Secretary-General (1 January 1986 - 31 March 1994)
Kenneth Dadzie was born on 10 September 1930. A diplomat, he held various positions in the Ghana's diplomatic service between 1952 and 1985 and on several occasions was granted secondment to take up senior positions at the United Nations Secretariat both in Geneva and New York. He was appointed as Ghana's Permanent representative to the United Nations Office in Geneva while concurrently assigned as Ambassador to Austria and Switzerland.
Mr. Dadzie was appointed to lead UNCTAD in 1986, at a time when multilateralism was being put into question and when political commitment towards development was faltering. He was instrumental in the adoption of the Final Act of UNCTAD VII which brought about a new consensus on international development cooperation thereby breaking through the barriers of the North-South divide. He also steered the organization towards a revival, leading to a New Partnership for Development adopted at UNCTAD VIII in 1992 in Cartagena de Indias (Columbia).
Mr. Dadzie died in October 1995 in London while serving as Ghana's High Commissioner.
