Kenyan appointed deputy director at Abu Dhabi-based Irena

Abu Dhabi: Adnan Z. Ameen, a Kenyan who is working with the United Nations has been appointed as the permanent deputy director-general of the Abu Dhabi-based International Renewable Energy Agency (Irena), Gulf News has learnt.

He will also temporarily hold the responsibility of Hélène Pelosse who resigned as the agency's interim director-general due to unknown reasons, according to diplomats who attended the fourth session of Irena's Preparatory Commission.

Ameen will act as interim director general until a new director general is elected in March 2011, said the diplomats who did not want to be named.

Irena officials refused to comment about the discussions or decisions in the meetings yesterday, saying everything would be announced in a press conference today.

About 400 delegates including 20 ministers from more than 100 countries are attending the two-day meeting which is discussing five major matters.

Speeding up acceptance

The agency is committed to speeding up worldwide acceptance of renewable energy sources to meet the ever-growing global energy demand.

Pelosse who is attending the meeting will continue her official responsibilities until tomorrow, the meeting attendees were told.

Ameen made a short speech in the meeting and received praise from the delegates, a diplomat said.

"He is an excellent choice, his experience with the UN will definitely help Irena," the diplomat said.

Two other officials, both from western countries, have also been selected to the management of Irena whose names were not available.

There was a heated debate about the official languages of Irena as a delegation from France and other French speaking countries demanded to make French one of the official languages of Irena, the diplomats said.

The discussions on a $18 million (Dh66.11 million) budget of Irena began yesterday, which will be concluded today, they said.

An agreement will be reached on the 2011 budget and 2011 Work Programme in the meeting, an Irena statement said.

About 38 per cent of the budget will come from the member states, and 42 per cent from the bid agreement with the UAE. Finally, 14 per cent will come from the German bid and 6 per cent from the Austrian bid for the Bonn Innovation and Technology Centre and the Vienna Liaison Office, according to the statement.

On July 8, Irena became a full-fledged international organisation. As a result, it needs to define its permanent institutions. The draft rules and procedures for the election of the council and assembly, and its final decision organs will be defined during the preparatory commission.

Agreement

A headquarters agreement which will define the relationship between an international organisation and its host country is also set to be discussed in the meeting.

Its main clauses include the diplomatic immunity of its staff members and the condition of the establishment of permanent representation.

Man on a mission

Adnan Z. Ameen served as the Director of the UN System Chief Executives Board for Coordination (CEB).

Prior to this role, he served as the Executive Director of the Secretariat of the Secretary-General's High Level Panel on UN System-wide Coherence. He also served for several years as the Director of the New York Office of UNEP and Special Representative of the UNEP Executive Director.

He was responsible for environment policy coordination, inter-agency coordination and collaboration with other UN agencies and for outreach to civil society and the private sector. In this capacity he played the lead role in supporting the intergovernmental process to review International Environmental Governance and in United Nations Environment Programme's participation in the world Summit on Sustainable Development.