Collen Vixen Kelapile (born 10 July 1968, Maitengwe, Botswana) is the

ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or so ...

and permanent representative of

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 ...

to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

since 2018. On 23 July 2021 he was elected President of the

United Nations Economic and Social Council The United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) is one of six principal organs of the United Nations, responsible for coordinating the economic and social fields of the organization, specifically in regards to the fifteen specialized ...

for the 2022 session.

Early life and career

After attending Mengwe Primary School in Maitengwe and Molefi Secondary School in Kgatleng District, Kelapile undertook the mandatory Tirelo Sechaba programme in a rural area of Sojwe, Kweneng District, from 1989 to 1990, during which he was assigned to a medical clinic adjoining a team of practitioners, including social workers. He then moved to

Gaborone Gaborone ( , , ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Botswana, largest city of Botswana, with a population of 246,325 based on the 2022 census, about 10% of the total population of Botswana. Its metropolitan area is home to 534, ...

to attend 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 ...

from 1991 to 1995, obtaining a Bachelor's degree in public administration and political science. Kelapile began working at the Ministry of International Affairs and Cooperation as a desk officer in the United Nations section in 1995, before attending training at the Foreign Service Institute in

New Delhi, India New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...

, in 1996. Kelapile participated in a United Nations Department of Peace Operations seminar on the conduct of United Nations peacekeeping operations in

in 1997, having previously attended a workshop on record retention and disposal for action officers in 1996. He attended a

United Nations Institute for Training and Research The United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) is a dedicated training arm of the United Nations system. UNITAR provides training and capacity development activities to assist mainly developing countries with special attention ...

workshop on the United Nations budgetary process in 2000 and was among the participants in the United Nations resolutions on structure, drafting and adoption in 1999.

Diplomacy

He was moved to Permanent Mission of the Republic of Botswana to the United Nations in 1998, of which he later became second secretary for a period of two years and into counsellor in 2003. He served as a delegate to the Fifth Committee of the

United Nations General Assembly The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; , AGNU or AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as its main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ. Currently in its Seventy-ninth session of th ...

, and as vice-chair on the Bureau of the Fifth Committee at the 55th session of the General Assembly in 2001 as well as Vice-Chair of the Committee for Programme and Coordination at its 42nd session in 2002. He was also Coordinator of the African Group of Experts in the Fifth Committee until 2003. Kelapile has been active in multilateral diplomacy for more than 26 years, having served as a staff member of the

United Nations Secretariat The United Nations Secretariat is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), The secretariat is the UN's executive arm. The secretariat has an important role in setting the agenda for the deliberative and decision-making bodi ...

as a member of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions from 2004 to 2012, although, of which he was Vice-Chair from 2008 to 2011 and Chair from 2011 to 2012. He was Deputy Director of the Department of Africa and the Middle East in the Ministry of International Affairs and Cooperation of Botswana throughout the Africa regions from 2013 to 2014, and became Chief of Staff to the Executive-Secretary of the

United Nations Economic Commission for Africa The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA or ECA; , CEA) was established in 1958 by the United Nations Economic and Social Council to encourage economic cooperation among its member states (the nations of the Africa, African contin ...

Addis Ababa Addis Ababa (; ,) is the capital city of Ethiopia, as well as the regional state of Oromia. With an estimated population of 2,739,551 inhabitants as of the 2007 census, it is the largest city in the country and the List of cities in Africa b ...

from 2014 until he became Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Botswana to the United Nations in 2018. He is also concurrently Botswana's Ambassador to

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

and High Commissioner to

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

on a non-resident basis, and among other positions he has held was Vice-President of the Economic and Social Council for the 2021 session, co-chair of the Group of Friends on the Responsibility to Protect for the United Nations to 2023, co-chair of the Joint Steering Committee of the African Group-CARRICOM Caucus (of which he is also co-founder, together with the Permanent Representative of Grenada) since 2020.

Family

Kelapile is married and has a son. He is fluent in English,

Setswana Tswana, also known by its native name Setswana, is a Bantu language indigenous to Southern Africa and spoken by about 8.2 million people. It is closely related to the Northern Sotho and Southern Sotho languages, as well as the Kgalaga ...

and Ikalanga.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kelapile, Collen Vixen 1968 births Living people Permanent representatives of Botswana to the United Nations Ambassadors of Botswana to Cuba High commissioners of Botswana to Jamaica University of Botswana alumni