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Honorary
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Ambassador
Mbikusita-Lewanika chatting with ladies in Zambia's
Western Province. |
Ambassador Inonge Mbikusita-Lewanika
(Honorary Chair)
Dr. Lewanika is currently Ambassador of the Republic of Zambia
to the United States of America. Before her appointment
to Washington D.C. she was Ambassador and Special Envoy to
the Zambian President during his term as Chairman of the African
Union. Dr. Lewanika served as a Member of Parliament
in the Zambian Parliament from 1991 to 2001. She was
the first Chairperson of the Zambia All Party Women Parliamentarians
Caucus and also founding Vice-chairperson of the Southern,
Eastern and Horn of Africa African Women Parliamentarian Caucus.
At a very critical time just before national elections in
2001, Dr. Lewanika chaired the National Crisis Committee of
the Alliance of Opposition Political Parties. She is
a former candidate for President of the Republic of Zambia
in the December 2001 Elections. She is an Educator by
profession and has worked in various levels of Education.
Prior to her involvement in politics, Dr. Lewanika worked
with UNICEF in key leadership roles in Africa overseeing more
than twenty countries at a time. Jim Grant, the former
head of UNICEF once called her “the most knowledgeable
person about the children of Africa.” Dr. Lewanika
was among five women from various continents to brief members
of the United Nations Security Council on the first and unprecedented
debate that resulted in UN Resolution 13 on WOMEN, PEACE and
SECURITY in the year 2000. She was among sixteen (16)
eminent African Women Members of the Organisation of African
Unity (now African Union) Committee on Peace and Development,
an Advisory Group to the African Union.
She was President of Federation of African Women's Peace Networks
(FERFAP) from 1997 to 2002. As President of the Federation
of African Women Peace Networks (FEFAP) she contributed to
mobilization of peace activities. In that capacity,
she was selected to be among ten prominent African Women Peace
Workers that visited Rwanda soon after the genocide.
She later led a United Nations delegation to Burundi and Rwanda
to assess the effects of the genocide on women and children
and recommend intervention strategies. She led the Electoral
Institute of Southern Africa (EISA) Observer Mission of 96
Southern African Academicians, Researchers and Members of
Civil Society to the Zimbabwean Presidential, Mayoral and
Council Elections in 2002. She was one of the International
Youth Foundation’s founding board members.
Dr. Lewanika holds a Ph.D. in Early Childhood and Primary
Education from New York University. She is a mother
of two grown daughters, a grandmother to four boys and a grand
daughter. She has lived in five countries and speaks
eight languages.
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