Sanda Ojiambo is a Kenyan administrator who serves as the as assistant secretary-general of the

United Nations Global Compact The United Nations Global Compact is a non-binding United Nations pact to get businesses and firms worldwide to adopt sustainable and socially responsible policies, and to report on their implementation. The UN Global Compact is the world's ...

, effective April 2022. Before that, from 17 June 2020 until 22 April 2022, she served as executive director of the United Nations Global Compact, succeeding

Lise Kingo Lise Kingo (born 3 August 1961) is a Danish businesswoman who currently serves as Independent Board Director at Danone, Sanofi and Covestro. Kingo is also a member of the Advisory Board for Humanitarian and Development Aid at the Novo Nordisk ...

of Denmark.

Background and education

Ojiambo was born in Kenya and she attended local schools for her primary and secondary education. She holds a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree in Economics and International Development obtained from

McGill University McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...

, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Her degree of

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

Public Policy Public policy is an institutionalized proposal or a Group decision-making, decided set of elements like laws, regulations, guidelines, and actions to Problem solving, solve or address relevant and problematic social issues, guided by a conceptio ...

, was obtained from the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

, in

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

Career

In 1997, Ojiambo started working for

CARE International CARE (Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere, formerly Cooperative for American Remittances to Europe) is a major international humanitarian agency delivering emergency relief and long-term international development projects. Founded i ...

Somalia Somalia, officially the Federal Republic of Somalia, is the easternmost country in continental Africa. The country is located in the Horn of Africa and is bordered by Ethiopia to the west, Djibouti to the northwest, Kenya to the southwest, th ...

. From there she joined the

United Nations Development Programme The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is a United Nations agency tasked with helping countries eliminate poverty and achieve sustainable economic growth and human development. The UNDP emphasizes on developing local capacity towar ...

, also in Somalia. She spent a total of five years in Somalia, leading programmes in areas including education, safe motherhood, environmental conservation, governance and Landmines demining. She then relocated to the Africa Regional Office of

International Planned Parenthood Federation The International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) is a global non-governmental organisation with the broad aims of promoting sexual and reproductive health, and advocating the right of individuals to make their own choices in family planni ...

(IPPF), located in

Nairobi Nairobi is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Kenya. The city lies in the south-central part of Kenya, at an elevation of . The name is derived from the Maasai language, Maasai phrase , which translates to 'place of cool waters', a ...

, Kenya. There, she provided technical advice for "service delivery, accreditation standards, financial management, governance and advocacy". Her service area covered 40 countries. She worked in that capacity for another five years. In 2008, Ojiambo joined Safaricom Plc, the largest telecommunications company in Kenya. She started out as the senior manager of Safaricom and MPESA Foundations. She led the implementation of several public-private partnership initiatives between Safaricom and the United Nations organizations. In 2010, she was appointed head of Sustainable Business and Social Impact at Safaricom. Ojiambo leads the Corporate Responsibility Department, which coordinates the integration of the

Sustainable Development Goals The ''2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development'', adopted by all United Nations (UN) members in 2015, created 17 world Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The aim of these global goals is "peace and prosperity for people and the planet" – wh ...

(SDGs), sustainability reporting, technology for development products and the Safaricom and MPESA Foundations. Her team delivered regular reports of their work. This raised a great amount of interest among stakeholders.

Other considerations

Before her appointment to head the UN Global Compact, Ojiambo sat on the board of directors for these companies: * Kenya Investment Authority, a

parastatal A state-owned enterprise (SOE) is a business entity created or owned by a national or local government, either through an executive order or legislation. SOEs aim to generate profit for the government, prevent private sector monopolies, provide goo ...

* Gender Violence Recovery Centre, an

NGO A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...

that provides services to survivors of gender violence * Global Development Incubator, an international social enterprise aiming to drive the adoption of technology for development * Care Pay Limited, a health payments company She also serves on the board of governors at Mpesa Foundation Academy.

References

External links

Secretary-General Appoints Sanda Ojiambo of Kenya Executive Director, United Nations Global Compact
As at 22 May 2020. {{DEFAULTSORT:Ojiambo, Sanda Living people Year of birth missing (living people) McGill University alumni Humphrey School of Public Affairs alumni Kenyan women Safaricom people