WORLD MALARIA DAY

Speaker Biographies

Youssou N'Dour
Youssou N’Dour is a Senegalese singer and percussionist. He was born in Dakar in 1959 and began singing as a child performer at neighborhood gatherings in the tough Medina section of Dakar, Senegal, West Africa. He began performing officially at the age of 12. Within a couple of years he was performing regularly with the Star Band, Dakar's most popular group in the early 1970s. In 1979, he formed his own ensemble, the Etoile de Dakar. His early work with Etoile de Dakar was in the typical Latin style popular all over Africa during that time, but in the 1980s he developed a unique sound when he started his current group, Super Etoile de Dakar.

Youssou is one of the most celebrated African musicians in history. A renowned singer, songwriter, and composer, Youssou's mix of traditional Senegalese mbalax with eclectic influences ranging from Cuban samba to hip hop, jazz, and soul has won him an international fan base of millions. In the West, he has collaborated with several famous musicians.

Youssou is actively involved in social issues. In 1985, he organized a concert for the release of Nelson Mandela. He was a featured performer in the 1988 worldwide Amnesty International Human Rights Now! Tour. He has also worked with the United Nations and UNICEF and he started Project Joko to open internet cafés in Africa and to connect Senegalese communities around the world. He performed at three of the Live 8 concerts (in Live 8 concert, London, Live 8 concert, Paris and at the Live 8 concert, Eden Project in Cornwall) on 2 July, 2005. In 2006, N'Dour played the African-British abolitionist Olaudah Equiano in the movie Amazing Grace, which chronicles the efforts of William Wilberforce to end slavery in the British Empire. He also featured in a joint Spain-Senegal ad campaign against illegal immigrants. Youssou N'Dour participated in the Stock Exchange of Visions project in 2007.

In his capacity as a UNICEF Ambassador and as one of the most recognized African artists globally, Youssou has been using his influence to advocate for malaria control efforts globally. 

He has toured internationally for almost 30 years. He won his first American Grammy Award (best contemporary world music album) for his CD Egypt in 2005. In recent years, he has opened his own recording studio, Xippi, as well as his own record label, Jololi.

 

Raymond G. Chambers
United Nations Special Envoy for Malaria
Founder, Malaria No More
Mr. Chambers is a philanthropist and humanitarian who has directed most of his efforts toward at-risk youth. He is the Founding Chairman of the Points of Light Foundation and Co-Founder, with Colin Powell, of America's Promise - The Alliance for Youth. Mr. Chambers is the Co-Founder of the National Mentoring Partnership. He is the Chairman of the Millennium Promise Alliance and the MCJ and Amelior Foundations. In helping to lead the revitalization of the city of Newark, New Jersey, he was the Founding Chairman of the New Jersey Performing Arts Center. Mr. Chambers is a member of the President's Council on Service and Civic Participation. Some of his additional board memberships include Communities in Schools, Drew University, University of Notre Dame, WNET/Thirteen New York, and the American Museum of Natural History. He is the former Chairman of Wesray Capital Corporation, which he co-founded with William E. Simon.

 

Robert B. Zoellick
11th Chief Executive of World Bank
On July 1, 2007, Robert B. Zoellick became the 11th President of the World Bank Group, which works with 185 member countries.

Prior to joining the Bank, Mr. Zoellick served as Vice Chairman, International of the Goldman Sachs Group, Managing Director, and Chairman of Goldman Sachs' Board of International Advisors from 2006-07.

In 2005-06, Mr. Zoellick served as the Deputy Secretary of the U.S. State Department. He was the Department's Chief Operating Officer and policy alternate for the Secretary of State, in addition to having lead policy responsibility in a number of areas.

From 2001 to January 2005, Mr. Zoellick served in the U.S. cabinet as the 13th U.S. Trade Representative. He forged an activist approach to free trade at the global, regional, and bilateral levels, while securing support for open markets with the U.S. Congress and a broad coalition of domestic constituencies. He worked with Ministers from nearly 150 economies to launch the Doha Development Agenda in the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2001 and then to complete the framework accord for opening markets in 2004. Zoellick was instrumental in completing the accession of China and Chinese Taipei to the WTO. He also completed or substantially advanced the accessions to the WTO of Cambodia, Saudi Arabia, Viet Nam, Russia, and others.

Zoellick enacted or completed FTAs with Jordan, Chile, Singapore, Morocco, Bahrain, five countries of Central America and the Dominican Republic, and Australia, quintupling the number of countries with which the U.S. has FTAs. He also launched FTAs later completed with Peru, Colombia, and Panama, and enacted a Basic Trade Agreement with Viet Nam. Zoellick worked closely with the U.S. Congress to pass Trade Promotion Authority, as well as preferential trade arrangements with Africa, the Andean countries, Caribbean states, and all developing economies.

From 1993 to 1997, Mr. Zoellick served as an Executive Vice President of Fannie Mae, the large housing finance corporation, where he supervised the affordable housing business, as well as offices dealing with legal, regulatory, government and industry relations, and international services.

From 1985 to 1993, Mr. Zoellick served with Secretary James A. Baker, III at the Treasury Department (from Deputy Assistant Secretary for Financial Institutions Policy to Counselor to the Secretary); State Department (Undersecretary of State for Economic and Agricultural Affairs as well as Counselor of the Department with Undersecretary rank); and briefly Deputy Chief of Staff at the White House and Assistant to the President. Zoellick was the lead U.S. official in the "Two-plus-Four" process of German unification in 1989-90. He was the "Sherpa" to the President for the preparation of the Economic Summits in 1991-92.

Mr. Zoellick graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Swarthmore College in 1975. He earned a J.D. magna cum laude from the Harvard Law School and a MPP from the Kennedy School of Government in 1981. He lived in Hong Kong on a fellowship in 1980.

Zoellick received a number of awards, including: the Knight Commanders Cross from Germany for his work on unification; the Alexander Hamilton and Distinguished Service Awards, the highest honors of the Departments of Treasury and State, respectively; the Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service; and a Doctorate of Humane Letters from St. Joseph’s College in Rensselaer, Indiana.

Mr. Zoellick has also served on many non-profit boards, among them the Council on Foreign Relations, the European Institute, the American Council on Germany, the American Institute of Contemporary German Studies, the German Marshall Fund of the U.S., the National Bureau of Asian Research, the Overseas Development Council, and the Advisory Councils of the World Wildlife Fund and the Institute of International Economics.

Mr. Zoellick grew up in Naperville, Illinois.

 

Obiageli "Oby" Ezekwesili
Vice President of the Africa Region, World Bank
Obiageli Ezekwesili, a Nigerian national, joined the World Bank from her most recent position as Minister of Education within the Government of Nigeria. Oby has a rich resume with hands-on experience and accomplishments in a unique mix of private sector, civil society and public sector positions.

Oby began her career as an auditor and management consultant, where she focused on financial planning, SME financing, audit and regulatory compliance. From 1994 to 1999, she served as one of the founding members of Transparency International where she held the position Director, Africa. In 2000, Oby went on to serve as Special Assistant to the President of Nigeria on Budget Monitoring, and the Price Intelligence Unit, where she spear-headed institutional reforms through the establishment of due process mechanisms and strategies. In this capacity, Oby achieved previously unheard of success by markedly reducing both procurement costs to the Government and turnaround time for completion of Government projects, while improving transparency.

Oby subsequently served as Minister of Solid Minerals Development, with emphasis on reforming Nigeria's mining sector to internationally recognized standards, especially in the area of policy transparency, with the purpose of increasing levels of global investment, and investor confidence, in the sector. She provided leadership in the drafting of the Nigerian Minerals and Mining Act, establishing the Nigerian Mining Cadastre Office and opening up Nigeria’s mining sector to private participation. Oby has also served as the Chairperson for the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative since 2004 and pioneered the voluntary sign-on of Nigeria to the EITI Principles, as well as the first ever audit of the oil and gas sector.

From June 2006 until joining the Bank, Oby served as Minister of Education where she was tasked with leading the country's on-going comprehensive reform strategy within the education sector. She restructured and refocused the ministry for the attainment of EFA targets and MDGs, introduced Public Private Partnership models for service delivery, revamped the Federal Inspectorate Service as an improved quality assurance mechanism and introduced transparency and accountability mechanisms for better governance of the budget. The track record attesting to Oby's innovative success in this area culminated with the Nigerian stock exchange launch of "Adopt-A-Public School Initiative". Oby holds a Masters in International Law & Diplomacy from University of Lagos, along with a Masters of Public Administration from the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard. She is also a chartered accountant.

April 24, 2008