Biographical Note

ASHA-ROSE MIGIRO OF UNITED REPUBLIC OF TANZANIA APPOINTED DEPUTY SECRETARY-GENERAL

Asha-Rose Migiro of the United Republic of Tanzania took office as Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations on 1 February 2007.  She is the third Deputy Secretary-General to be appointed since the post was established in 1997.

Ms. Migiro served as Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation from 2006 to 2007 -- the first woman in the United Republic of Tanzania to hold that position since its independence in 1961.  Before that, she was Minister for Community Development, Gender and Children for five years.

As Foreign Minister, Ms. Migiro spearheaded Tanzania’s engagement in the pursuit of peace, security and development in the Great Lakes region.  She served as Chair of the Council of Ministers’ meetings of the International Conference of the Great Lakes Region, a process that culminated into a Pact on Security, Stability and Development in the Great Lakes Region.

Ms. Migiro was also Chair of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Ministerial Committee of the Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation and President of the United Nations Security Council during its open debate on peace, security and development in the Great Lakes region.  As Chair of the SADC Organ, Ms. Migiro coordinated SADC assistance to democratic processes, including elections, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as well as support for national elections in Zambia and Madagascar.  At the time of her appointment, she was chairing an important SADC ministerial troika meeting ahead of the national elections in the Kingdom of Lesotho.

Prior to Government service, Ms. Migiro pursued a career in academia.  She was a member of the Faculty of Law at the University of Dar es Salaam, where she rose to the rank of senior lecturer.  She headed the Department of Constitutional and Administrative Law from 1992 to 1994, and the Department of Civil and Criminal Law from 1994 to 1997.  Her work was published widely in local and international journals.

Ms. Migiro served as a member of Tanzania’s Law Reform Commission in 1997 and as a member of the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women in 2000.

Ms. Migiro obtained a Master of Laws from the University of Dar es Salaam in 1984 and a doctorate in law from the University of Konstanz, in Germany, in 1992.

Ms. Migiro was born in Songea, Tanzania, on 9 July 1956.  She is married to Professor Cleophas Migiro and has two daughters.   In addition to English, she speaks Kiswahili, basic French and German.

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