Jeanne d'Arc Mujawamariya (born 13 March 1970, in

Kigali Kigali () is the Capital (political), capital and largest city of Rwanda. It is near the nation's geographic centre in a region of rolling hills, with a series of valleys and ridges joined by steep slopes. As a primate city, Kigali has been Rwa ...

) is a

Rwanda Rwanda (; rw, u Rwanda ), officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of Central Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator ...

n politician, currently the Minister of Environment. She was formerly the Minister of Education (formally, the Minister of Education, Science, Technology and Research) in the government of

as well as the Rwandan Ambassador to

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

Political career

From 2003 to 2006, she served as Minister of State for Primary and Secondary Education in the Rwandan government and in 2005 she became the Minister of State in Charge of Higher Education in the same ministry. From 2006-March 2008, she was the Minister of Education. In January 2008, Mujawamariya appeared before a Rwandan parliamentary commission investigating the continued presence of "genocide ideology" in Rwandan schools. Several MPs on the commission criticized Mujawamariya and Joseph Murekeraho, Minister of State for Primary and Secondary Education, for taking insufficient punitive action against teachers and curriculum developers who were disseminating anti-

Tutsi The Tutsi (), or Abatutsi (), are an ethnic group of the African Great Lakes region. They are a Bantu-speaking ethnic group and the second largest of three main ethnic groups in Rwanda and Burundi (the other two being the largest Bantu ethnic grou ...

sentiments in schools. In March 2008, Mujawamariya went on to become the Minister in the Prime Minister's Office in charge of Gender and Family Promotion, a post she occupied until March 2011 when she became the Vice Chancellor/Rector of the prestigious Kigali Institute of Science and Technology-Rwanda. Mujawamariya was at the helm of the institute until 1 March 2013, when she was appointed by the

President of Rwanda This article lists the presidents of Rwanda since the creation of the office in 1961 (during the Rwandan Revolution), to the present day. The president of Rwanda is the head of state and head of executive of the Republic of Rwanda. The presid ...

as ambassador to

. In November 2019, she became the Minister of the Environment.

Personal life and education

Mujawamariya earned a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

from

Peoples' Friendship University of Russia The Peoples' Friendship University of Russia (russian: Российский университет дружбы народов), also known as RUDN University and, until 1992, Patrice Lumumba University in honor of the hero Patrice Lumumba, is a ...

and in 1997 received an

Master of Science A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast to ...

chemistry Chemistry is the science, scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the Chemical element, elements that make up matter to the chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions ...

from the same university. She went on to earn a

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

in chemistry and physics at

Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee (abbreviated IIT Roorkee) is a technical university located in Roorkee, Uttarakhand, India. It is the oldest engineering institution in India, and was founded as the College of Civil Engineering in Bri ...

in 2001. She is married and has three children with her husband. She is fluent in the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

, French and

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

References

External links

Welcome from the Minister
official website of the Rwandan Ministry of Education {{DEFAULTSORT:Mujawamariya, Jeanne Education ministers of Rwanda Environment ministers of Rwanda Family ministers of Rwanda Research ministers of Rwanda Science ministers of Rwanda Living people 1970 births Peoples' Friendship University of Russia alumni Moscow State University alumni Ambassadors of Rwanda to Russia Women government ministers of Rwanda Women ambassadors 21st-century diplomats 21st-century Rwandan women politicians 21st-century Rwandan politicians