Tehmina Janjua () is a retired

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

career diplomat A diplomat (from ; romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state, intergovernmental, or nongovernmental institution to conduct diplomacy with one or more other states or international organizations. The main functions of diplomats a ...

who served in BPS-22 grade (highest attainable rank for a serving officer) as the

Foreign Secretary of Pakistan The Foreign Secretary of Pakistan (Urdu: ) is the Federal Secretary (Pakistan), Federal Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Pakistan), Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Secretary, as in all other ministries of Government of Pakistan, is ...

. She is a member of the

Islamabad Policy Research Institute The Islamabad Policy Research Institute (IPRI) is a think tank based in Islamabad, Pakistan. It was established in 1999. It is affiliated with the National Security Division (NSD) of the government of Pakistan. IPRI focuses on datafication, di ...

's Board of Governors. Among her other notable appointments, was her position as Pakistan's Representative to the United Nations in Geneva and as ambassador to

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, with concurrent accreditation to

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

San Marino San Marino, officially the Republic of San Marino, is a landlocked country in Southern Europe, completely surrounded by Italy. Located on the northeastern slopes of the Apennine Mountains, it is the larger of two European microstates, microsta ...

and

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

Education

After studying French literature at the

Quaid-e-Azam University Quaid-i-Azam University (QAU), founded as the University of Islamabad, is a Public university, public research university in Islamabad, Pakistan. Founded as the University of Islamabad in 1967, it was initially dedicated to postgraduate educat ...

, Janjua joined the

Foreign Service of Pakistan The Foreign Service of Pakistan () is part of the Central Superior Services of Pakistan. It was formally created in October 1952, after having been an improvised organization since the creation and independence of Pakistan in 1947. Its old name ...

in 1984. She later went on to receive a Masters in International Affairs from the

School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University The School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) is the international affairs and public policy school of Columbia University, a private Ivy League university located in Morningside Heights, Manhattan, New York City. SIPA offers Master of I ...

(SIPA), in 1989.

Career

The first major career appointment that Tehmina Janjua had was from 1986 to 1987, as the desk officer to the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

and

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural and socio-economic connotations. Its eastern boundary is marked by the Ural Mountain ...

in the Foreign Office. In 1989, she served as the acting director of the Office of the National Security Adviser. Following her time at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Islamabad, Janjua completed her first mission abroad as the Second Secretary and then the First Secretary of the Permanent Mission of Pakistan to the United Nations, New York from 1990 to 1995. After returning to Pakistan for a year to serve as Director Foreign Secretary's Office, Janjua was posted to Geneva as Counsellor Pakistan Mission to the United Nations and Other International Organizations in 1996. During her time as Counsellor, she represented

at the Organization of Islamic Conference in March 1997, reiterating the importance of promoting a better image of

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

and

Muslims Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

. The following year at a commission on human rights in April, on the topic of Kashmir she brought up the right to self-determination and the need for protecting individuals against human rights abuses. When her time as Counsellor 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 ...

ended, she returned to

to serve as the Director Minister of State for Foreign Affairs' Office in 2000. A few years later, in 2004 she served as Director at the Foreign Secretary's Office. In April 2004, while representing

at 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 ...

, Tehmina Janjua spoke in support of women’s rights, detailing Pakistan’s efforts to empower women politically and economically. The following year, her experience was utilized as Deputy Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the United Nations and Other International Organizations, in Geneva until 2009. From 2009 till 2011, Janjua served as the Director General of Strategic Planning in the Foreign Secretary's Office. After replacing Abdul Basit in February 2011, Janjua became the Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan. As Spokesperson, Janjua provided important details of the safe return of Pakistanis from Libya, the on-going Indo-Pak talks and the drone strikes initiated by the United States during her term. She served as the Ambassador of Pakistan to

between December 2011 and October 2015. On 6 October 2015, Janjua became Pakistan's envoy to the UN Office in

. In December 2016, she became the first woman, and the first developing country representative, to preside over the

Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons The United Nations Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW or CCWC), concluded at Geneva on October 10, 1980, and entered into force in December 1983, seeks to prohibit or restrict the use of certain conventional weapons which are cons ...

Foreign Secretary of Pakistan

In February 2017,

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif (born 25 December 1949) is a Pakistani politician and businessman who served as the 12th prime minister of Pakistan for three non-consecutive terms, first serving from 1990 to 1993, then from 1997 to 1999 and later ...

appointed Janjua as Pakistan's Foreign Secretary, succeeding

Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry (born 27 February 1958) is a Pakistani diplomat and Director General of Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad. He served as the Ambassador of Pakistan to the United States and was succeeded by Ali Jehangir Siddiqui. Previ ...

. The appointment made Janjua the first woman to hold the highest ranking position in the

Ministry 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 relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...

. After serving as Foreign Secretary of Pakistan, Janjua was appointed the new envoy to China in April 2019.

External links

Tehmina Janjua interview with Al Jazeera

"Pakistan's Foreign Policy Issues" by the Foreign Secretary of Pakistan Ms. Tehmina Janjua

Ms. Tehmina Janjua- Foreign Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Government of Pakistan speaking on the ""Role of Pakistan in Regional Peace and Prosperity" at an International Conference "Shanghai Cooperation Organization; Future Prospects and Regional Connectivity"

Ru Baroo (Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua Exclusive) – 2 July 2017 , Aaj News

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Janjua, Tehmina Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Ambassadors of Pakistan to Albania Ambassadors of Pakistan to Italy Ambassadors of Pakistan to San Marino Ambassadors of Pakistan to Slovenia Female foreign ministers Foreign secretaries of Pakistan Pakistani women ambassadors Permanent representatives of Pakistan to the United Nations Quaid-i-Azam University alumni School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University alumni Women federal ministers of Pakistan