K. Y. Amoako
Encyclopedia
Ghana
Ghana , officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country located in West Africa. It is bordered by Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south...
international civil servant who led the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa
United Nations Economic Commission for Africa
The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa was established in 1958 by the United Nations Economic and Social Council to encourage economic cooperation among its member states following a recommendation of the United Nations General Assembly.It is one of five regional commissions.The ECA...
(ECA) in 1995-2005 at the rank of UN Under-Secretary-General. He played a key role in the design of the New Partnership for Africa's Development
New Partnership for Africa's Development
The New Partnership for Africa's Development is an economic development program of the African Union. NEPAD was adopted at the 37th session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government in July 2001 in Lusaka, Zambia...
(NEPAD) and created several new forums allowing African policy makers to engage in productive dialogue, including the African Development Forum, which has been a dynamic force for ICT in Africa, gender equality
Gender equality
Gender equality is the goal of the equality of the genders, stemming from a belief in the injustice of myriad forms of gender inequality.- Concept :...
, and for regional integration
Regional integration
Regional integration is a process in which states enter into a regional agreement in order to enhance regional cooperation through regional institutions and rules...
. He led the ECA in developing indicators to track Africa’s economic performance, promoted the need for donor policy coherence in providing concrete improvements in the delivery of aid, and backstopped and supported African negotiations in international trade.
Amoako has served alongside leading development experts and political leaders, on high-level international commissions and task forces, addressing the development prospects of Africa and many of today’s central global issues. He is Chair of the Commission on HIV/AIDS and Governance in Africa
Commission on HIV/AIDS and Governance in Africa
The Commission on HIV/AIDS and Governance in Africa was convened in 2003 by then UN Secretary General Kofi Annan under the leadership of Wilson Center Senior African Policy Scholar K. Y...
, convened by UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan
Kofi Annan
Kofi Atta Annan is a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh Secretary-General of the UN from 1 January 1997 to 31 December 2006...
and was a member of the Commission for Africa
Commission for Africa
The Commission for Africa, also known as the Blair Commission for Africa, was an initiative established by the British government to examine and provide impetus for development in Africa. Initiated in Spring 2004, its objectives include the generation of new ideas for development and to deliver...
established and chaired by Prime Minister Tony Blair
Tony Blair
Anthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
. He was also a member of the Taskforce on Global Public Goods co-chaired by former Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo
Ernesto Zedillo
Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de León is a Mexican economist and politician. He served as President of Mexico from December 1, 1994 to November 30, 2000, as the last of the uninterrupted seventy year line of Mexican presidents from the Institutional Revolutionary Party...
, a member of the Global Information and Infrastructure Commission, and a member World Bank
World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programmes.The World Bank's official goal is the reduction of poverty...
Institute's Advisory Council. Previously he served on the Commission on Capital Flows to Africa and on the World Health Organization
World Health Organization
The World Health Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations that acts as a coordinating authority on international public health. Established on 7 April 1948, with headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, the agency inherited the mandate and resources of its predecessor, the Health...
's high-level Commission on Macroeconomics and Health chaired by Prof. Jeffrey Sachs
Jeffrey Sachs
Jeffrey David Sachs is an American economist and Director of The Earth Institute at Columbia University. One of the youngest economics professors in the history of Harvard University, Sachs became known for his role as an adviser to Eastern European and developing country governments in the...
.
Prior to ECA, Amoako worked in the World Bank since July 1974 for two decades, latterly in senior positions including: Director of the Education and Social Policy Department with responsibility for providing strategic leadership for the Bank's programs on poverty reduction
Poverty reduction
Poverty is the state of human beings who are poor. That is, they have little or no material means of surviving—little or no food, shelter, clothes, healthcare, education, and other physical means of living and improving one's life....
, education, gender, labor markets and social protection
Social protection
Social protection, as defined by the United Nations Research Institute For Social Development, is concerned with preventing, managing, and overcoming situations that adversely affect people’s well being...
(1993–1995). Before that he was Division Chief, Country Programs (Africa Region) and also Division Chief, Sector Programs (Latin America and Caribbean Region).
Amoako was a Distinguished African Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars , located in Washington, D.C., is a United States Presidential Memorial that was established as part of the Smithsonian Institution by an act of Congress in 1968...
from August to November, 2005. And currently with the support of a number of African leaders and leading development specialist he is setting up the African Center for Economic Transformation in Accra, Ghana
Ghana
Ghana , officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country located in West Africa. It is bordered by Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south...
to promote high-quality policy analysis and advisory services to assist African governments to prepare a vision for long-term sustained growth and transformation of African economies.
Education
He obtained his B.A. (Hons) from the University of GhanaUniversity of Ghana
The University of Ghana is the oldest and largest of the thirteen Ghanaian universities and tertiary institutions. It is one of the best universities in Africa and by far the most prestigious in West Africa...
and his M.A. and Ph.D. in Economics from the University of California at Berkeley. In recognition of his contribution to Africa’s development, in 2003, he was awarded a Doctor of Laws degree, honoris causa by the Addis Ababa University
Addis Ababa University
Addis Ababa University is a university in Ethiopia. It was originally named "University College of Addis Ababa" at its founding, then renamed for the former Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie I in 1962, receiving its current name in 1975.Although the university has six of its seven campuses within...
, and a Doctor of Letters degree, honoris causa by the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana, in May, 2005.