Luzia Pereira de Sousa Inglês Van-Dúnem (born 11 January 1948) is an
Angolan politician, feminist and expert in military
telecommunications
Telecommunication, often used in its plural form or abbreviated as telecom, is the transmission of information over a distance using electronic means, typically through cables, radio waves, or other communication technologies. These means of ...
. She is a member of the
Angolan National Assembly, as a member of the
Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA).
Biography
Van-Dúnem was born in
Luanda
Luanda ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Angola, largest city of Angola. It is Angola's primary port, and its major industrial, cultural and urban centre. Located on Angola's northern Atlantic coast, Luanda is Ang ...
,
Angola
Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...
, on 11 January 1948 and is the daughter of the Methodist minister, Guilherme Inglês.
[Sheldon, K. (2012). Van-Dúnem, Luzia Inglês. In Dictionary of African Biography. : Oxford University Press. Retrieved 12 Jan. 2021, from https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195382075.001.0001/acref-9780195382075-e-2092.] In 1961, Inglês was assassinated by colonial forces in the aftermath of the 15 March uprising.
Her mother died shortly afterwards, and she and her sisters joined the
Movimento Popular de Libertação de Angola (MPLA; People’s Liberation Movement of Angola).
From 1964 to 1967, she was in
Kinshasa
Kinshasa (; ; ), formerly named Léopoldville from 1881–1966 (), is the Capital city, capital and Cities of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Kinshasa is one of the world's fastest-grow ...
and
Brazzaville
Brazzaville () is the capital (political), capital and largest city of the Republic of the Congo. Administratively, it is a Departments of the Republic of the Congo, department and a Communes of the Republic of the Congo, commune. Constituting t ...
with the MPLA; in Brazzaville, she undertook military training.
In 1968, she travelled to the
Soviet Union
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
for telecommunications training.
In 1973, she became head of the Communications Station in
Cassamba.
During
Angola's War of Independence, Van-Dúnem was a radio broadcaster in the 2nd and 3rd military political regions.
From 1976 to 1991, she was in charge of the Commander-in-Chief of the
Angola Armed Forces' communications centre.
Van-Dúnem married
Afonso Van-Dúnem M'binda, a former Angolan ambassador to the
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...
(UN), and they had four children.
Whilst M'binda was appointed ambassador in 1991, Van-Dúnem also worked for the UN and coordinated the African Women's Group.
In 1999, Van-Dúnem was elected Secretary-General of the
Organização da Mulher Angolana (OMA), which is the women's branch of political party, the
People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), and was re-elected in 2005.
In
2008
2008 was designated as:
*International Year of Languages
*International Year of Planet Earth
*International Year of the Potato
*International Year of Sanitation
The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...
she was elected to the Angolan parliament, in the first elections since 1992.
A champion of women's rights, she was a key proponent of the introduction of a law which meant that at least 30% of the proposed individuals on a political party's lists have to be women.
This has increased the representation of women in parliament and at the 2008 election, women made up 36% of elected members.
In 2014, she became the first Angolan woman to be promoted to the post of General Officer of the
Angolan Armed Forces; the promotion was decreed by President
José Eduardo dos Santos
José Eduardo Van-Dúnem dos Santos (; 28 August 1942 – 8 July 2022) was an Angolan politician and military officer who served as the second president of Angola from 1979 to 2017. As president, dos Santos was also the commander-in-chief of th ...
.
In the 2017 general elections, Van-Dúnem was elected deputy from Angola by the National Electoral Circle.
In 2020,she was elected Regional Secretary of the
Pan-African Women's Organization (OPM).
References
External links
Homenageada nacionalista Luzia Inglês Van-Dúnem* Independência
Memórias da nacionalista Luzia Inglês
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vandunem, Luzia Ingles
1948 births
Living people
Angolan politicians
Angolan women activists
Politicians from Luanda
MPLA politicians
Members of the National Assembly (Angola)
Van Dunem family