NEW PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE OF KENYA PRESENTS CREDENTIALS

Biographical Note

NEW PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE OF KENYA PRESENTS CREDENTIALS

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

Judith Mbula Bahemuka, the new Permanent Representative of Kenya to the United Nations, presented her credentials today to Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

Before her current appointment, Ms. Bahemuka was the Chairman of the Social and Human Sciences National Committee at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) National Commission.  Since 1998, Ms. Bahemuka has served as Director of the University of Nairobi’s International Learning Centre, which she established.  Between 1994 and 1998, she was professor and Chairman of the University’s Department of Sociology.

A trained sociologist, whose specialization is rural development,

Ms. Bahemuka is the author of a number of books and publications on a wide range of issues.  She has done sizeable work in the area of women and development, looking at the role of women in agricultural development.  The Hubert Humphrey Fellowship at Cornell University is one of several fellowships Ms. Bahemuka has held.

Ms. Bahemuka has also worked with the Kenya National AIDS Secretariat, and supported the 1992-1993 Evaluation of AIDS in Kenya.  From 1995 to 1997, she participated in the preparation for the sessional paper on HIV/AIDS, chairing the Committee on Women, Children and HIV/AIDS.

Born in the Makueni District on 5 May 1942, Ms. Bahemuka currently holds the UNESCO Chair on Women and Sustainable Development and represents Kenya at the UNESCO Executive Board.  She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in 1970 from Marygrove College in the United States.  She has a master’s degree and PhD from Nairobi University and an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Kalamazoo College, United States.

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