Amina Mohamed

Amina Mohamed (born in 1961), a national of Kenya, has extensive experience in the fields of diplomacy, law and policy making at both the national and international levels.

Mohamed was appointed the Assistant Secretary-General and Deputy Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on 13 May 2011. In this position she is charged with advancing the Medium-Term Strategy of the UNEP and its reforms, and providing substantive input to the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development 2012.

Mohamed served as the Permanent Secretary in Kenya’s Ministry of Justice, National Cohesion and Constitutional Affairs from 2008-2011, where she facilitated the political, legal and constitutional reform process. Between 2000 and 2006, she served as the Permanent Representative of Kenya to the United Nations in Geneva. During this time, she became the first woman to chair the General Council of the World Trade Organization. She was also the first African and the first woman to be elected Chair of the Council for the International Organization for Migration.

Mohamed obtained her master’s degree in international law from Kyiv State University, and studied at the post-graduate level at the University of Oxford and the Kenya School of Law.