Tanzania’s Migiro ensures African voice at UN helm

DAR ES SALAAM – Tanzanian diplomat Asha-Rose Migiro, who takes up her post this week as deputy head of the United Nations, is a former academic who has enjoyed a meteoric rise in a brief political career.

Only six years after entering the Tanzanian cabinet, she was chosen by the new South Korean Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to be his deputy becoming only the second woman ever to hold such a senior position within the world body. The 50-year-old’s appointment also ensures Africa retains a voice at the apex of the organisation after Ghana’s Kofi Annan stepped down as secretary general at the end of last year.Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete, who appointed Migiro as foreign minister barely a year ago, paid tribute to a woman who has gained a reputation for diligence and competence.”Dr Migiro is a serious and very hardworking person,” Kikwete said after she was named to the post.”I am sure that she is going to discharge her duties very well at the UN.”Issa Shivji, a retired professor of law who worked with Migiro at the University of Dar es Salaam, said he had been stunned by the appointment but there was no doubting her talents.”I knew her as a humble, brilliant and hardworking student and later she was my colleague at the faculty of law.But her appointment was a pleasant surprise,” said Shivji.Migiro’s academic career came to an end six years ago when she entered the cabinet.She managed to steer clear of controversy in her time as minister for community development, gender and children.Her reputation as a safe pair of hands helped land her the job of foreign minister.The vacancy at UN headquarters in New York arose late last year after British diplomat Mark Malloch Brown decided not to seek a further term.As Ban’s deputy, Migiro is expected to play a key role in overseeing an extensive round of reforms within the United Nations.Ban has already called for internal UN reform to enhance accountability, in particular over senior managers, and greater transparency in UN procurement.Asked about her own priorities, Migiro has said she wants to use her experiences to help bring about an end to conflict in impoverished areas.”Without peace, development cannot be achieved,” she said.Migiro was born on July 7 1956, in the southern Tanzanian town of Songea.Her father was a district commissioner in the then-British colonial government.She enrolled at the University of Dar es Salaam in 1977, where she studied law.She then embarked on an academic career at the same university before obtaining her doctorate at Konstanz university in Germany.Migiro is married to an engineering professor, Cleophas Migiro, and they have two daughters.Nampa-AFPThe 50-year-old’s appointment also ensures Africa retains a voice at the apex of the organisation after Ghana’s Kofi Annan stepped down as secretary general at the end of last year.Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete, who appointed Migiro as foreign minister barely a year ago, paid tribute to a woman who has gained a reputation for diligence and competence.”Dr Migiro is a serious and very hardworking person,” Kikwete said after she was named to the post.”I am sure that she is going to discharge her duties very well at the UN.”Issa Shivji, a retired professor of law who worked with Migiro at the University of Dar es Salaam, said he had been stunned by the appointment but there was no doubting her talents.”I knew her as a humble, brilliant and hardworking student and later she was my colleague at the faculty of law.But her appointment was a pleasant surprise,” said Shivji.Migiro’s academic career came to an end six years ago when she entered the cabinet.She managed to steer clear of controversy in her time as minister for community development, gender and children.Her reputation as a safe pair of hands helped land her the job of foreign minister.The vacancy at UN headquarters in New York arose late last year after British diplomat Mark Malloch Brown decided not to seek a further term.As Ban’s deputy, Migiro is expected to play a key role in overseeing an extensive round of reforms within the United Nations.Ban has already called for internal UN reform to enhance accountability, in particular over senior managers, and greater transparency in UN procurement.Asked about her own priorities, Migiro has said she wants to use her experiences to help bring about an end to conflict in impoverished areas.”Without peace, development cannot be achieved,” she said.Migiro was born on July 7 1956, in the southern Tanzanian town of Songea.Her father was a district commissioner in the then-British colonial government.She enrolled at the University of Dar es Salaam in 1977, where she studied law.She then embarked on an academic career at the same university before obtaining her doctorate at Konstanz university in Germany.Migiro is married to an engineering professor, Cleophas Migiro, and they have two daughters.Nampa-AFP