Jacques Diouf

Jacques Diouf (born 1 August 1938) is a Senegalese diplomat with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations. He has served as Director-general of the FAO since replacing Edouard Saouma of Lebanon in January 1994.

Education

Diouf attended primary and secondary school in his native Saint-Louis, Senegal. He then traveled to France, where he earned a bachelor's of science from the Institut National Agronomique Paris-Grignon, a Master of Science in Tropical Agronomy and Doctor of Philosophy in Social Sciences of the Rural Sector from the Sorbonne.

Career

Beginning in 1963 at the age of 25, Diouf was the Director of the European Office and the Agricultural Program of the Marketing Board. Leaving that position in 1964, Diouf became the Director of the African Groundnut Council based in Nigeria from 1965 to 1971. From 1971 to 1977 Diouf was the Executive Secretary of the newly created West Africa Rice Development Association (WARDA) (now Africa Rice Center). Leaving WARDA in 1978, Diouf became the Secretary of State for Science and Technology of the government of Senegal under both Léopold Sédar Senghor and his successor Abdou Diouf until 1983. In that year he became a member of the parliament of Senegal and the Senegambian Confederation. In Senegal, he was chairman of the foreign relations committee. From 1985-1990, Diouf became the Secretary-General of the Central Bank for West African States, which is based in Dakar. From 1991-1993, he was the Senegalese ambassador to the United Nations, after which time he was selected to his position at the FAO.

Honors and Criticism

Diouf has received multiple honors from governments across the world, including the Légion d'honneur in France as well as numerous governments across Africa and Latin America.

In May 2006, a British newspaper published the resignation letter of Louise Fresco, an Assistant Director General of FAO. In her letter, the widely respected Dr Fresco criticised Mr. Dioufs management style: "I am sad that you have isolated yourself so much from most senior managers. Combined with a lack of transparency in decision making, you have stimulated a culture of silence, rumors and even fear." Furthermore she stated that "the Organisation has been unable to adapt to a new era", that "our contribution and reputation have declined steadily" and "its leadership has not proposed bold options to overcome this crisis". ["Resignation letter of Louise Fresco, ADG, FAO", Guardian Unlimited, 14 May, 2006, [http://observer.guardian.co.uk/world/story/0,,1774156,00.html] ]

ources and notes

External links

* [http://www.fao.org/english/dg/dioufcv.htm Curriculum Vitae of Jacques Diouf at fao.org]