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NEW ZEALAND
NEW
EALAND
Emphasizing
multilateralism
Interview with Amanda Ellis
Ambassador of New Zealand
to the United Nations
and other specialized agencies
Ms Ellis is one of those dynamic, spor-
ty, hardworking and friendly ambas-
Q: Could you tell us so- issue among my African col-
sadors who is determined to put her
mething about your per- leagues. They are particularly
country on the international agenda.
sonal background? interested in seeing a long-
term sustainable future and
Madame Ambassador has a difficult task
Prior to coming to Geneva, I are not interested in one that
because most people do not know very
was Deputy Chief Executive in just comes and goes.
much about her country, apart from the
the Foreign Ministry of New
fact that it's on the other side of the globe.
Zealand in charge of inter- Before joining the World Bank
New Zealand is a major agricultural national development coope- I worked in the banking sec-
exporting country, mainly known for its ration. It was a really rewar- tor. I was in charge of commu-
dairy, meat and wool production. But did ding role as you can imagine, nication with Australia and I
you know that it also publishes the UN and prior to that I had been also set up the Women Mar-
Handbook, a long tradition that they have working at the World Bank for ket. We went from nothing to
been carried on for over fifty-one years? seven years. My most recent doing $3.5 billion in business.
role there was as lead specia- When I went to the World
With a lot of work on her plate, Madame list in the poverty reduction Bank I persuaded them to set
Ambassador speaks very highly of her and economic management up a unit on Women and Pri-
colleagues in the diplomatic commu- group. I also ran the World vate Sector Development. The
nity of Geneva, and the quality of the Bank Presidency Global Pri- first case we carried out was in
work being carried out in the UN and vate CEO Forum, which look- Nigeria with President Oba-
ed at how the Chief Executive sanjo -- and it was fun.
the different agencies. She had pre-
Officers in some of the largest
viously worked in the World Bank and
companies, such as Exxon One of the roles I have here is
in the private sector, and she has writ-
Mobile, McKinsey, PWC, to be the Special Envoy of the
ten several books on entrepreneurship,
Unilever and other big multi- New Zealand Prime Minister
on women's economic integration and
nationals, could contribute to French-speaking Africa,
women's role as agents in economic
to development. A particular as he has decided to make a
development. She is a fervent suppor-
passion of mine is how you bid for a seat on the Security
ter of including women in develop- can look at development -- of- Council in 2015-2016. In lear-
ment for the greater benefit of society. ficial development assistance ning and collaborating with
So now we leave the floor to Madame -- as a catalyst for long-term my African colleagues, it is
Ambassador. private sector development. I very much my desire to see this
observe a lot of interest in this intercept between conflict,
14 International
