Asha-Rose Mtengeti Migiro (born 9 July 1956) is a

Tanzanian Demographic features of the population of Tanzania include population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations, and other aspects of the population. The population distribution in Tan ...

politician and diplomat who was the

Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations The deputy secretary-general of the United Nations is the deputy to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, secretary-general of the United Nations. The office was created to handle many of the administrative responsibilities of the secretar ...

from 2007 to 2012. She was appointed as the United Nations Secretary-General's Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa on 13 July 2012.

Early life and education

Born at Songea in

Ruvuma Region Ruvuma Region (''Mkoa wa Ruvuma'' in Swahili language, Swahili) is one of Tanzania's 31 administrative Regions of Tanzania, regions. The region covers a land area of , comparable in size to the nation state of Latvia. The region is also bordered ...

, Migiro commenced her education at Mnazi Mmoja Primary School in 1963. She later moved on to Korogwe Primary School,

Weruweru Secondary School Weruweru Girls Secondary School (formerly known as Assumpta College) is a government secondary school in Moshi, Tanzania. History The school was established in September 1963 as Assumpta College and was officially inaugurated by Julius Nyerere, T ...

, and, finally, Korogwe Secondary School, where she graduated high school in 1975. She obtained her LL.B and LL.M from the

University of Dar es Salaam The University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM) (Swahili: ''Chuo Kikuu cha Dar es Salaam'') is a public university located in Ubungo District, Dar es Salaam Region, Tanzania. It was established in 1961 as an affiliate college of the University of London. ...

and her PhD in 1992 from the

University of Konstanz The University of Konstanz () is a university in the city of Konstanz in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Its main campus was opened on the Gießberg in 1972 after being founded in 1966. The university is Germany's southernmost university and is ...

in Germany. Before entering politics, she was a senior lecturer at the Faculty of Law at the University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM). She headed the Department of Constitution and Administrative Law from 1992 to 1994 and the Department of Civil and Criminal Law from 1994 to 1997.

Time in the Tanzanian government

Migiro served as a ward member of

Chama Cha Mapinduzi The Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM, ) is the dominant, ruling party in Tanzania and the second longest-ruling party in the history of Africa, only after the True Whig Party of Liberia. It was formed in 1977, following the merger of the Tanganyika A ...

from 1994 to 2000, and as a member of a Regional Executive Council from 2000 to 2005. From 2000 to 2006, she was the Minister of Community Development, Gender and Children's Affairs. She became the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation on 4 January 2006, when the previous foreign minister,

Jakaya Kikwete Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete (born 7 October 1950) is a Tanzanian politician who was the List of Presidents of Tanzania, fourth president of Tanzania, in office from 2005 to 2015. Prior to his election as president, he was the Ministry of Foreign Aff ...

, who had been elected president, appointed his new cabinet. She was the first woman in that position since the independence of the

United Republic of Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...

. While in the position of foreign minister, Migiro chaired the Council of Ministers' meetings of the International Conference of the Great Lakes Region and the Southern African Development Community(SADC) Ministerial Committee of the Organ on Politics, Defense and Security Cooperation. She coordinated SADC assistance to the elections in the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...

(DRC),

Zambia Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bor ...

and

Madagascar Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...

. She also served as President of the

United Nations Security Council The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, an ...

during its open debate on peace, security and development in the Great Lakes Region. Serving as foreign minister, Migiro accompanied the former president of the

Comoros The Comoros, officially the Union of the Comoros, is an archipelagic country made up of three islands in Southeastern Africa, located at the northern end of the Mozambique Channel in the Indian Ocean. Its capital and largest city is Moroni, ...

Azali Assoumani Azali Assoumani (; born 1 January 1959) is a Comorian politician and military officer who has served as the seventh President of the Comoros from 2002 to 2006 and again since 2016, except for a brief period in 2019. He became head of state after ...

, during a tour of his country's new consulate in Tanzania and inspected a Tanzanian hospital. According to United States officials,

Condoleezza Rice Condoleezza "Condi" Rice ( ; born November 14, 1954) is an American diplomat and political scientist serving since 2020 as the 8th director of Stanford University's Hoover Institution. A member of the Republican Party, she previously served ...

, the American Secretary of State, is "personally acquainted" with her. Kikwete appointed Bernard Membe to succeed Migiro as foreign minister in January 2007.

United Nations appointment

Migiro was appointed to the post of United Nations Deputy Secretary-General by

Ban Ki-moon Ban Ki-moon (born 13 June 1944) is a South Korean politician and diplomat who served as the eighth secretary-general of the United Nations between 2007 and 2016. Prior to his appointment as secretary-general, Ban was the South Korean minister ...

, the new

United Nations Secretary-General The secretary-general of the United Nations (UNSG or UNSECGEN) is the chief administrative officer of the United Nations and head of the United Nations Secretariat, one of the United Nations System#Six principal organs, six principal organs of ...

from

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

, on 5 January 2007. According to Ban, "She is a highly respected leader who has championed the cause of developing countries over the years..." He also said that "Through her distinguished service in diverse areas, she has displayed outstanding management skills with wide experience and expertise in socio-economic affairs and development issues." According to

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

, this was a fulfilment of his promise to pick a woman from the developing world for the post of Deputy Secretary-General. The UN News Centre noted that Migiro and Ban had worked together while they were foreign ministers of their respective countries. She was formally appointed and assumed office on 1 February 2007. During her time at the United Nations, Migiro was also a member of the Commission on Effective Development Cooperation with Africa which was set up by the

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Anders Fogh Rasmussen Anders Fogh Rasmussen (; born 26 January 1953) is a Danish politician who was the prime minister of Denmark from November 2001 to April 2009 and the Secretary General of NATO, secretary general of NATO from August 2009 to October 2014. He became ...

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

and held meetings between April and October 2008. In September 2009, she travelled to Rome and had a meeting with Italian foreign minister

Franco Frattini Franco Frattini (14 March 1957 – 24 December 2022) was an Italian politician and magistrate. He served as the President of the Council of State (Italy), Council of State from January to December 2022. Frattini previously served as Italian Min ...

and Pope

Benedict XVI Pope BenedictXVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger; 16 April 1927 – 31 December 2022) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until resignation of Pope Benedict XVI, his resignation on 28 Februar ...

to discuss

violence against women Violence against women (VAW), also known as gender-based violence (GBV) or sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), violent, violence primarily committed by Man, men or boys against woman, women or girls. Such violence is often considered hat ...

. United Nations representatives were reportedly preparing to finalise an initiative aimed at stopping the genital mutilation of women and genocide. Migiro served as Deputy Secretary-General until June 2012.

Later career

After serving at the United Nations, Migiro returned to Tanzania and was appointed cabinet minister in the cabinet of

. She later entered the race to become the CCM candidate in the 2015 presidential elections, but lost the nomination to the eventual winner

John Magufuli John Pombe Joseph Magufuli (29 October 1959 – 17 March 2021) was a Tanzanian politician who served as the fifth president of Tanzania, serving from 2015 until his death in 2021. He served as Minister of Works, Transport and Communications from ...

. President Magufuli appointed Migiro as High Commissioner to the United Kingdom in May 2016."Magufuli names Asha-Rose Migiro ambassador to UK"
''The Guardian'', 5 May 2016.

Personal life

She is married to Cleophas Migiro, and the couple has two daughters.

References

External links

UN Deputy Secretary-GeneralBan Ki-moon's full statement about Migiro's appointment

Literature by Migiro in the German National Library

United Nations Rule of Law: Message from the Chair
a message from the United Nations Deputy Secretary-General on the

rule of law The essence of the rule of law is that all people and institutions within a Body politic, political body are subject to the same laws. This concept is sometimes stated simply as "no one is above the law" or "all are equal before the law". Acco ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Migiro, Asha-Rose 1956 births Living people Chama Cha Mapinduzi MPs Nominated Tanzanian MPs Ministers of foreign affairs of Tanzania Female foreign ministers Female justice ministers Tanzanian officials of the United Nations Deputy secretaries-general of the United Nations Weruweru Secondary School alumni University of Dar es Salaam alumni University of Konstanz alumni Academic staff of the University of Dar es Salaam High commissioners of Tanzania to the United Kingdom 21st-century Tanzanian women politicians Women government ministers of Tanzania Tanzanian women diplomats Tanzanian women ambassadors Special Envoys of the Secretary-General of the United Nations