ICSD 2014

Featured Speakers

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  Bineta Diop Founder & President of Femmes Africa Solidarité (FAS) and the Special Envoy of the Chairperson of the AU Commission on Women Peace and Security

  

  Ms. Bineta Diop of Senegal is the Founder & President of Femmes Africa Solidarité (FAS) and the Special Envoy of the Chairperson of the AU Commission on Women Peace and Security. She has led numerous peacebuilding programmes, including a women, peace and security initiative that resulted in the creation of a strong West African women’s movement, the Mano River Women’s Peace Network, which was awarded the United Nations General Assembly Prize in Human Rights in 2003.

  Ms. Diop has led teams to observe elections in post-conflict countries such as Liberia and solidarity missions to women in crisis situations, as in the case of Guinea. She has been elected President of the African Union ECOSOCC Gender Cluster. She is involved in various NGO Working Groups that monitor United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 on women, peace and security. Ms. Diop is a member of the Global Agenda Council on Conflict Prevention of the World Economic Forum, and previously served in the 6th Advisory Group of the International Committee of the Red Cross, and as a member of the Board of Directors of the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue. In March 2010, she co-chaired the high-level Civil Society Advisory Group on Resolution 1325 with H.E. Mary Robinson.

  Ms. Diop has received numerous honours and awards and in 2011 was named by TIME magazine as one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World.

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  Frannie Leautier Partner and CEO of Mkoba Private Equity

  

  Dr. Frannie Léautier is partner and CEO of Mkoba Private Equity. Dr. Léautier previously served as Executive Secretary of the African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF). A Tanzanian national, she served as Vice President of the World Bank and Head of the World Bank Institute from December 2001 to March 2007. She also served as Chief of Staff to the former President of the World Bank from 2000 to 2001. Cumulatively, Dr. Léautier served in various capacities at the World Bank from 1992 to 2007. From 2007 to 2009, she was a Managing Partner at The Fezembat Group, a company focused on risk management and leadership development.

  Dr. Léautier holds a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from the University of Dar es Salaam (1984); a Master of Science in Transportation from MIT (1986); and a Ph.D. in Infrastructure Systems from MIT (1990). She is also a graduate of the Harvard University Executive Development Program. Dr. Léautier has published a number of articles in top-tier economic journals and magazines; she has also edited three books, including a recent one on Cities in a Globalizing World. She is currently Founding Editor for the Journal of Infrastructure Systems, Advisory Board Member for the MIT OpenCourseWare, and Secretary of the Board for the Nelson Mandela Institute for Science and Technology in Africa. Dr. Léautier is a charter member of the Advisory Board for EuropEFE and a founding Board member for the Africa Institute for Governing with Integrity.

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  Jeffrey D. Sachs Director of The Earth Institute, Quetelet Professor of Sustainable Development, and Professor of Health Policy and Management at Columbia University

  

  Quetelet Professor of Sustainable Development, and Professor of Health Policy and Management at Columbia University. He is Special Advisor to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on the Millennium Development Goals, having held the same position under former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan. He is Director of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network. He is co-founder and Chief Strategist of Millennium Promise Alliance, and is director of the Millennium Villages Project. Sachs is also one of the Secretary-General's MDG Advocates, and a Commissioner of the ITU/UNESCO Broadband Commission for Development. He has authored three New York Times bestsellers in the past seven years: The End of Poverty (2005), Common Wealth: Economics for a Crowded Planet (2008), and The Price of Civilization (2011). His most recent book is To Move the World: JFK's Quest for Peace (2013).

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  Erik Solheim Lead of the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC)

  

  Erik Solheim took the lead of the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) in January 2013, a position to which he was unanimously elected. He is now also serving as United Nations Environment Programme's special envoy for environment, conflict and disaster. From 2007 to 2012 he held the combined portfolio of Norway’s Minister of the Environment and International Development; he also served as Minister of International Development from 2005 to 2007. During his time as Minister, Mr. Solheim emphasised the importance of conflict prevention, highlighted capital, taxation and business as engines of development, and sought to integrate development assistance into overall foreign policy. He brought Norwegian aid up to 1% of the GDP, making it with Sweden the highest in the world. Mr. Solheim cites as one of his most important achievements his role in establishing the UN REDD, the global program to conserve the world rain forests. He also initiated Norwegian partnership with countries such as Brazil, Guyana and Indonesia.