Ban Ki-moon bids farewell to Yumkella as outgoing SEforALL CEO

New York, 3 August 2015 – U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has hosted a farewell lunch for Kandeh Yumkella, the outgoing Chief Executive Officer of the Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL) initiative, in appreciation of his outstanding services to the United Nations over a 19-year U.N. career in which he helped bring a fresh and vital focus to global energy issues.

The lunch was held in New York on 31 July as Yumkella stepped down as SEforALL’s CEO and the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Sustainable Energy for All, as well as Chairman of UN-Energy, the coordination body of U.N. agencies dealing with energy-related issues. Yumkella previously served two four-year terms as Director-General of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO). From 2008-2010 he was also chair of the Secretary-General’s Advisory Group on Energy and Climate Change (AGECC), playing a leading role in identifying the lack of access to energy as a crucial constraint for development efforts. The AGECC’s report, issued in April 2010, affirmed the need to increase energy access, energy efficiency and renewable energy options in order to address the climate change challenge while also realizing the Millennium Development Goals.

In September 2011, the Secretary-General appointed Yumkella and Chad Holliday, then Chairman of Bank of America, as co-chairs of the High-level Group on Sustainable Energy for All, after the General Assembly decided to designate 2012 as the International Year for Sustainable Energy for All.

Yumkella took up his post as CEO of the SEforALL initiative in July 2013, driving its mission as a catalyst for action on three fronts: universal access to energy, increased energy efficiency and a greater share for renewables in the global energy mix.

Yumkella was also a member of the Rio+20 Principals Group, a group that played a crucial role in the preparations for the 2012 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, and served as an active member of the United Nations Development Group (UNDG), which helps to set and coordinate the global development priorities of the United Nations.

Yumkella is leaving SEforALL to return to his native Sierra Leone. “Our quest for a safe and prosperous Sierra Leone must now be my full-time vocation,” he said in a brief farewell message. “Given our natural resources and our wealth, our people deserve a better future. As tough as it is, I hope to listen to our people’s concerns and help build a progressive coalition of Sierra Leoneans who believe that regardless of our tribes and regions, Sierra Leone must always come first.”

Yumkella said the U.N. system had taught him many things, including institution building, respect for human rights and the rule of law, and the critical importance of public-private partnerships for the transition to a low carbon and inclusive global community. Yumkella’s successor to head SEforALL is expected to be named in the near future. The selection process is being led by UN Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson and the SEforALL Executive Committee.

Announcing Yumkella’s departure on 12 March 2015, the Secretary-General expressed “deep gratitude for his outstanding service”. “Mr. Yumkella has been a visionary and dynamic leader of the Sustainable Energy for All initiative. Through his passionate advocacy, he has been at the forefront of a new global narrative on energy as a centerpiece for sustainable development and climate change, helping shape the proposed Sustainable Development Goal on energy,” Ban said in a statement.