Rachel N. MAYANJA is UN Secretary General’s Special Adviser
by Ugandan Diaspora Team | April 8, 2011 1:00 pm
Ugandan National Ms. Rachel Mayanja, the Secretary-General’s Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women since November 2004, is a long-serving career international civil servant with vast experience in normative, policy and operational work of the United Nations including peace-building, peace-keeping and inter-agency collaboration.
Ms. Mayanja’s career with the UN started in the Women’s Division shortly after the first World Conference in Mexico in the midst of sensitization of the world to women’s right to equality, development and peace. As Secretary to the drafting committee of the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, she was actively involved in the establishment of this landmark legal instrument.
Ms. Mayanja actively participated in peace-building and peacekeeping missions, first with the United Nations Transition Assistance Group (UNTAG) in Namibia from 1989 to1990 and later in the United Nations Iraq/Kuwait Observation Mission (UNIKOM) from 1992 to1994. This first hand knowledge proved essential in her role as the Secretary-General’s Special Adviser, especially in the area of women, peace and security.
Immediately before assuming the position of Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women, Ms. Mayanja served as Director of Human Resources Management Division at the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). She was instrumental in the introduction of Human Resources Management reforms at FAO. The challenges faced by FAO were shared by other agencies as well as the Secretariat. Ms. Mayanja’s leadership and management style, founded in consensus-building and teamwork, were critical to the smooth implementation of human resources management reforms not only in FAO but at the UN system-wide level.
Ms Mayanja, a national of Uganda, obtained law degree from Makarere University, as well as Master’s Degree in Law from the Harvard University Law School.
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