Pascaline Mferri Bongo Ondimba (born 10 April 1956David E. Gardinier and Douglas A. Yates, ''Historical Dictionary of Gabon'' (2006), third edition, page 45.) is a

Gabon Gabon ( ; ), officially the Gabonese Republic (), is a country on the Atlantic coast of Central Africa, on the equator, bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north, the Republic of the Congo to the east and south, and ...

ese politician. Under her father, President

Omar Bongo Omar Bongo Ondimba (born Albert-Bernard Bongo; 30 December 1935 – 8 June 2009) was a Gabonese politician who was the second president of Gabon from 1967 until Death and state funeral of Omar Bongo, his death in 2009. A member of the Gabonese De ...

, she was

Minister of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and foreign relations, relations, diplomacy, bilateralism, ...

from 1992 to 1994 and Director of the Cabinet of the President from 1994 to 2009.

Background and political career

Born at

Franceville Franceville is one of the four largest cities in Gabon, with a population of 110,568 at the 2013 census. It lies on the Mpassa River and at the end of the Trans-Gabon Railway and the N3 road. It grew from a village named Masuku. Overview P ...

, in 1956, Pascaline Bongo is the eldest daughter of Omar Bongo and Louise Mouyabi Moukala. Pascaline Bongo was appointed as Personal Adviser to the President of the Republic in 1987"Gabon President's Daughter Debuts at UN as Minister of Foreign Affairs"
''Jet'', 4 November 1991, pages 10–11. and entered the government as Minister of Foreign Affairs in June 1991. President Bongo had entrusted the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to close relatives since 1981. Pascaline's immediate predecessor in that post was her half-brother

Ali Bongo Ali Bongo Ondimba (born Alain-Bernard Bongo; 9 February 1959) also known as Ali Ben Bongo is a Gabonese former politician and dictator who was the third president of Gabon from 2009 until he was deposed in a 2023 Gabonese coup d'état, coup in 2 ...

, who was several years younger than Pascaline and had been rendered ineligible for a ministerial post by a constitutional age requirement. In her first address 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 ...

later in 1991, she praised the expulsion of Iraqi forces from

Kuwait Kuwait, officially the State of Kuwait, is a country in West Asia and the geopolitical region known as the Middle East. It is situated in the northern edge of the Arabian Peninsula at the head of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to Iraq–Kuwait ...

and expressed concern over violence in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. She welcomed reforms in South Africa, but also stressed that further steps were needed to fully eliminate the

apartheid Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...

system. Noting the collapse of socialism in the

Warsaw Pact The Warsaw Pact (WP), formally the Treaty of Friendship, Co-operation and Mutual Assistance (TFCMA), was a Collective security#Collective defense, collective defense treaty signed in Warsaw, Polish People's Republic, Poland, between the Sovi ...

countries, she said that the world was witnessing rapid change, but she emphasized Gabon's view that the economic gulf between developed and developing countries—the global "north" and "south"—was "the real problem". Pascaline Bongo remained Minister of Foreign Affairs until March 1994, when President Bongo appointed

Jean Ping Jean Ping (; born 24 November 1942)
Bob Marley Robert Nesta Marley (6 February 1945 – 11 May 1981) was a Jamaican singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Considered one of the pioneers of reggae, he fused elements of reggae, ska and rocksteady and was renowned for his distinctive voca ...

in 1980–81, and talked about the relationship in the documentary film ''Marley'' (2012). Pascaline Bongo had a relationship with

Jean Ping Jean Ping (; born 24 November 1942)
Paul Toungui Paul Toungui (born 7 September 1950"Who's Who", Africa Intelligence, ''Gabon: Les Hommes de Pouvoir'', number 4, 5 March 2002 .) is a Gabonese politician who served in the government of Gabon from 1990 to 2012. He was Minister of Finance from 199 ...

, a prominent member of the government.Jean-Dominique Geslin
"La méthode Bongo"
''Jeune Afrique'', 5 January 2003 .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bongo Ondimba, Pascaline Bongo Ondimba, Pascaline Living people People from Haut-Ogooué Province Gabonese Democratic Party politicians Ministers for foreign affairs of Gabon Women government ministers of Gabon Children of presidents Female foreign ministers 20th-century women politicians Gabonese women diplomats 21st-century Gabonese politicians Bongo family 21st-century Gabonese women