Profile of Mr. Samba Jack

Special Adviser, Organizational Change, Management and Administrative Processes.

Special Adviser to the Deputy Chairperson at the African Union Commission for the past nine years, Mr. Samba Jack provides high level policy advice and technical support to the Deputy Chairperson in his role as Deputy, and as officer immediately responsible for administrative management and domestic accountability of the Commission. He has participated in the initiation, development and implementation of policy and actions in pursuit of the four major priority goals of the Bureau of the Deputy Chairperson  namely: enhance, strengthen and sustain good corporate governance and accountability across the Commission; drive performance and operational efficiency within the Commission; pursue a financially sustainable and viable Commission; and, promote synergies with Policy Organs, other African Union Organs, the Regional Economic Communities, partners  and other stakeholders.

Before joining the African Union, Mr. Jack was successively, Director, Policy and Programme Co-ordination Office at the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA); Director, Office of Programme Planning and Resource Management, UNECA; Director, Programme Planning, Finance and Evaluation Division, UNECA; and, Senior Consultant on the institutional reform and repositioning of UNECA, Office of the Under-Secretary General of the United Nations and Executive Secretary, UNECA.

In these capacities, under delegated authority, he had overall responsibility for the co-ordination of Commission policies, programmes, budgets, finances, human resources management, administration and other support services. He had primary responsibility for leveraging organization performance through the introduction and maintenance of effective systems of management accountability. He was also Management’s main interlocutor with the Staff Union Committee on personnel policy, staff welfare and matters affecting the staff generally.

He served as Co-coordinator, UNECA Multidisciplinary Regional Advisory Group (UNECA-MRAG) - position held concurrently as Director of the Policy and Programme Co-ordination Office.

In his earlier years with UNECA, Mr. Jack served as Special Assistant to the Executive Secretary (Chief of Staff), and as Secretary to the Commission.  Prior to that he was Senior Policy and Programme Analyst, and Economic Affairs Officer, researcher, in the Economic Research and Planning Division.

Mr. Samba Jack has extensive practical experience at senior management level in planning, coordination and administration of policies, programmes, strategies, and processes for leveraging organizational performance and enhancing administration and management capability and accountability.

Mr. Jack holds Bachelor and Master’s degrees from the University of Cambridge,

England, and the University of Pittsburgh, U. S. A. He is a citizen of the Gambia.