41 Facts About Amina Mohamed

Amina Chawahir Mohamed Jibril, born 5 October 1961, is a former Kenyan cabinet secretary, lawyer and a diplomat of Somali descent.

Amina Mohamed is the immediate former Cabinet Secretary for Sports, Heritage and Culture in Kenya.

Amina Mohamed previously served as chairwoman of the International Organization for Migration and the World Trade Organization's General Council, as well as Assistant Secretary-General and Deputy Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme.

Amina Mohamed served as the Cabinet Secretary for Foreign Affairs of Kenya from May 2013 to February 2018, when President Uhuru Kenyatta, after re-election, moved her to the Education docket.

Amina Mohamed's family belongs to the Dhulbahante clan, and hails from the Sool region in Somalia.

Amina Mohamed spent her childhood in a modest household in Amalemba, Kakamega, where she passed much of her time reading Sherlock Holmes stories and other detective fiction.

Amina Mohamed's mother believed strongly in the importance of education, and would frequently drop by her classes to monitor her performance.

Amina Mohamed completed the institution's courses, earning a Master of Laws in international law.

Amina Mohamed later obtained a Postgraduate Diploma in international relations from the University of Oxford.

In 2002, Amina Mohamed married Khalid Ahmed, a fellow Somali to whom she credits a lot of her success.

Amina Mohamed is multilingual, speaking her native Somali as well as English, Russian and Swahili, with a working knowledge of French.

Amina Mohamed began her career in 1985 as a legal officer at the Kenyan Ministry of Local Government.

Amina Mohamed's duties included assessing World Bank projects and tabling municipal by-laws.

Between 1986 and 1990, Amina Mohamed served as a Legal Advisor in Kenya's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where she drafted and negotiated various bilateral and international treaties.

From 1990 to 1993, Amina Mohamed served as a Legal Advisor to Kenya's mission at the UN head office in Geneva, Switzerland.

Amina Mohamed took a brief sabbatical to pursue higher studies in the UK, before returning to diplomatic service in Geneva.

In 1997, Amina Mohamed began serving as Legal Advisor to the Kenyan delegation at the UN Security Council.

Between 2000 and 2006, Amina Mohamed worked as the Ambassador and Permanent Representative for the Kenya diplomatic mission in Geneva.

Amina Mohamed was the chairperson, coordinator and spokesperson for the African Group in the WTO's Human Rights Commission.

In 2002, Amina Mohamed served as president of the Conference on Disarmament and was appointed the first female chairperson of the International Organization for Migration.

Amina Mohamed chaired the Trade Policy Review Body in 2003, and served as the chairman of the Dispute Settlement Body in 2004.

In 2005, Amina Mohamed became the first woman to chair the WTO's General Council.

Amina Mohamed was a Member of the Executive Boards and Committees of the WIPO, ILO, WHO, UNCTAD, UNHCR and UNAIDS from 2001 to 2005.

Between 2006 and 2007, Amina Mohamed served as Director for both Europe and Commonwealth Countries as well as Diaspora matters for Kenya.

Amina Mohamed chaired the Department of Foreign Trade and Economic Affairs' Committee on Strengthening and Restructuring.

Amina Mohamed was the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Justice, National Cohesion and Constitutional Affairs of Kenya from 2008 to 2011.

In July 2011, Amina Mohamed was named Assistant Secretary-General and Deputy Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme.

On 23 April 2013, Amina Mohamed was appointed Kenya's Cabinet Secretary for Foreign Affairs, one of 18 Cabinet Secretary nominees to the new Uhuru Kenyatta administration.

Amina Mohamed was later sworn into office on 20 May 2013 at Sagana State Lodge.

Amina Mohamed is currently the chairwoman of the World Trade Organization Ministerial Conference.

In 2017, Amina Mohamed was nominated by President Uhuru Kenyatta to serve as chair of the African Union Commission.

Amina Mohamed was the only African personally invested at the event with the award, the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun.

At the time, CNBC wrote that Amina Mohamed was "known as an excellent strategist with proven negotiation and managerial skills".

On 20 May 2017, it was reported that Amina Mohamed had met with Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov in Beijing, afterwards stating that she felt the meetings signaled possible renewed engagements between Kenya and Russia.

Amina Mohamed pledged to continue with the reforms initiated by her predecessor Dr Fred Matiang'i.

At the Education Ministry, Amina Mohamed Mohammed was lauded for the administration of the 2018 national examinations.

Amina Mohamed devised and implemented a Special Needs Education policy and restructured the Higher Education Loans Board, which provides student loans in Kenya.

In March 2019, President Kenyatta appointed Amina Mohamed to be the Cabinet Secretary for Sports, Heritage and Culture, replacing the fired Rashid Echesa.

Amina Mohamed has called for more resource allocation to the Sports Ministry.

On 7 July 2020, Amina Mohamed was nominated by Kenya for the position of WTO Director-General.

Amina Mohamed proceeded to the second round of the selection process, and was long seen as a frontrunner in diplomatic circles.