Amina Jane Mohammed (born 27 June 1961) is a Nigerian-British diplomat and politician who is serving as the 5th

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 ...

. Previously, she was Nigerian Minister of Environment from 2015 to 2016 and was a player in the

Post-2015 Development Agenda In the United Nations, the Post-2015 Development Agenda was a set of talks and discussions that led to the creation of the 2016 Sustainable Development Goals. This replaced the 2015 Millennium Development Goals. In January 2013, the 30-member UN ...

process. She is also Chair of

United Nations Sustainable Development Group The United Nations Sustainable Development Group (UNSDG), previously the United Nations Development Group (UNDG), is a group of 37 United Nations funds, programmes, specialized agencies, departments and offices that play a role in development. I ...

Early life and education

Amina Jane Mohammed was born in

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

, England, on 27 June 1961 to a

Fulani The Fula, Fulani, or Fulɓe people are an ethnic group in Sahara, Sahel and West Africa, widely dispersed across the region. Inhabiting many countries, they live mainly in West Africa and northern parts of Central Africa, South Sudan, Darfur, ...

Nigerian

veterinarian A veterinarian (vet) or veterinary surgeon is a medical professional who practices veterinary medicine. They manage a wide range of health conditions and injuries in non-human animals. Along with this, veterinarians also play a role in animal r ...

officer An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," fro ...

and a British nurse. She is the eldest of five daughters. Mohammed attended a primary school in

Kaduna Kaduna is the capital city of Kaduna State, and the former political capital of Northern Nigeria. It is located in north-western Nigeria, on the Kaduna River. It is a trade center and a major transportation hub as the gateway to northern state ...

and

Maiduguri Maiduguri ( ) is the capital and the largest city of Borno State in north-eastern Nigeria, on the continent of Africa. The city sits along the seasonal Ngadda River which disappears into the ''Firki'' swamps in the areas around Lake Chad. Maid ...

in Nigeria and

The Buchan School The Buchan School () is an independent primary school in Castletown in the south of the Isle of Man, catering for children aged 3–11. It is the junior school of King William's College. History The Buchan School was established in 1875 by Laura, ...

on the

Isle of Man The Isle of Man ( , also ), or Mann ( ), is a self-governing British Crown Dependency in the Irish Sea, between Great Britain and Ireland. As head of state, Charles III holds the title Lord of Mann and is represented by a Lieutenant Govern ...

. She further attended

Henley Management College Henley Business School is a business school which is affiliated with the University of Reading. It was formed by merging the previously independent Henley Management College (formerly the Administrative Staff College) with the existing business ...

in 1989 but she does not hold a formal bachelor's degree. After she finished her studies her father demanded she return to

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

Career

Between 1981 and 1991, Mohammed worked with Archcon Nigeria, an

architectural design Building design, also called architectural design, refers to the broadly based architectural, engineering and technical applications to the design of buildings. All building projects require the services of a building designer, typically a licen ...

firm in association with

Norman and Dawbarn Norman and Dawbarn (styled Norman & Dawbarn, and later, Norman + Dawbarn) was a British architectural and engineering practice, established in 1934. History The practice was formed by Graham Dawbarn and Nigel Norman in 1934. The practice was prec ...

United Kingdom. She founded Afri-Projects Consortium in 1991 and served as its Executive Director until 2001. From 2002 until 2005, Mohammed coordinated the Task Force on Gender and

Education Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education als ...

for the

United Nations Millennium Project The Grassington Millennium Project was an initiative that focused on detailing the organizational means, operational priorities, and financing structures necessary to achieve the Millennium Development Goals or (MDGs). The goals are aimed at the r ...

. Mohammed later acted as the Senior Special Assistant to the President of Nigeria on the

Millennium Development Goals In the United Nations, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were eight international development goals for the year 2015 created following the Millennium Summit, following the adoption of the United Nations Millennium Declaration. These w ...

(MDGs).In 2005, she was charged with the coordination of Nigeria's debt relief funds toward the achievement of the MDGs. Her mandate included designing a Virtual Poverty Fund with innovative approaches to poverty reduction, budget coordination and monitoring, as well as providing advice on pertinent issues regarding poverty, public sector reform and sustainable development. Amina Mohammed later became the founder and CEO of the Center for Development Policy Solutions and as an

adjunct professor An adjunct professor is a type of academic appointment in higher education who does not work at the establishment full-time. The terms of this appointment and the job security of the tenure vary in different parts of the world, but the term is gen ...

for the Master's in Development Practice program at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

. During that time, she served on numerous international advisory boards and panels, including the UN Secretary-General's High-level Panel on Post-2015 Development Agenda and the Independent Expert Advisory Group on the Data Revolution for Sustainable Development. She also chaired the Advisory Board of the

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

(UNESCO) Global Monitoring Report on Education (GME). From 2012, Mohammed was a key player in the

process, serving as the Special Adviser to UN Secretary-General

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 ...

on Post-2015 development planning. In this role, she acted as the link between the Secretary-General, his High Level Panel of Eminent Persons (HLP), and the

General Assembly A general assembly or general meeting is a meeting of all the members of an organization or shareholders of a company. Specific examples of general assembly include: Churches * General Assembly (presbyterian church), the highest court of presby ...

’s Open Working Group (OWG), among other stakeholders. From 2014, she also served on the Secretary-General's Independent Expert Advisory Group on the Data Revolution for Sustainable Development.

Minister of the Environment (2015–2017)

Mohammed served as Federal Minister of the Environment in the First Cabinet of President Muhammadu Buhari from November 2015 to February 2017. During that time, she was Nigeria's representative in the

African Union The African Union (AU) is a continental union of 55 member states located on the continent of Africa. The AU was announced in the Sirte Declaration in Sirte, Libya, on 9 September 1999, calling for the establishment of the African Union. The b ...

(AU) Reform Steering Committee, chaired by

Paul Kagame Paul Kagame ( ; born 23 October 1957) is a Rwandan politician and former military officer who has been the President of Rwanda since 2000. He was previously a commander of the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), a rebel armed force which invaded ...

. She resigned from the Nigerian Federal Executive Council on 24 February 2017. In 2017, Mohammed was accused by an advocacy group of granting illegal permits to Chinese firms to import endangered Nigerian timber during her term as Nigeria's environment minister. The Nigerian government has denied the claims.

Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations (2017–present)

In January 2017,

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 ...

António Guterres António Manuel de Oliveira Guterres (born 30 April 1949) is a Portuguese politician and diplomat who is serving as the ninth and current secretary-general of the United Nations since 2017. A member of the Socialist Party (Portugal), ...

announced his intention to appoint Mohammed

. In this capacity, she is a member of the UN Interagency Coordination Group on

Antimicrobial Resistance Antimicrobial resistance (AMR or AR) occurs when microbes evolve mechanisms that protect them from antimicrobials, which are drugs used to treat infections. This resistance affects all classes of microbes, including bacteria (antibiotic resista ...

(IACG).

Other activities

*Africa Europe Foundation (AEF), Member of the High-Level Group of Personalities on Africa-Europe Relations (since 2020) *Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data, member of the Board of Directors (since 2017) *

ActionAid ActionAid is an international non-governmental organization whose stated primary aim is to work against poverty and injustice worldwide. ActionAid is a federation of 45 country offices that works with communities, often via local partner organi ...

, International Right to Education Project, member of the Advisory Board *Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Member of the Global Development Program's Advisory Board. *

Hewlett Foundation The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, commonly known as the Hewlett Foundation, is a private foundation, established by Hewlett-Packard cofounder William Redington Hewlett and his wife Flora Lamson Hewlett in 1966. The Hewlett Foundation awa ...

, member of the Board *

International Development Research Centre The International Development Research Centre (IDRC; , ''CRDI'') is a Canadian federal Crown corporation. As part of Canada's foreign affairs and development efforts, IDRC champions and funds research and innovation within and alongside developi ...

, member of the Board of Governors *

International Gender Champions International Gender Champions (IGC) is a network of female and male leaders of member states, international organizations, and civil society working for gender equality. It is an initiative of Women@TheTable, and was founded in 2015 by Caitlin Kr ...

(IGC), Member *Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (ISTIC), member of the Advisory Board *

World Economic Forum The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental organization, international advocacy non-governmental organization and think tank, based in Cologny, Canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German ...

Young Global Leaders Forum of Young Global Leaders, or Young Global Leaders (YGL), is a non-profit organization. The organization was created by Klaus Schwab, founder of the World Economic Forum and is managed from Geneva, Switzerland, under the supervision of the Sw ...

, member of the Board

Recognition

*2006 –

Order of the Federal Republic The Order of the Federal Republic (OFR) is one of two orders of merit, established by the Nigeria, Federal Republic of Nigeria in 1963. It is senior to the Order of the Niger. The highest honours are the Grand Commander in the Order of the Fede ...

*2007 – Nigerian Women's Hall of Fame *2015 – Ford Family Notre Dame Award for International Development and Solidarity *2017 – Diplomat of the Year Awards *2018 –

Sarraounia Sarraounia Mangou was a chief/priestess of the animist Azna subgroup of the Hausa, who fought French colonial troops of the Voulet–Chanoine Mission at the Battle of Lougou (in present-day Niger) in 1899. Biography ''Sarraounia'' means '' ...

chieftaincy A tribal chief, chieftain, or headman is a leader of a tribal society or chiefdom. Tribal societies There is no definition for "tribe". The concept of tribe is a broadly applied concept, based on tribal concepts of societies of western Af ...

title of

Niger Niger, officially the Republic of the Niger, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is a unitary state Geography of Niger#Political geography, bordered by Libya to the Libya–Niger border, north-east, Chad to the Chad–Niger border, east ...

in 2018, installed by that country's Kings *2018 –

BBC 100 Women ''100 Women'' is a BBC multi-format series established in 2013. The annual series examines the role of women in the 21st century and has included events in London and Mexico. Announcement of the list is the start of an international "BBC's wome ...

for her work as deputy secretary general of the United Nations *2019 – Global Citizen Prize World Leader Award *2022 – Nigerian national honour

Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger The Order of the Niger (OON) is the second highest national award in Nigeria. It was instituted in 1963 and is junior to the Order of the Federal Republic, the highest order of merit in the country. Award The two highest honours, the Grand Co ...

()

Personal life

Mohammed's daughter, Nadine Ibrahim, is a film director. Mohammed is a Muslim.

The Amina Mohammed Skills Acquisition Centre

Amina J Muhammed Skills Acquisition Centre

The Amina Mohammed Skills Acquisition Centre which is located along the Gombe bye-pass was constructed by the

SDGs The ''2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development'', adopted by all United Nations (UN) members in 2015, created 17 world Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The aim of these global goals is "peace and prosperity for people and the planet" – wh ...

in partnership with the Government of Gombe in order to honour 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 ...

, Hajiya Amina Mohammed's contributions to social, political and cultural boundaries. The skills acquisition centre named after her seeks to offer instruments for economic empowerment and also to provide various life-skills trainings for young people in many areas of life.

Bibliography

*Kabir, Hajara Muhammad,. ''Northern women development''. igeria . .

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mohammed, Amina 1961 births Living people 21st-century Nigerian politicians 21st-century Nigerian women politicians British Muslims Columbia University faculty Deputy secretaries-general of the United Nations Grand Commanders of the Order of the Niger Nigerian expatriate academics in the United States Nigerian Muslims Nigerian officials of the United Nations Nigerian people of British descent Nigerian women academics Nigerian women company founders People from Gombe State People from Kaduna State Recipients of the Order of the Federal Republic