Lily Monze
{{Short description|Zambian politician (born 1936)}}
Lily Mubitana Monze (born 1936) is a Zambian teacher, politician, former member of parliament, ambassador and writer. She held multiple minsterial roles in the government of Kenneth Kaunda and was a leading figure in the women's rights movement in Zambia.
Biography
Monze was born in 1936 and was one of the first Zambians to be awarded a university degree.{{Cite book |last=Ghodsee |first=Kristen |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EeeEDwAAQBAJ&dq=lily+monze&pg=PT149 |title=Second World, Second Sex: Socialist Women's Activism and Global Solidarity during the Cold War |date=2019-01-31 |publisher=Duke University Press |isbn=978-1-4780-0327-4 |language=en}} When Zambia gained independence in 1964, she was already working as a teacher. She served on several national educational institutions. In 1967 she participated in her first international feminist conference, in Moscow.{{Cite journal |last=Ghodsee |first=Kristen |date=2015-06-10 |title=Internationalisme socialiste et féminisme d'État pendant la Guerre froide. Les relations entre Bulgarie et Zambie |url=https://journals.openedition.org/clio/12374 |journal=Clio. Femmes, Genre, Histoire |language=fr |issue=41 |pages=114–137 |doi=10.4000/clio.12374 |issn=1252-7017|doi-access=free }}
Active in the United National Independence Party (UNIP), she became a designated member of the Zambian National Assembly from 1973 to 1978, and was particularly involved in the issue of the representation of women in Zambian political life, becoming a notable feminist leader and women's rights activist.{{Cite web |last=Ghodsee |first=Kristen R. |date=2021-07-01 |title=Les « grands-mères rouges » du mouvement international des femmes |url=https://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/2021/07/GHODSEE/63271 |access-date=2023-10-29 |website=Le Monde diplomatique |language=fr}}[https://archive.wikiwix.com/cache/index2.php?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.parliament.gov.zm%2Fsites%2Fdefault%2Ffiles%2Fimages%2Fpublication_docs%2FAn%2520Insight%2520into%2520the%2520Evolution%2520of%2520the%2520Zambian%2520Parliament.pdf AN INSIGHT INTO THE EVOLUTION OF THE ZAMBIAN PARLIAMENT]{{Cite book |last=Lunz |first=Kristina |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FIXVEAAAQBAJ&dq=%22Lily+Monze%22+-wikipedia&pg=PT23 |title=The Future of Foreign Policy Is Feminist |date=2023-09-05 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-1-5095-5784-4 |language=en}} Appointed Minister of State for Planning and Finance in 1973, she was one of the first women ministers in Zambia; she held that ministry until 1975. In 1976, she was appointed Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office, serving until 1977 in that role, moving to Minister of State for Economic and Technical Cooperation from 1977 to 1978.{{Cite book |last=Programme (Zambia) |first=United Nations Development |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AZG2AAAAIAAJ&q=%22Lily+Monze%22+-wikipedia |title=36 Years of UNDP's Partnership with the Government of Zambia, 1964-2000 |date=2001 |publisher=UNDP |language=en}}
In 1991, Kenneth Kaunda organized a free presidential election; he was defeated in this election by Frederick Chiluba, and left power. Under Chiluba's government, in 1992 she was appointed Ambassador of Zambia to France, and held the post until 1996.{{Citation |title=Remise de lettres de créance |url=https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/jorf/id/JORFTEXT000000541552 |access-date=2023-10-29}}{{Cite web |date=1992-07-31 |title=Zambie: un vent de privatisations |url=https://www.lesechos.fr/1992/07/zambie-un-vent-de-privatisations-930443 |access-date=2023-10-29 |website=Les Echos |language=fr}} She subsequently became a member of the steering committee of the United Nations International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women.
In 2018, she published her first children's book Rain Child.{{Cite web |title=Ambassador Lily Mubitana Monze's Rain Child book launch Anglican Cathedral of the Holy Cross Monday 4 December 2017 Archives |url=http://rainbownewszambia.com/tag/ambassador-lily-mubitana-monzes-rain-child-book-launch-anglican-cathedral-of-the-holy-cross-monday-4-december-2017/ |access-date=2023-10-29 |website=Rainbow news zambia |language=en-US}}
References
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Category:Zambian women writers
Category:Zambian women diplomats
Category:Zambian women activists
Category:Zambian women in politics