Tehmina Janjua ( ur, تہمینہ جنجوعہ) is a retired

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

career diplomat A diplomat (from grc, δίπλωμα; romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state or an intergovernmental institution such as the United Nations or the European Union to conduct diplomacy with one or more other states or internatio ...

who served in BPS-22 grade (highest attainable rank for a serving officer) as the 29th

Foreign Secretary of Pakistan The Foreign Secretary of Pakistan (Urdu: ) is the Federal Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Secretary, as in all other ministries of Government of Pakistan, is the bureaucratic head of the Ministry, who is a BPS-22 grade officer o ...

. Among her other notable appointments, was her position as Pakistan's Representative to the United Nations in Geneva and as ambassador to

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

, with concurrent accreditation to

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...

San Marino San Marino (, ), officially the Republic of San Marino ( it, Repubblica di San Marino; ), also known as the Most Serene Republic of San Marino ( it, Serenissima Repubblica di San Marino, links=no), is the fifth-smallest country in the world an ...

and

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

Education

After studying French literature at the

Quaid-e-Azam University Quaid-i-Azam University Islamabad ( ur, ; commonly referred to as QAU), founded as University of Islamabad, is a ranked 1 public research university in Islamabad, Pakistan. Founded as the University of Islamabad in 1967, it was initially dedi ...

, Janjua joined the

Foreign Service of Pakistan The Foreign Service of Pakistan ( ur, ) is part of the Central Superior Services of Pakistan. It was formally created in October 1952, after having been an improvised organization since the creation and independence of Pakistan in 1947. Its old ...

in 1984. She later went on to receive a

Masters in International Affairs The Master in International Affairs (MIA), or the Master in Global Affairs (MGA), also known as Master in International relations (MIR) is a master's degree awarded by schools of international relations, international affairs. Subject matter Det ...

from the

School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University The School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University (SIPA) is the List of schools of international relations in the United States, international affairs and public policy school, public policy school of Columbia University, a pri ...

(SIPA), in 1989.

Career

The first major career appointment that Tehmina Janjua had was from 1986 to 1987, as the desk officer to the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

and

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russ ...

in the Foreign Office. In 1989, she served as the acting director of the Office of the National Security Adviser. Following her time at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Islamabad, Janjua completed her first mission abroad as the Second Secretary and then the First Secretary of the Permanent Mission of Pakistan to the United Nations, New York from 1990 to 1995. After returning to Pakistan for a year to serve as Director Foreign Secretary's Office, Janjua was posted to Geneva as Counsellor Pakistan Mission to the United Nations and Other International Organizations in 1996. During her time as Counsellor, she represented

at the

Organization of Islamic Conference An organization or organisation (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is an entity—such as a company, an institution, or an association—comprising one or more people and having a particular purpose. The word is derived from ...

in March 1997, reiterating the importance of promoting a better image of

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

and

Muslims Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abraha ...

. The following year at a commission on human rights in April, on the topic of Kashmir she brought up the right to self-determination and the need for protecting individuals against human rights abuses. When her time as Counsellor in

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

ended, she returned to

to serve as the Director Minister of State for Foreign Affairs' Office in 2000. A few years later, in 2004 she server as Director at the Foreign Secretary's Office. In April 2004, while representing

at the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

, Tehmina Janjua spoke in support of women’s’ rights, detailing Pakistan’s efforts to empower women politically and economically. The following year, her experience was utilized as Deputy Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the United Nations and Other International Organizations, in Geneva until 2009. From 2009 till 2011, Janjua served as the Director General of Strategic Planning in the Foreign Secretary's Office. After replacing Abdul Basit in February 2011, Janjua became the Spokesperson of the

Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan The Ministry of Foreign Affairs ( ur, , ''Wazarat-e-Kharja'', abbreviated as MoFA) is a ministry of the Government of Pakistan tasked in managing Pakistan's diplomatic and consular relations as well as its foreign policy. The MOFA is also res ...

. As Spokesperson, Janjua provided important details of the safe return of Pakistanis from Libya, the on-going Indo-Pak talks and the drone strikes initiated by the United States during her term. She served as the Ambassador of Pakistan to

between December 2011 and October 2015. On 6 October 2015, Janjua became Pakistan's envoy to the UN Office in

. In December 2016, she became the first woman, and the first developing country representative, to preside over the

Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons The United Nations Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW or CCWC), concluded at Geneva on October 10, 1980, and entered into force in December 1983, seeks to prohibit or restrict the use of certain conventional weapons which are consid ...

Foreign Secretary of Pakistan

In February 2017,

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif (Urdu, Punjabi: ; born 25 December 1949) is a Pakistani businessman and politician who has served as the Prime Minister of Pakistan for three non-consecutive terms. He is the longest-serving prime minister of Pak ...

appointed Janjua as Pakistan's

Foreign Secretary The secretary of state for foreign, Commonwealth and development affairs, known as the foreign secretary, is a minister of the Crown of the Government of the United Kingdom and head of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. Seen as ...

, succeeding

Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry is a Pakistani diplomat and Director General of Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad. He served as the Ambassador of Pakistan to the United States and was succeeded by Ali Jehangir Siddiqui. Previously, he served as the ...

. The appointment made Janjua the first woman to hold the highest ranking position in the

Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the government department responsible for the state's diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral relations affairs as well as for providing support for a country's citizens who are abroad. The entit ...

. After serving as Foreign Secretary of Pakistan, Janjua was appointed the new envoy to China in April 2019.

External links

Tehmina Janjua interview with Al Jazeera

"Pakistan's Foreign Policy Issues" by the Foreign Secretary of Pakistan Ms. Tehmina Janjua

Ms. Tehmina Janjua- Foreign Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Government of Pakistan speaking on the ""Role of Pakistan in Regional Peace and Prosperity" at an International Conference "Shanghai Cooperation Organization; Future Prospects and Regional Connectivity"

Ru Baroo (Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua Exclusive) – 2 July 2017 , Aaj News

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Janjua, Tehmina Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Ambassadors of Pakistan to Albania Ambassadors of Pakistan to Italy Ambassadors of Pakistan to San Marino Ambassadors of Pakistan to Slovenia Female foreign ministers Foreign Secretaries of Pakistan Pakistani women ambassadors Permanent Representatives of Pakistan to the United Nations Punjabi people Quaid-i-Azam University alumni School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University alumni Women federal ministers of Pakistan