Topic: Anna Tibaijuka

Dr. Anna Kajumulo Tibaijuka is an Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Director of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT). She is the highest ranking African woman in the UN System.

Born in Tanzania, Tibaijuka studied Agricultural Economics at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences in Uppsala and is fluent in English, Swahili, Swedish and French. She is the widow of the former Tanzanian ambassador Wilson Tibaijuka who died in 2000. She is the second highest ranking African woman in the UN after Dr Asha Rose Migiro, the Deputy UN Secretary General

From 1993 to 1998 Tibaijuka was Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Dar es Salaam. During this period she was also a member of the Tanzanian Government delegation to several United Nations Summits including the United Nations Conference on Human Settlements (Istanbul, 1996); the World Food Summit (Rome 1996); the Fourth World Conference on Women (Beijing 1995) and the World Summit for Social Development (Copenhagen, 1995). At the World Food Summit in Rome, she was elected Coordinator for Eastern Africa in the Network for Food Security, Trade and Sustainable Development (COASAD). Mrs. Tibaijuka has also been a Board Member of UNESCO's International Scientific Advisory Board since November 1997.