United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has appointed Sanda Ojiambo of Kenya as Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations Global Compact. 

Ojiambo served as the Executive Director of the UN Global Compact, leading the development and rollout of an ambitious new strategy to speed up and scale the global collective impact of business to uphold the Ten Principles of the Global Compact, and deliver on the Sustainable Development Goals.

She joined the UN from Safaricom PLC where she served as the Head of Sustainable Business and Social Impact, leading the implementation of several public-private partnership initiatives between Safaricom and UN organisations at both local and global levels.

Prior to this, Ojiambo worked with IPPF Africa, UNDP Somalia and CARE Somalia, leading public policy and capacity development work across multiple sectors.

Ojiambo will lead the world’s largest corporate sustainability initiative, building the strategic partnerships needed to drive impact and advocacy at local and global levels in her new role.

She will advise the Secretary-General and the Deputy Secretary-General on the contributions of the private sector to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, on the engagement of the United Nations with business and on key organisational partnerships with the private sector.

Ojiambo will also manage and coordinate the engagement of the UN Global Compact in United Nations inter-agency affairs, engaging with relevant multilateral and international organisations, alongside developing new, innovative partnerships with the private sector.

Ojiambo holds a Master of Arts in Public Policy from the University of Minnesota, USA, and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and International Development from McGill University, Canada.