Dr Anna Kajumulo Tibaijuka

Dr Anna Tibaijuka is the first African woman elected by the UN General Assembly as Under-Secretary-General of a United Nations programme. She is currently serving a second, four-year term as Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN-HABITAT.

In July 2000 Dr Tibaijuka was appointed by UN Secretary General as Assistant-Secretary-General and Executive Director of the former United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (UNCHS). Due to her efforts for raising awareness about the global challenge of chaotic urbanization and inspiring a new strategic vision, the UNCHS was upgraded to the United Nations Programme on Human Settlements (UN-HABITAT) by the General Assembly in December 2001 and Dr Tibaijuka was elected as its first Executive Director.

Dr Tibaijuka is a member of the World Health Organization Commission on the Social Determinants of Health, and a member of the Advisory Board of the Commission on the Legal Empowerment of the Poor. She has also served as Special Envoy to the Secretary General on Human Settlements Issues in Zimbabwe following massive evictions of the poor in urban areas in 2005.

Prior to joining the UN, Dr Tibaijuka pursued an active academic career as a Professor at the University of Dar es Salaam. She has authored various books and research papers on agriculture and rural development, farming systems, food policy, agricultural marketing and trade, sustainable development, social services delivery, gender and land issues, and environmental economics. She is the recipient of honorary doctorate degrees from the University of McGill in Canada, University College London, and Herriot Watt in Scotland.

She was appointed to the Aga Khan University Board of Trustees in January 2010.