009.
In recognition of his leadership and his passion for energy and environment-related causes, Kandeh Yumkella was appointed as Chair of UN-Energy in 2008 by the UN Secretary-General.
In September 2011, Kandeh Yumkella was appointed by the UN Secretary-General as co-chair of the High-level Group on Sustainable Energy for All.
Kandeh Yumkella was a Member of the Rio+20 Principals Group, which played a crucial role in the preparations for the 2012 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development.
Kandeh Yumkella was re-appointed for a second four-year term in office in December 2009.
Kandeh Yumkella organized consultative processes between the government and the private sector for discussing constraints and obstacles to private sector growth with support from UNIDO, International Trade Center, African Project Development Facility and UNDP Regional Bureau For Africa.
Kandeh Yumkella served as a member of the ministerial-level structural adjustment monitoring committee which provided oversight on policy reforms dealing with rationalization of the civil service workforce, judicial reform, petroleum product pricing and monetization of the rice subsidy.
Kandeh Yumkella has worked in different high-level policy positions in UNIDO, including as Special Adviser to two previous Directors-General and as Representative and Director of the first UNIDO Regional Office in Nigeria.
Kandeh Yumkella is the first from Sub-Saharan Africa to have been appointed to the position.
In December 2005, Kandeh Yumkella was appointed as Director-General of UNIDO, and in December 2009 he was reconfirmed for a second term in office.
In June 2009, Kandeh Yumkella was appointed by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to chair a new Advisory Group on Energy and Climate Change.
Kandeh Yumkella is the chairman of UN-Energy, a United Nations system coordination body dealing with energy-related issues.
Kandeh Yumkella is a member of the China Council of International Cooperation on Environment and Development which Kandeh Yumkella is a prominent public speaker, who addresses global issues, including poverty reduction, climate change, the Millennium Development Goals, as well those related to Africa and the developing world in general, green industry and renewable energy.
Kandeh Yumkella has appeared on several international broadcast networks, including CNN's Amanpour programme, BBC, Sky News, Aljazeera and CNBC.