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Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN Women​

Now in her second term, she was first sworn into office on 19 August 2013. As the head of the UN entity dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women, she is a global advocate and has led the organization’s innovative work on the disruption of society’s norms. Through coalition and movement building among global leaders in public and private sectors, and with civil society, she is driving the role of women in leadership, and ending discrimination and violence against women and girls. Before joining UN Women, she served in the Mandela Government as Minister of Minerals and Energy, and subsequently Deputy President, working on the fight against HIV/AIDS and coordinating efforts between the private sector, civil society and government to tackle poverty and education issues. Ms. Mlambo-Ngcuka also worked as a teacher and gained international experience as a coordinator at the World YWCA in Geneva, where she established a global program for young women. 

She is the founder of the Umlambo Foundation, which supports leadership and education.