UNCTAD, through its Intergovernmental Working Group of Experts on International Standards of Accounting and Reporting (ISAR) supports its member States in their efforts aimed at implementing international standards and best practices of accounting and sustainability reporting to promote harmonization and facilitate financial stability, investment, and social and economic progress.
With the proliferation of international standards and requirements on financial and sustainability reporting that characterized the past two decades, UNCTAD has been supporting countries to reinforce their regulations and institutions and create human capacity to be ready to implement international financial and sustainability reporting standards, and to promote long-term institutional investment in sustainable development.
The objective of the consultative meeting is to assess recent developments and identify key emerging issues and best practices for strengthening the regulatory, institutional and human capacity required for high quality sustainability reporting by listed and non-listed companies, including SMEs and institutional investors, and public sector entities.
The deliberations are intended for developing a common understanding of practical implementation issues and best practices for the promotion of high-quality sustainability reporting and identifying best practices in leveraging sustainable investment for development financing.
The outcome of the consultations will form the basis for updating the Accounting Development Tool (ADT) developed by ISAR.
The updated ADT will be applied for assessing the financial and sustainability ecosystem of member States, identifying gaps, and developing an action plan.
Commissioner Fernandez supervises the lead unit of the SEC tasked with the regulation and development of the Philippine capital market, including the promotion of sustainable finance. He likewise supervises the unit responsible for advancing the Commission’s legislative agenda. He previously served as Supervising Commissioner of the SEC department which formulates corporate governance policies and regulations, and implements sustainability reporting across entities in the Philippine corporate sector.
Before joining the SEC, Commissioner Fernandez served as Deputy Executive Secretary in the Office of the President of the Philippines, where he crafted issuances articulating the policy directives of the President, evaluated executive agreements and financial instruments, and addressed governance concerns of national government agencies and state-owned enterprises.
Vania Borgerth is a Board Member of International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants (IESBA).
She is also a Deputy coordinator of International Relations at CBPS (Brazilian Committee for Sustainability Pronouncements).
At ISSB (International Sustainability Standards Board), she is a member of SSAF (Sustainability Standards Advisory Forum).
Mrs. Borgerth a member of the Supervisory Board of The Capitals Coalition.
She is an active attendee of UNCTAD’s ISAR since 2007 (Chair of the 32nd session).
Elsa Beatriz García Bojorges is the President of the Mexican Financial and Sustainability Reporting Standards Board – CINIF (Mexico). She also was Chair of the Intergovernmental Working Group of Experts on International Standards of Accounting and Reporting (ISAR Group) 38th Session and Chair of Latin American Regional Partnership for the promotion of sustainability and SDG reporting, in 2022. She was a CINIF representative at the Sustainability Standards Advisory Forum (SSAF) of ISSB – IFRS Foundation; she is the CINIF representative at the Emerging Economies Group of IASB – IFRS Foundation. She was a Board Member of Group of Latin American Standards Setters (GLASS). She has been an Independent Board Member of several public and private companies.
Mr Müller joined the QFC Regulatory Authority in April 2012 as Director, Financial Analysis. He joined from the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA) where, as Senior Executive: Standards, he influenced developments in international standard-setting and South African legislation and regulation.
In October 2015, he was appointed as Director, Prudential Supervision (Banking and Asset Management) and Financial Analysis. In August 2016, he was appointed Managing Director, Supervision and Authorisation, with responsibility for banking, investment management, insurance, financial intermediaries, and anti-money laundering. He currently serves as an advisor on XBRL implementation at the Qatar Central Bank.
Before his position with SAICA, Mr Müller held senior roles in financial management, regulation, financial analysis and investor relations, primarily in financial services. Mr Müller is a member of the Global Forum for Ethics and the Deputy Chair of the Regional Partnership to Promote Sustainability Reporting. He chaired the Intergovernmental Working Group of Experts on International Standards on Accounting and Reporting of UNCTAD in 2014, and was previously Chairman of XBRL SA and a member of the King Committee on Corporate Governance, the Audit Committee Forum and the Corporate Governance Network of the Institute of Directors SA, and Qatar’s Financial Stability and Risk Control Committee. Mr Müller has presented at various international conferences hosted by organisations such as the World Bank, the United Nations, and IFAC, and was also an anchor on business radio and television.
Dr Mario Abela FCPA FCMA is Director of Standards with key responsibility for technical content and interoperability of standards at the Global Reporting Initiative. He is also the Course Convenor and Head Tutor on Governance for Sustainable Future at the Cambridge Institute of Sustainability Leaderships. He is an expert advisor on Sustainability Reporting at Bain &Co and in the past has worked with clients such as United Nations, CERES, Value Balancing Alliance and the Capitals Coalition. He is the past Chair of World Intangible Capital Initiative and has held a number of positions on a number advisory boards for global accounting bodies. Mario is a recognized expert in accounting, reporting and governance. Mario holds a PhD in Accounting from the University of London, a Masters of Science from Linkoping University, Sweden and a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Melbourne, Australia. He has held senior executive positions in both the public and private sector and for the last decade has been working in the area of sustainability and the importance of accounting and governance in companies transitioning to operating in a sustainable economy. Mario is passionate about promoting the role accounting and governance can play in driving towards more sustainable businesses and is a frequent presenter at international conferences and seminars.
Bailey has served as the Partner leading KPMG’s Public Sector Accounting Advisory service line for Canada since 2015 and has more than 25 years of experience advising the public sector on complex accounting and reporting matters. Bailey leads KPMG’s Public Sector ESG Centre of Expertise, and the Global International Public Sector Accounting Standards Working Group. Bailey is driving KPMG’s response to IPSASB’s climate disclosures and tangible natural resources standards, and collaborations with governments around the world to prepare for voluntary implementation.
Bailey has worked with more than 300 governments on sustainability reporting for climate and biodiversity. Through his work Bailey has developed adaptations of the International Sustainability Standards Board guidance specific to the public sector.
Bailey is a board member of the Natural Assets Initiative. Bailey led the collaborations between KPMG, the Natural Assets Initiative, and the Intact Centre on Climate Change, and more than 50 industry partners to develop a voluntary disclosure framework designed to align with the Taskforce on Nature Related Financial Disclosures.
Educational Background
- NYU Stern Center for Sustainable Business, Executive Certificate in Advancing Sustainability (March 2022)
- Certified Internal Auditor (CIA), The Institute of Internal Auditors, 2004
- CPA Ontario/ Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario (appointed Fellow by CPA Ontario in 2024)
- BComm, Queens University – 1996
Connect with Bailey Church at KPMG in Canada.
Diplômé Etudes Supérieures Comptables de l’Institut National Polytechnique de Yamoussoukro (Côte d’Ivoire) et d’un Master Of Arts en Management et Organisation des Entreprises, option Stratégies et Organisation du Groupe ESC Pau (Franc), Drissa Koné, est également Expert-Comptable. Il est aussi titulaire d'un Mastère Spécialisé en Gestion Financière de HEC Paris (France).
Il occupe les fonctions suivantes : Directeur associé de SFAI Côte d’Ivoire Abcd Consulting, Président de l'Ordre des Experts-Comptables de Côte d'Ivoire (OEC CI), Président du Conseil Ouest-Africain de la Comptabilité de l'UEMOA. Membre également du Conseil d’Administration de la PAFA (siège en Afrique du Sud, Drissa Koné est depuis le 07 septembre 2022l le Président de l'Association des Experts-Comptables de l'Afrique de l'Ouest (ABWA basée au Nigeria) et vice-président du Conseil National de la Comptabilité de Côte d'Ivoire.
Drissa Koné est un Expert des Nations Unies, membre du Groupe de Travail Intergouvernemental, représentant la Côte d'Ivoire. Il participe aux activités ISAR de la CNUCED au Palais des Nations à Genève depuis 2010. Il est Conseiller du Ministre de l’Économie et des Finances de Côte d'Ivoire et aussi Expert technique de la Banque Mondiale auprès du Secrétaire Permanent de l'OHADA pour les questions de normalisation comptable, d’audit et d’assurance qualité.
Nancy Aragón Granja is a member of the SMEIG Implementation Group of the IFRS Foundation; Representative for Ecuador before GLENIF, the Latin American Group of Financial Reporting Standard Setters; Vice President of the SMEs Commission of the Inter American Accounting Association; Board Member and Coordinator of the Accounting Research and Sustainability Commission at the College of Public Accountants of Ecuador. Regional Consultant to the United Nations.
She is a Certified Public Accountant with Master’s degrees in Business Administration and Auditing. ACCA certified in Full IFRS, IFRS for SMEs, and Sustainable Finance.
Richard Mubiru is a seasoned economic strategist and enterprise development expert currently serving as the Lead Officer for Enterprise Growth and Development within the Private Sector Development Unit (PSDU) at Uganda's Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development. With over two decades of experience bridging macro-level fiscal policy and micro-level enterprise competitiveness, he specializes in informal sector transition, accounting infrastructure development, and SME investment readiness.
Richard leads the Informality Management for Compliance and Resilience (IMCORE) program in Uganda — a pioneering national initiative aimed at transitioning 10,000 informal micro-enterprises into structured, compliant, and bankable medium-sized businesses. In close collaboration with the UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD) enterprise development team, he led the national assessment using the Accounting Development Tool (ADT) to evaluate Uganda's MSME reporting infrastructure. He spearheaded the domestication and rollout of the Uganda e-Accounting Tool (uganda.easyaccounts.org) along with tailored national training frameworks, democratizing digital financial reporting, statutory filing, and basic compliance for micro and small entrepreneurs across the country.
Beyond accounting infrastructure, Richard advises on innovative SME capital-access, private-equity mechanisms, mergers and acquisitions, and franchising models designed to position domestic enterprises for institutional investment and cross-border trade. He holds an MBA from the University of Pune and executive credentials in Private Equity and Venture Capital from Strathmore Business School.
Iheanyi O. Anyahara became the Technical Advisor for Christopher Nyong, a Board Member of the International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board (IPSASB), in January 2022.
Dr. Anyahara has over three decades of industry experience, with more than 20 years focused on financial reporting and management, accounting standard setting, and financial reporting regulation at the Financial Reporting Council (formerly known as the Nigerian Accounting Standards Board). He previously served as the Acting Executive Secretary/CEO of the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria from March 1, 2020, to May 18, 2021. Currently, he holds the position of Director/Head of the Directorate of Public Sector Accounting Standards.
Throughout his career, Dr. Anyahara has held various leadership roles, including being a member of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on the National Chart of Accounts for Nigeria and a member of the IPSAS GAP analysis Committee. He also served as the Secretary to the National Stakeholders' Committee on the Roadmap to the Adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) in Nigeria, a committee responsible for preparing the roadmap report that was approved by the Federal Executive Council under President Goodluck Jonathan.
Dr. Anyahara is a member of several professional bodies, including the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN), the Association of Forensic Accounting Researchers, the Certified National Accountant, and the Nigerian Institute of Management.
He graduated with first-class honors from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, and holds an M.Sc. in Accounting from the same university, as well as an MBA in Accounting from the University of Port Harcourt. He obtained his PhD in Accounting from Babcock University, Ilishan Remo, Ogun State. Additionally, he has attended contemporary continuing education programs at Harvard Business School, the London School of Economics, the Booth Business School at the University of Chicago, and the Wharton Business School at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.
Dr. Anyahara is happily married and has four children.
Tatyana Rybak is the Head of Accounting, Reporting and Audit Regulation Directorate of the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Belarus. She graduated with honors from the Faculty of Accounting and Economics of the Belarusian State Economic University. Ms. Rybak was conferred the Ph.D. in Economics in 2001, followed by the Associate Professor scientific title being give in 2005. She became a certified auditor in 2003. From 1995 to 2009, Ms. Rybak pursued her junior professor and associate professor career and had extensive experience in auditing and consulting. Since October 2009, she has been working at the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Belarus. Ms. Rybak is the author and co-author of many scientific articles and textbooks on accounting and financial reporting. She is one of the main developers of the Belarusian Law on Accounting and Belarusian Accounting Standards. In 2020, Ms. Rybak will be the Chairman of the Coordinating Council on Accounting of CIS Executive Committee.
