Sanda Ojiambo appointed United Nations Global Compact Executive Director

Safaricom’s Head of Sustainable Business and Social Impact, has been appointed as the Executive Director of the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC), the world’s largest corporate sustainability initiative.

The announcement was made by United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres. Sanda who will assume the role from June 17 will take over from Denmark’s Lise Kingo who has been with the UN Global Compact since 2015.

“Sanda has been instrumental in leading our team that focuses on Sustainable Business, Shared Value, Corporate Social Investment, and Technology for Development. She has also played a major role in ensuring integration of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into our business operations,” said Peter Ndegwa, Safaricom CEO.

Sanda has served as Safaricom’s Head of Sustainable Business and Social Impact since 2010. Before that she was the Senior Manager of Safaricom and MPESA Foundations during which she led the implementation of several public-private partnership initiatives between Safaricom and UN organizations. She 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.

“Sanda brings 20 years of experience to lead the Global Compact in its next phase to mobilize a global movement of sustainable companies and stakeholders and bring the full weight of the private sector to achieve the SDGs”, Said António Guterres, United Nations Secretary-General.

Launched in July 2000, the United Nations Global Compact is a strategic policy and advocacy initiative calling for the alignment of business operations and strategies with ten universal principles in the areas of human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption, and motivates companies to integrate the SDGs into their core operations and funding activities.

Safaricom are active members of the UN Global Compact and the only African Global Compact LEAD company who are identified for high levels of engagement.

As a highly engaged participant of the UN Global Compact, Global Compact LEAD companies are uniquely positioned to inspire widespread uptake of sustainability solutions among businesses around the world. Other Global Compact LEAD companies include Unilever, Accenture and Nestle.