Dr Mlambo Ngcuka
Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka is the former United Nations Under- Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN Women, who completed her term in August 2021 after being sworn into office on 19 August 2013. Dr. Mlambo-Ngcuka was born and raised in KwaZulu-Natal.
Awarded a bachelor’s degree in the Arts and Education at the National University of Lesotho (awarded in 1980). She further obtained a qualification in Gender Policy and Planning from the University College London (in 1988), A master’s degree in philosophy and planning from the University of Cape Town (awarded in 2003), A doctorate in Technology and Education from Warwick University (awarded in 2013). She has authored several scholarly and other opinion pieces, including in the Harvard International Review. awarded Honorary Doctorates from the following South African institutions: Witwatersrand Technikon (2003) one of the precursor institutions of the University of Johannesburg (UJ), the University of the Western Cape (2007),
Dr. Mlambo-Ngcuka worked tirelessly on programmes and policies to reduce inequality as a member of the first democratically elected South African Parliament (1994 – 1996), then as Deputy Minister in the Department of Trade and Industry (1996 – 1999), Became Minister of Minerals and Energy (1999 – 2005), and finally a Deputy President of South Africa (2005 – 2008).
