Vice President of Economic and Social Council, on the messages from ECOSOC Integration Segment

H.E. Ambassador Valentin Rybakov has served as Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs of Belarus since 2013, prior to which he was Assistant to the President from 2006 to 2013. From 2005 to 2006 he headed the Ministry’s American Division (2005) and from 2003 to 2005 he served as Counsellor/Minister Counsellor in the Embassy of Belarus in the United States.

He has also worked with his country’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations, serving as Counsellor from 2001 to 2003.

Having joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belarus in 1993, Mr. Rybakov is a graduate of the Minsk State Pedagogical Institute for Foreign Languages.

Born in 1958 in Tomsk, Russian Federation, Mr. Rybakov has one son.

Deputy General Secretary, International Trade Union Confederation

Mamadou Diallo was born in Senegal. After earning a master’s degree in philosophy and anthropology, he began working as a philosophy teacher in 1983. He went on to become Social Affairs Advisor at the Ministry of Health and Social Action and Coordinator for the UNICEF/Senegalese government programme for "Children in Need", and then a member of the Economic and Social Council. He became active in the trade union movement in 1981. He became General Secretary of the SYPROS teachers’ union in 1995. He was then elected Confederal Secretary in Charge of Administration of CNTS Sénégal and then he became Confederal Secretary for Education and Training and Director of the confederation’s National Workers’
Education Institute (INEFO). He joined the ICFTU in Brussels in 2003. Following the founding of the ITUC, he became the head of Trade Union Development Cooperation and Education, ITUC-Africa Coordinator and Director of the Human and Trade Union Rights Department. He was elected Deputy General Secretary of
the ITUC in December 2017.

Deputy Secretary-General, International Organization of Employers (IOE) (MGoS)

As Deputy Secretary-General, Matthias Thorns has a part in the overall responsibility for the management of the IOE Secretariat in its work to support the global business community in itsrepresentation vis-a-vis the UN institutions, as well as G20, G7 and other international initiatives.

His career began as Adviser for Social Affairs in the European Business Federation UNICE (now BUSINESSEUROPE), before moving to the Confederation of German Employers as Adviser and later Deputy Director of the International and European Affairs Department, looking after European and International Social Policy, CSR and Human Rights as well as OECD ELSA matters.

After leaving the Confederation of German Employers in 2012, Matthias joined the IOE as Senior Adviser, leading the work on Human Rights, G20 and G7, Global Supply Chains as well as SMEs.

In 2017 Matthias joined the Workplace Rights team of The Coca-Cola Company as Human Rights and Workplace Rights Manager, where he was among other things responsible for the planning, coordinating and drafting of the first stand-alone Human Rights Report of The Coca-Cola Company, the Human Rights training for bottling partners as well as the roll-out of the revised human rights policy of the Coca-Cola Company across the regions.

In 2018 he was appointed IOE Director of Stakeholder Engagement and a year later IOE Deputy Secretary-General. Matthias supervises the IOE’s work related to G20 and G7, human rights, agenda 2030, migration and programmes under an EU framework agreement, and is responsible for the IOE company networks: the Global Industrial Relations Network (GIRN), the Global Occupational Safety and Health Network (GOSH) as well as the Corporate Partner Initiative.

Matthias is a member of the Governance Committee of the Centre for Sports and Human Rights, the UN Global Compact Expert Network, Co-Chair of the ILO Child Labour Platform and member of the Global Coordination Group of the Alliance 8.7.

Matthias holds a Master of Arts in European Studies and a Magister Artium in History and Philosophy, both from the University of Hannover.

He participated in the CGF “Future Leaders Programme” in 2018 and in the International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) of the U.S. State Department in July 2012.

Deputy Director-General for Field Operations & Partnerships, ILO

Mr Oumarou completed his secondary studies in his home country, Niger, and from 1978 undertook advanced studies in France. He holds diplomas from the Institut Universitaire de Technologie de Béthune, the Ecole Normale Nationale de Lyon and the Ecole Normale Supérieure de Cachan from which he graduated as Inspector of Technical Studies and Vocational Training.

Before joining the ILO, Mr Oumarou occupied many positions in teaching and in public administration which led him to occupy several positions of responsibility such as that of Inspector in Technical Studies and Vocational Training and Secretary-General of the Ministry of National Education. Following this, he was appointed Minister of Public Services, Labour, Employment and Social Security from 1997 to 1999. In these various positions of responsibility he was, in particular, a member of the Inter-Ministerial Committee responsible for negotiating with the International Financial Institutions (IFI) in the context of economic and social reforms, and President of several committees instructed to negotiate on behalf of the Government with the social partners. It is during this period that he had the texts adopted for the establishment of a National Commission of Social Dialogue (one of the first in Africa). He also proceeded to the revision of the General Statutes of Public Service and implementing supplementary regulations of law on the Labour Code. After leaving the Government in Niger, Mr Oumarou started working for the ILO, first as a consultant for social dialogue, then as coordinator of a national project for the promotion of the Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work. He then became Chief Technical Advisor of the Regional Programme for the Promotion of Social Dialogue in French-speaking Africa. In 2006, he joined the ILO headquarters where he served as Senior Labour Administration and Labour Inspection Specialist.

In 2011 he was appointed Director of the Industrial and Employment Relations Department and, during this period, also assumed the duties of the Executive Director of the Social Dialogue Sector. He became the Director of the Governance and Tripartism Department in 2013 and subsequently Deputy Director-General for Field Operations and Partnerships on 1 January 2018. He has authored several publications on social dialogue and labour administration. His career earned him the decoration of Chevalier des Palmes Académiques (Academic Order) and Chevalier de L’Ordre National de Niger (National Order of Niger).

President of the United States Council for International Business (USCIB) and International Organization of Employers (IOE) Regional Vice-President for North America

Peter Robinson is President & CEO of the U.S. Council for International Business (USCIB) where he previously served as senior vice president and chief operating officer. As the U.S. affiliate of the International Organization of Employers (IOE), the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and Business at the OECD, USCIB provides business views to policy makers and regulatory authorities worldwide.

Robinson has also long been involved in international education, having served on the boards of directors of several leading educational organizations. He is an appointee to the President’s Committee on the International Labor Organization and the Secretary of State’s Advisory Committee on Public-Private Partnerships. He has been a co-Chair of the B20 Employment and Education Task Force, serves on the IOE Management Board and is IOE regional Vice President for North America.

Director General, Vinnova, Sweden

Working with digitalisation since the 1990-ies, Darja Isaksson is the founder of two successful agencies, working with business- and product development for clients such as Sony Ericsson, IKEA and Husqvarna. In her work, she has led teams where the results have been innovative services and products used by millions of customers, as well as new ways of working with innovation. Apart from being executive advisor and board member of multiple companies, she has served as advisor to the Swedish Government in the Digitalisation council as well as the Swedish Prime Ministers Innovation Council, evaluated national research and innovation programmes and served on the board of Swedish research institutes RISE ICT and RISE Interactive. As a result of her work, she has been awarded "Most powerful opinion maker in Sweden", and is listed as one of the "Worlds' 100 most influential people in digital government." She is the Director General of the Swedish Innovation Agency Vinnova since August 2018.

Executive Secretary of UNECE, Presentation of regional dimensions

On 13 April 2017, the Secretary-General appointed Ms. Olga Algayerova of Slovakia as the next Executive Secretary of the UNECE. She took office on 1 June 2017.

Ms. Algayerova brings to the position a combination of leadership and diplomatic skills with deep knowledge of the region with its challenges and opportunities and a strong focus on building and nurturing partnerships among key stakeholders with the United Nations.

Prior to her appointment, she served as Permanent Representative of Slovakia to the International Organizations in Vienna, Austria (since 2012). She was previously President, Slovak Millennium Development Goals (2010-2012); State Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2006-2010) and Corporate Export Manager, Zentiva International, a.s. (2004-2006).

Born in 1959, Ms. Algayerova holds a Master in Contemporary Diplomacy from Malta University, a Master in Business Administration from The Open University Business School, United Kingdom and a Dipl. in Engineer of Economy from the University of Economics Business Faculty, Bratislava.

On 12 July 2017, Ms. Olga Algayerova was sworn-in by the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Mr. António Guterres.

Professor and Founding Director, Technology and Management Centre for Development; Professor of Technology and International Development and Fellow of Green Templeton College, Oxford University

Xiaolan Fu is the Founding Director of the Technology and Management Centre for Development (TMCD), Professor of Technology and International Development and Fellow of Green Templeton College at the University of Oxford. Her research interests include innovation, technology and industrialisation; trade, foreign direct investment and economic development; emerging Asian economies; innovation and productivity in UK/US. She is appointed by the Secretary-General of the United Nations to the Governing Council of the Technology Bank for the Least Developed Counties and to the Ten-Member High Level Advisory Group of the UN Technology Facilitation Mechanism.

She has written many books. Her latest one is Innovation Under the Radar which is forthcoming. She has published extensively and is an editor in chief for leading international journals. Prof Fu has received many awards, has advised a number of UN agencies and serves on many international boards. She participates in in various interviews and panel discussions in the mainstream media.