Biographical Note

NEW PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE OF RWANDA PRESENTS CREDENTIALS

(Based on information received from the Protocol and Liaison Service.)

Anastase Gasana, the new Permanent Representative of Rwanda, today presented his credentials to Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

Before assuming his current post, Mr. Gasana served as Minister of Institutional Relations in the Office of the President of Rwanda from February to October 1999.  Prior to that, from November 1994 to February 1999, he was Minister for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation.  In August 1994, he was appointed as Rwanda’s Ambassador to the United States.

From November 1994 to February 1999, Mr. Gasana was Chairman of several commissions, including the National Commission in charge of United Nations Assistance Mission in Rwanda (UNAMIR); the National Commission Liaising with the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda; and the National Commission in charge of the United Nations Human Rights Mission to Rwanda. 

In July 1993, Mr. Gasana was appointed Minister for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation in the Government of Prime Minister Agathe Uwihngiyimana, and served as one of the negotiators and signatories of the Arusha Peace Accord.

Mr. Gasana was also a member of the Republican Movement for Democracy, having served as its Chairman and Executive Secretary in the Kigali Prefecture, as well as a member of its Political Bureau.

In July 1992, Mr. Gasana was appointed Technical Affairs Adviser in the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education.  Prior to that, in December 1991, he was appointed Secretary-General in the Ministry of Transport and Communication.

In addition, Mr. Gasana has served in a number of academic posts, including Lecturer and Head of the Department of African Languages and Literatures at the National University of Rwanda.  In February 1988, he was appointed a member of the Rwanda National University Commission in charge of the assessment of primary and secondary education reforms.  He was also a visiting lecturer at Burundi University in October 1988.

Mr. Gasana holds both a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees from Sorbonne Nouvelle University, Paris.  After receiving a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology from Rene Descartes University, Sorbonne-Paris in October 1977, Mr. Gasana received a Ph.D from Sorbonne Nouvelle University in July 1981.

Born on 5 August 1950 in Gikomero-Kigali, Mr. Gasana is married with five children.

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