Nozipho Mxakato-Diseko (1 November 1956) is a South African diplomat. She is currently the United Nations Ambassador for South Africa. [1] For the Paris Agreement, Mxakato-Diseko was the leader of the G77 bloc during negotiations. [2]
Nozipho Mxakato-Diseko (1 November 1956) is a South African diplomat. She is currently the United Nations Ambassador for South Africa. [1] For the Paris Agreement, Mxakato-Diseko was the leader of the G77 bloc during negotiations. [2]
Mxakato-Diseko was born in Johannesburg on 1 November 1956. [3] She attended Somerville College, Oxford and has a doctorate in philosophy which she earned in 1991. [4] [3]
Mxakato-Diseko worked as a campaigner for the African National Congress (ANC) and also as an activist in Soweto for the ANC. [5] [3] She also raised money for the British Defence and Aid Fund. [3]
Mxakato-Diseko began as a representative of South Africa at the International Atomic Energy Agency in the mid-1990s. [5] She has been the South African negotiator since 2011. [4]
In 2024, Mxakato-Diseko was appointed by United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres to co-chair the Panel on Critical Energy Transition Minerals, alongside Ditte Juul Jørgensen. [6]
Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki is a South African politician who served as the 2nd democratic president of South Africa from 14 June 1999 to 24 September 2008, when he resigned at the request of his party, the African National Congress (ANC). Before that, he was deputy president under Nelson Mandela from 1994 to 1999.
The Group of 77 (G77) at the United Nations (UN) is a coalition of developing countries, designed to promote its members' collective economic interests and create an enhanced joint negotiating capacity in the United Nations. The group consists of a diverse set of states with a common South-South ideology. There were 77 founding members of the organization headquartered in Geneva, but it has since expanded to 134 member countries. Iraq holds its chairmanship for 2025, succeeding Uganda.
Roelof Frederik "Pik" Botha, was a South African politician who served as the country's foreign minister in the last years of the apartheid era, the longest-serving in South African history. Known as a liberal within the party, Botha served to present a friendly, conciliatory face on the regime, while criticised internally. He was a leading contender for the leadership of the National Party upon John Vorster's resignation in 1978, but was ultimately not chosen. Staying in the government after the first non-racial general election in 1994, he served under Mandela as Minister of Mineral and Energy Affairs from 1994 to 1996.
Hilde Frafjord Johnson is a Norwegian politician from the Christian Democratic Party. She is a former Minister of International Development of Norway, and member of the Norwegian Government. She most recently served as the Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Mission in the Republic of South Sudan, completing her term in July 2014
Valli Moosa is a veteran of the South African freedom struggle. He worked closely with Nelson Mandela during the settlement talks, served as negotiator for the ANC, and participated in drafting the South African Constitution. Valli served in President Mandela's cabinet as Minister of Constitutional Development, and in President Mbeki's government as Environment Minister. He joined the corporate sector in 2004 and currently serves as Chairperson for WWF(SA) and as Chairperson of the Constitution Hill Trust He has previously served on the boards of Anglo Platinum, Eskom, Sanlam and Sappi Ltd. Valli served as a facilitator in the global climate change negotiations for a number of years. He previously served as President of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), as Chairman of the UN Commission on Sustainable Developmentand as Deputy Chairperson of South Africa's Presidential Climate Commission.
Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka is a South African politician and former United Nations official, who served as the Executive Director of UN Women with the rank of Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations.
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Geraldine Joslyn Fraser-Moleketi is a South African politician who was the Minister of Public Service and Administration from June 1999 to September 2008. Before that, from July 1996 to June 1999, she was Minister of Welfare and Population Development. She represented the African National Congress (ANC) in the National Assembly from 1994 to 2008 and is a former deputy chairperson of the South African Communist Party (SACP).
Samson Gwede Mantashe is a South African politician and former trade unionist who is currently serving as the Minister of Mineral and Petroleum Resources. He has been responsible for the mineral resources portfolio since February 2018, formerly as Minister of Mineral Resources from February 2018 to May 2019 and then as Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy from May 2019 to June 2024. He is also serving his second term as the national chairperson of the African National Congress (ANC).
María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés is an Ecuadorian linguist, poet, politician, and diplomat. Currently, is Executive Director of GWL Voices, an NGO dedicated to achieve a gender-equal multilateral system. She served as an advisor on biodiversity and indigenous peoples (1999-2005) and was the regional director for South America (2005-2007) at the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Espinosa Garcés was Ecuador's Minister of Foreign Affairs twice, from 2007 to 2008 and then from 2017 to 2018. She also served as ambassador and permanent representative to the United Nations in New York (2008-2009) and Geneva (2014-2017), and as Ecuador's Minister of National Defense (2012-2014). In June 2018, she was elected President of the United Nations General Assembly for the 73rd session by a two-thirds vote of the member states. Espinosa Garcés became the fourth woman in the seventy-three-year history of the United Nations to be elected President of the General Assembly. Besides her political career, she is also a poet and essayist.
Haile Menkerios is an Eritrean diplomat who served as the Head of the United Nations Office to the African Union (UNOAU) and as Special Representative to the African Union, at the level of Under-Secretary-General from 2013 until 2018. He was appointed to this position by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on 17 May 2013.
The events of the first and second rounds of the Zimbabwean presidential election, which Robert Mugabe of ZANU-PF won on 27 June 2008 after his challenger, Morgan Tsvangirai of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), withdrew from the process and declared it illegitimate, caused reactions from many international bodies. Other Zimbabwean groups have denounced the poll as well
Matsie Angelina "Angie" Motshekga is a South African politician and educator who is currently serving as the Minister of Defense and Military Veterans since 3 July 2024. She served as the acting president of the Republic of South Africa from the 17th August 2024, while President Cyril Ramaphosa attended the 44th Ordinary Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Southern African Development Community in Harare, Zimbabwe. Motshekga also served as the Minister of Basic Education from May 2009 to 2024. She was previously a Member of the Executive Council in the Gauteng provincial government. Motshekga is a member of the African National Congress. She is a former president of the party's women's league.
George Tuliameni Kalomoh is a Namibian politician and diplomat. He is a former ambassador of SWAPO to India, ambassador of Namibia to the United States of America, assistant secretary-general in the United Nations, and deputy minister of foreign affairs.
Billy Modise was a South African activist and diplomat. He was an African National Congress (ANC) veteran and ambassador.
Barbara Dallas Creecy is a South African politician and former anti-apartheid activist who has been the Minister of Transport since July 2024. She was formerly the Minister of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries between 2019 and 2024. She is a member of the National Executive Committee and National Working Committee of the African National Congress (ANC).
Grace Tsitsi Mutandiro is a diplomat from Zimbabwe who is a Commissioner of the Public Service Commission until November 2020. She was also Ambassador to Austria serving concurrently with appointments to the Czech Republic and Slovakia and was also Zimbabwe's Permanent Representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the United Nations Organisation on Crime and Drugs (UNODC), United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO). She went on to serve as Secretary for Lands and Rural Resettlement since 2015, and then Secretary for Environment, Water and Climate from 2017 to 2018.
Tandi Mahambehlala is a South African politician who has served as the Deputy Minister of Human Settlements since 3 July 2024. She was the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Tourism from 2021. A member of the African National Congress (ANC), she served as the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on International Relations and Cooperation from 2019 to 2021. Mahambehlala was Deputy Minister of Communications between 2017 and 2018. She has been a Member of Parliament since 2014.
Sankie Dolly Mthembi-Mahanyele, formerly known as Sankie Mthembi-Nkondo or Sankie Nkondo, is a South African politician, diplomat, and former anti-apartheid activist. She was the Minister of Housing from 1995 to 2003 and served as Deputy Secretary-General of the African National Congress (ANC) from 2002 to 2007.
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