Juliana Jocelyn Azumah-Mensah (born 15 June 1950) is a
Ghanaian
Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in Ghana–Ivory Coast border, the west, Burkina ...
politician
A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...
and
nurse
Nursing is a profession within the health care sector focused on the care of individuals, families, and communities so they may attain, maintain, or recover optimal health and quality of life. Nurses may be differentiated from other health c ...
. She was the
Minister for Women and Children's Affairs. She is also the
Member of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...
for
Ho East constituency.
Early life and education
Juliana Azumah-Mensah was born at
Koforidua
Koforidua, also popularly known as K-dua or Kofcity, is a city and the capital of Eastern Region in southern Ghana. Koforidua was founded in 1875 by migrants from Ashanti. It is also called New Juaben. The city has a settlement city proper popu ...
, capital of the
Eastern Region Eastern Region or East Region may refer to:
* Eastern Region (Abu Dhabi): Al Ain
*Eastern Region, Ghana
*Eastern Region (Iceland)
*Eastern Region, Nepal
*Eastern Region, Nigeria
* Eastern Region, Serbia
* Eastern Region, Uganda
* Eastern Region of ...
of Ghana. Between 1956 and 1964, she attended the Roman Catholic Primary and Local Authority Middle Schools at
Agortime-Kpetoe in the
Volta Region
Volta Region (or Volta) is one of Ghana's sixteen administrative regions, with Ho designated as its capital. It is located west of Republic of Togo and to the east of Lake Volta. Divided into 25 administrative districts, the region is multi-et ...
. She had her secondary education at
OLA Girls Senior High School (Ho)
Our Lady of Apostles Girls Senior High School is an all female second cycle institution in Ho in the Volta Region of Ghana.
History
OLA Senior High School was established on 1 February 1954 by Bishop Anthony Konings in Keta with 35 students. The ...
at
Ho, capital of the Volta Region, where she obtained the
GCE Ordinary Level
The O-Level (Ordinary Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education. It was introduced in place of the School Certificate in 1951 as part of an educational reform alongside the more in-depth ...
in 1969.
She proceeded to the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
where she trained at the Ipswich East Anglia School of Nursing at
Ipswich
Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line r ...
,
Suffolk
Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...
. She qualified in August 1973 as a
State Registered Nurse
Nursing in the United Kingdom has a long history. The current form of nursing is often considered as beginning with Florence Nightingale who pioneered modern nursing. Nightingale initiated formal schools of nursing in the United Kingdom in the l ...
. A year later, she trained in Midwifery at Saint Peter's Hospital at
Chertsey
Chertsey is a town in the Borough of Runnymede, Surrey, England, south-west of central London. It grew up round Chertsey Abbey, founded in 666 CE, and gained a market charter from Henry I. A bridge across the River Thames first appeared in the ...
in
Surrey
Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...
, graduating in August 1975 as a
State Certified Midwife
Midwives in the United States assist childbearing women during pregnancy, labor and birth, and the postpartum period. Some midwives also provide primary care for women including well-woman exams, health promotion, and disease prevention, family pla ...
.
She enrolled at the
University of Birmingham
, mottoeng = Through efforts to heights
, established = 1825 – Birmingham School of Medicine and Surgery1836 – Birmingham Royal School of Medicine and Surgery1843 – Queen's College1875 – Mason Science College1898 – Mason Univers ...
for postgraduate studies, leading to her obtaining an
MSc
MSC may refer to:
Computers
* Message Sequence Chart
* Microelectronics Support Centre of UK Rutherford Appleton Laboratory
* MIDI Show Control
* MSC Malaysia (formerly known as Multimedia Super Corridor)
* USB mass storage device class (USB MSC ...
in Health Management and Administration in October 1997.
Career
Azumah-Mensah started work as a clerical officer at the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning in 1969. She left for further studies in the UK after a year. She then worked as a nurse and midwife at various hospitals in the
UK.
She moved to
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...
, where she worked at the
King Abdulaziz University Hospital between 1978 and 1984. She returned to the UK, working at the
Mayday University Hospital between 1984 and 1987.
She returned to Ghana in 1988 and worked for two years as the Principal Nurse in the Ho Diocese. Between 2001 and 2005, she worked with the Catholic Health Services. She was stationed at Ho, where she served as the Executive Secretary/Director of Health Services of the Ho Diocese and the Regional Co-ordinating Director.
Politics
Juliana Azumah-Mensah was first elected Member of Parliament for the Ho East Constituency on the ticket of the
National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the
2004 parliamentary election and took her seat in
January 2005. She retained her seat in the
2008 election
This electoral calendar 2008 lists the national/federal direct elections held in 2008 in the de jure and de facto sovereign states and their dependent territories. Referendums are included, even though they are not elections. By-elections are no ...
.
She was first appointed by
President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
*President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
John Atta Mills
John Evans Fiifi Atta Mills (21 July 1944 – 24 July 2012) was a Ghanaian politician and legal scholar who served as President of Ghana from 2009 until his death in 2012. He was inaugurated on 7 January 2009, having defeated the governing party ...
as Minister for Tourism in 2009. She was shifted to Minister for Women and Children's Affairs in January 2010, until 2012.
Personal life
She is married with two children. She hails from
Agortime-Kpetoe in the
Volta Region
Volta Region (or Volta) is one of Ghana's sixteen administrative regions, with Ho designated as its capital. It is located west of Republic of Togo and to the east of Lake Volta. Divided into 25 administrative districts, the region is multi-et ...
of Ghana.
See also
*
List of Mills government ministers
This is a listing of the ministers who served in the National Democratic Congress government of John Atta Mills in Ghana starting from 7 January 2009. The Mills presidency ended on 24 July 2012 when President John Atta Mills died. Mills was succ ...
*
Ho East (Ghana parliament constituency)
Ho East is one of the constituency, constituencies represented in the Parliament of Ghana. It elects one Member of Parliament, Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election. Ho East is located in the Adaklu-Anyigbe Distri ...
References
External links and sources
Juliana Azumah-Nelson on Ghana Parliament websiteProfile on Ghana government websiteProfile on GhanaDistricts.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Azumah-Mensah, Juliana Jocelyn
1950 births
Living people
Ghanaian MPs 2005–2009
Ghanaian MPs 2009–2013
Ghanaian MPs 2013–2017
Ghanaian nurses
People from Koforidua
National Democratic Congress (Ghana) politicians
Alumni of the University of Birmingham
21st-century Ghanaian women politicians
Women government ministers of Ghana
Women members of the Parliament of Ghana
OLA Girls Senior High School (Ho) alumni
Tourism ministers of Ghana
Women's ministers of Ghana