United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres announced today the appointment of Hanna Serwaa Tetteh of Ghana as his Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa. She succeeds Parfait Onanga-Anyanga of Gabon, to whom the Secretary-General reiterates his deep gratitude and appreciation for his dedicated service.
Ms. Tetteh brings to the position decades of experience at the national, regional and international levels, including well-honed skills in building consensus among stakeholders, which will allow her to strengthen the partnership between the United Nations and countries in the Horn of Africa, as well as with the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), in the area of peace and security.
Since 2019, she served as the Special Representative of the Secretary-General to the African Union and Head of the United Nations Office to the African Union (UNOAU). Before that, she was the Director-General of the United Nations Office at Nairobi. She also served in the Cabinet of the Government of Ghana as Minister for Foreign Affairs, during which time she was also a member of the National Security Council and the Armed Forces Council (2013-2017).
Ms. Tetteh was Minister for Trade and Industry between 2009 and 2013. From 2014 to 2015, she was the Chairperson of the Council of Ministers, as well as Chairperson of the Mediation and Security Council of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). During her term as Minister for Trade and Industry, she was a member of the Government’s economic management team, the board of the Millennium Development Authority and the National Development Planning Commission, as well as Chairperson of the Ghana Free Zones Board. In 2009, she served as Spokesperson for the transition team of President John Evans Atta Mills’ Administration.
A Member of Parliament in 2000-2005 and 2013-2017, she was appointed Co-Facilitator of the High-Level Forum for the Revitalisation of the Agreement for the resolution of the conflict in South Sudan (2017-2018).
Ms. Tetteh holds a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree from the University of Ghana, Legon. She was called to the Ghana Bar in 1992.
According to Wikipedia.com She was born in Szeged, Hungary, to a Ghanaian father and Hungarian mother. Her secondary education was at the Wesley Girls High School at Cape Coast in the Central Region of Ghana from 1978 to 1985. Between 1986 and 1989, she studied law at the University of Ghana where she obtained the Bachelor of Law (LL.B) degree. She then attended the Ghana School of Law, becoming a Barrister-at-Law in 1992.
Before her political emergence, Tetteh did her National Service as a Legal Officer with the International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA) from 1992 to 1993. After completing her National Service she worked in private legal practice with the Law firm Ansa-Asare and Company, of Hencil Chambers in Accra, Ghana.
After two years of private legal practice Tetteh joined the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice as a Legal Officer, but later that same year, she joined the Ghana Agro Food Company (GAFCO) as a Legal Adviser; GAFCO was a food processing company that produced wheat flour, poultry and animal feed, fish meal and canned tuna. The company also marketed other food and veterinary products and was in the Tema Harbour Area in Tema. She held other management positions in the company namely Human Resources and Legal Services Manager and thereafter Deputy General Manager (Finance and Administration Manager until she went into politics in 2000. After serving a term in Parliament she did not immediately contest for re-election and re-joined GAFCO as General Manager (Corporate, Administration and Legal) where she worked until December 2009.
She was named among the Inaugural List of 100 Most Influential African Women in 2019 by Avance Media.
Source: un.org / Wikipedia.com