Leaders’ Round Table
15 December 2009, 11:00 – 1:00 PM
Preston Auditorium, World Bank Main Complex
Washington DC, USA
Ms. Gudrun Kochendörfer-Lucius Director of Capacity Development and Partnerships | BRIEF BIOGRAPHY Ms. Gudrun Kochendörfer-Lucius is Director of Capacity Development and Partnerships at WBI. Gudrun, a German national, has been the Managing Director and CEO of InWEnt, the German government organization for international capacity building and training since 2002. She has over 20 years of experience in international development and technical and economic cooperation. She brings a unique depth of experience in capacity building and development policy implications, as well as an extraordinary track record in building partnerships and relationships globally. Prior to her role at InWEnt, Gudrun was a Visiting Research Fellow for one year at the Development Economics Vice-Presidency (DEC) of the World Bank. She has held several senior positions at the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), was Chairperson of the (high-level) Development Policy Forum of the German Development Minister, held positions in the German Agency for Technical Cooperation (GTZ), and the German Foundation for International Development (DSE, now InWEnt). She has also served as a senior advisor to major German development institutions and European bilateral donors on micro finance and enterprise development in Africa and Asia. Gudrun holds a PhD in Economics, a M.A. in Regional Economics, and a B.A. in French Literature from the University of Heidelberg. She has done post-graduate studies in Agricultural Economics from the University of Hohenheim and was a Post Doctorate Research Fellow in Development Economics at the KSG, Harvard University. In her position at WBI, Gudrun’s top three priorities are: (i) develop and manage partnerships with global, regional and country institutions for formulation, customization and delivery of structured learning programs and knowledge exchange among practitioners; (ii) manage relations with donor partners to support programs of strategic priority; and (iii) oversee and support WBI’s emerging role as an anchor for capacity development. |
H.E. Mr. Joseph Babalola Olabiyi YAI Permanent Delegate of BeninUNESCO | BRIEF BIOGRAPHY Prior to his nomination as Ambassador, Mr. Joseph Babalola Olabiyi YAI worked as a UNESCO consultant for culture and language policy in Benin, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Togo and Mozambique in the 1970s and 1980s. He assumed the post of Director of the Institute of Cultural Studies at the University of Ife in Nigeria, and has been President of Africa/Asia Department of Language and Literature at the University of Florida (USA). During his tenure as ambassador, Mr. Yai has been a member of the World Heritage Committee, the Committee of International Funds for the Promotion of Culture (FIPC), the Committee of international experts for the project “the slave route”, a juror for the designation of masterpieces of oral and immaterial heritage, as well as for the Melina Mercouri and the Simon Bolivar Price, a member of the board of directors of the African World Heritage Fund (AWHF), President of the UNESCO Culture Commission, the Group of 77 and the Fourth Commission (Culture) of the 32nd session of the General Assembly (2003) and vice-president of the Executive Council (2001-2003). Mr. Olabiyi Yai has been President of UNESCO Executive Council from 5 November 2007 to 23 November 2009. |
Mr. Pedro Medrano Rojas Regional Director of the World Food Programme for Latin America and the CaribbeanEmail: pedro.medrano@wfp.org | BRIEF BIOGRAPHY MR. PEDRO MEDRANO ROJAS was appointed as Director of the World Food Programme’s New York Liaison Office on 1 July 2009. Mr. Medrano is also the WFP Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean, a post he has been serving since December 2004. Prior to this latter appointment, he served as the WFP Representative to India. WFP is the UN’s food assistance agency and the largest humanitarian organization in the world. In 2009, WFP plans to assist 108 million people in 74 countries. Between 1995 and 1997, Mr. Medrano was President of the World Committee on Food Safety, where he presided over the preparations for the World Food Summit held in November 1996 in Rome, Italy. He had previously served as Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Chile to the FAO, the FIDA and the WFP in Rome, beginning in 1993. Between 1990 and 1992, Mr. Medrano was Chilean Ambassador to El Salvador and Belize. Prior to his appointment in the Chilean Foreign Service, he worked for the WFP in El Salvador in the period 1988-1990 and at the FAO in 1984-1990. Earlier, Mr. Medrano occupied several other posts, including Chief of Staff at the Chilean Ministry of Agriculture; Professor of Economic Policy at the School for Juridical and Social Sciences at the University of Chile; and Assistant Executive Secretary at the Jacques Maritain International Institute, in Rome. |
Mr. Jean Ricot Dorméus Advisor to the Assistant Secretary General Organization of American States | BRIEF BIOGRAPHY JEAN RICOT DORMEUS has been an Advisor to the Assistant Secretary General of the Organization of American States in the areas of youth, natural disaster reduction and cooperation with Haiti since 2006. Mr. Dormeus assists the Assistant Secretary General in managing the Inter-American Emergency Aid Fund (FONDEM). Before working for the OAS, Mr. Dormeus had worked for the Haitian diplomacy for more than 20 years, as Head of Mission and Minister Counselor at the Permanent Mission of Haiti to the Organization of American States from 2000 to 2006, as well as Director of Political Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 1996 to 2000, among other positions. At the Ministry of Foreign Affairs he was in charge of the Technical Secretariat of the Haiti – Dominican Republic Joint Commission. He was also Chief Negotiator for Haiti at the Sub-Commission for Migration and Border issues. Further, he was National Coordinator for the Summit of the Americas and assisted in the establishment of Diplomatic Relations between Haiti and several other countries, such as Russia, Cuba, Finland, Turkmenistan and Slovakia. He led a Mission to the People Republic of China to establish the Haiti Trade Representation Bureau in Beijing. Finally, he coordinated the international assistance to Haiti in the wake of the disaster caused by Hurricane George in 1998. While in the Permanent Mission, he represented Haiti in the negotiations for the strengthening of Democracy in Haiti and the drafting as well as the negotiation of more than ten OAS Permanent Council and General Assembly Resolutions on Haiti. He collaborated in the drafting and adoption of several development projects with Haiti, including in the areas of education and culture. Also he participated actively in the negotiations for the adoption of several inter-American Conventions and other instruments, including the Inter-American Democratic Charter. Mr. Dormeus received his education in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, at the Institut National d’Administration, de Gestion, et des Hautes Etudes Internationales of the State University of Haiti with a specialization in International Relations. He pursued graduate studies at the Escuela Diplómatica de España in International Affairs. |
| BRIEF BIOGRAPHY La Embajadora María Cristina Lazo Vergara, es economista de la Sorbonne, Magister con especialidad en Economía Europea, Desarrollo y Relaciones Internacionales, y Doctora en Ciencias Económicas de la Universidad de París X, Nanterre. En marzo de 2008 asume la Dirección Ejecutiva de la Agencia de Cooperación Internacional de Chile (AGCI), cargo en el que fue nombrada por la Presidenta de la República, Michelle Bachelet, a través del Sistema de Alta Dirección Pública. Durante su gestión ha puesto especial énfasis en rearticular el Sistema Nacional de Cooperación Internacional, así como en revitalizar la cooperación en su dos dimensiones: como componente esencial de la política de relaciones exteriores y como apoyo a la política de desarrollo nacional. Ha dado un fuerte impulso a la cooperación Sur – Sur con iniciativas que han reforzado la relación de Chile con la región de Latinoamérica y el Caribe. Asimismo, se ha fortalecido el trabajo con países y organismos que ofrecen programas y proyectos de cooperación en una relación de socios con Chile. Uno de sus principales desafíos ha sido vincular los proyectos de cooperación con la política pública nacional, de manera que los impactos positivos de la cooperación beneficien directamente a todos los ciudadanos y ciudadanas.- |
H.E. Mr. Shigeki Sumi Ambassador | BRIEF BIOGRAPHY H.E. MR. SHIGEKI SUMI is currently an Ambassador at the Permanent Mission of Japan to the United Nations in New York. He assumed this position in September 2008. Prior to that, Ambassador Sumi was the Deputy Permanent Representative of Japan to the International Organizations in Vienna and served as a Chairman of the Central Dublin Group for drug assistance coordination for 2 years from 2006. Ambassador Sumi graduated from Hitotsubashi University and entered the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan in 1977 and graduated from Oxford University (St. Catherine’s College) in 1980. |
Professor Pamela Falk UN Resident Correspondent at CBS NEWS | MODERATOR PROFESSOR PAMELA FALK is the UN RESIDENT CORRESPONDENT at CBS NEWS. Dr. Falk is a professor of international and U.S. law at the City University of New York. She received her J.D. from Columbia University School of Law and her Ph.D. from New York University. She has written and edited several books on international relations and political economy and is an expert on Caribbean nations. |
