Athaliah Molokomme was the

attorney general In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

Botswana Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory part of the Kalahari Desert. It is bordered by South Africa to the sou ...

until 2017 and is the first woman to hold that position. Molokomme has been committed to advocacy for women's rights at conferences, workshops, and seminars around the world. Dr. Athaliah Molokomme was appointed as Permanent Representative of Botswana to the UN in Geneva and Ambassador to Switzerland in May 2018.

Early life and education

Athaliah Maoka Lesiba Molokomme was born on 4 December 1959 in

Francistown Francistown is the second-largest city in Botswana, with a population of about 103,417 inhabitants and 147,122 inhabitants in its agglomeration at the 2022 census. It is located in eastern Botswana, about north-northeast from the capital, Gabo ...

. She was the second of nine children born to teachers Imelda Mishodzi Molokomme and Rufus Oka Kabiwa Molokomme. Molokomme holds degrees from the

University of Botswana The University of Botswana (UB) was established in 1982, as the first institution of higher education in Botswana. The university currently has three campuses: one in the capital city Gaborone, one in Francistown, and another in Maun. The Unive ...

and

Swaziland Eswatini, formally the Kingdom of Eswatini, also known by its former official names Swaziland and the Kingdom of Swaziland, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. It is bordered by South Africa on all sides except the northeast, where ...

. In 1983, she obtained a master's degree in law from

Yale Law School Yale Law School (YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824. The 2020–21 acceptance rate was 4%, the lowest of any law school in the United ...

in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. She also obtained a PhD in law from

Leiden University Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; ) is a Public university, public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. Established in 1575 by William the Silent, William, Prince of Orange as a Protestantism, Protestant institution, it holds the d ...

. Her thesis, ''Children of the Fence: The maintenance of extra-marital children under law and practice in

'', was published soon after.

Education

She has a Bachelor of Laws from the university of

and

; a Masters in Law from Yale Law School,

USA The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

and a Doctorate in Law from

, the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. She attained a Diploma in International Commercial Arbitration from the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators,

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. She was a senior lecturer at the

from 1981 to 1996.

Career

Molokomme has worked as a politician and a professor. Between 1981 and 1996, she taught law as a senior lecturer at the

, and has researched and published extensively in the fields of family law, women and law, customary law and employment law. Since the 1990s Molokomme has been a regular speaker at national, regional and international conferences, workshops and seminars in her areas of expertise. She is a founding member of several organisations, such as ''Emang Basadi'', ''Women and Law in Southern Africa'' (WLSA), and ''Women, Law and Development International'' (WLDI). From July 1998, she was the founding head of the Gender Unit at the Secretariat of the

Southern African Development Community The Southern African Development Community (SADC) is an inter-governmental organization headquartered in Gaborone, Botswana. Goals The SADC's goal is to further regional socio-economic cooperation and integration as well as political and se ...

, where she was an advisor on gender issues and developed policies and programmes on the empowerment of women and gender mainstreaming, until May 2003 when she was appointed a judge of the High Court of

. She later served as a co-chair of the

World Trade Organisation The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an intergovernmental organization headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland that regulates and facilitates international trade. Governments use the organization to establish, revise, and enforce the rules that g ...

's Trade and Gender Informal Working Group with Einar Gunnarson and Ana Patricia Benedetti Zelaya. She had stepped down by 2023 when Simon Manley and Clara Manuela da Luz Delgado Jesus joined as co-chairs of the Working Group. She was the first female attorney general of

in 2005. In April 2014 it was expected that Molokomme would resign from her position as attorney general to contest the presidency of the

International Criminal Court Assembly of State Parties The International Criminal Court (ICC) is an intergovernmental organization and International court, international tribunal seated in The Hague, Netherlands. It is the first and only permanent international court with jurisdiction to prosecute ...

, but she did not resign. Molokomme is an active member of th
Justice Leadership Initiative
Ambassador and Permanent Representative of

to the UN and other International Organizations in

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

. ''“In Setswana, we say ‘go ruta mosadi ke go ruta sechaba’ meaning that ‘to educate a woman is to educate a nation’.”'' - Athaliah Molokomme, Speech at the Embassy of

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, The Hague, 10 March 2014 on

International Women's Day International Women's Day (IWD) is celebrated on 8 March, commemorating women's fight for equality and liberation along with the women's rights movement. International Women's Day gives focus to issues such as gender equality, reproductive righ ...

. She serves on several Boards including the Africa Group on Justice and Accountability; the Advisory Council of the

International Nuremberg Principles Academy The International Nuremberg Principles Academy (also called "Nuremberg Academy", German: "Internationale Akademie Nürnberger Prinzipien") is a civil-law foundation dedicated to the advancement of international criminal law and related human rig ...

; the Justice Leadership Group and Justice Rapid Response.

Publications

* Molokomme, A. and Takirambudde P. N. (1994). ''The New Labour Law in Botswana'' * Molokomme, A. (1991). ''" Children of the fence": the maintenance of extra-marital children under law and practice in Botswana'' (No. 46). African Studies Centre. * Molokomme, A. (1990). Disseminating family law reforms: Some lessons from Botswana. ''The Journal of Legal Pluralism and Unofficial Law'', ''23''(30-31), 303–329. * Molokomme, A. (1989).''The multi-party system in Botswana'' * Molokomme, A. and Kethusegile B. M. ''Sadc Gender Monitor'' * Molokomme, A. (1986). Custom, Law and Ethnicity: Effects on the Status of Women in Botswana. ''Canadian Woman Studies''.

Honors and awards

Among the awards she has received are the Women's Human Rights Award from Women, Law and Development International in 1993, and the Presidential Order of Meritorious Service for Exceptional Service to

in 1999.

References