Mary Chinery-Hesse

{{short description|Ghanaian diplomat and international civil servant}}

{{Infobox officeholder

| image = Chancellors office new.png

| image_size =

| caption =

| honorific_suffix = FAAS, OSG

| office = Chancellor of the University of Ghana

| term_start = 1 August 2018

| term_end =

| predecessor = Kofi Annan

| successor =

| name = Mary Chinery-Hesse

| birth_name = Mary Blay

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1938|10|29|df=y}}

| birth_place =

| nationality = Ghanaian

| children = {{hlist|Herman|Naa Bortei-Doku|Mary-Maude}}

| parents =

| mother = Marjorie Lady Mould

| father = Robert Samuel Blay

| spouse = L.J. Chinery-Hesse

| occupation = {{hlist|International civil servant|Diplomat}}

| known_for = {{unbulleted list|First woman Deputy Director-General, ILO|First woman Chancellor, University of Ghana}}

| alma_mater = {{unbulleted list|Wesley Girls' High School|University of Ghana, Legon|Trinity College Dublin}}

| awards = {{unbulleted list|Order of the Star of Ghana|Gusi Peace Prize}}

}}

Mary Akuokor Chinery-Hesse, {{post nominals|post-noms=FAAS, OSG}}, née Blay (born 29 October 1938){{Cite web |title=Mary CHINERY-HESSE - Personal Appointments (free information from Companies House) |url=https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/officers/ddmTOItxrhIWZWDjxAlSJQok3Kw/appointments |access-date=20 June 2020 |website=Beta companies house Government Of Ghana |language=en}} is an international civil servant and diplomat, serving as the first woman Chancellor of the University of Ghana, inducted on 1 August 2018.{{Cite web |date=2023-07-14 |title=Chinery-Hesse reappointed as chancellor of the University of Ghana |url=https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/Chinery-Hesse-reappointed-as-chancellor-of-the-University-of-Ghana-1803992 |access-date=2023-08-29 |website=GhanaWeb |language=en}} She was the first female Deputy Director-General of the International Labour Organization{{Cite web |title=Mrs Mary Chinery-Hesse {{!}} The Global African Investment Summit |url=http://www.tgais.com/speaker/mrs-mary-chinery-hesse/ |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160202080202/http://www.tgais.com/speaker/mrs-mary-chinery-hesse/ |archivedate=2 February 2016 |access-date=22 January 2016 |website=tgais.}}{{Cite web |title=Ministry of Women and Children's Affairs - MOWAC |url=http://femaleachievers.org/dir_profile_details.cfm?dowdirID=568&prof_categoryid=61 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160128231202/http://femaleachievers.org/dir_profile_details.cfm?dowdirID=568&prof_categoryid=61 |archive-date=28 January 2016 |access-date=22 January 2016 |website=femaleachievers.}}{{Cite web |title=Dr. Mary Chinery-Hesse |url=http://idpc.net/profile/mary-chinery-hesse |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160129024801/http://idpc.net/profile/mary-chinery-hesse |archive-date=29 January 2016 |access-date=22 January 2016 |website=idpc.}}{{Cite web |title=COMMISSIONERS' BIOGRAPHIES {{!}} West African Drugs Commission |url=http://www.wacommissionondrugs.org/profiles-of-commissioners/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160127093216/http://www.wacommissionondrugs.org/profiles-of-commissioners/ |archive-date=27 January 2016 |access-date=22 January 2016 |website=wacommissionondrugs.}}{{cite web |title=First female Chancellor for University of Ghana to be sworn-in Wednesday |url=https://www.myjoyonline.com/news/2018/august-1st/first-female-chancellor-for-university-of-ghana-to-be-sworn-in-wednesday.php |website=Myjoyonline |accessdate=1 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180801083020/https://www.myjoyonline.com/news/2018/August-1st/first-female-chancellor-for-university-of-ghana-to-be-sworn-in-wednesday.php |archive-date=1 August 2018 |url-status=live }} She was also the first woman to attain the rank of Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations in the history of the international organisation.{{Cite web |date=2024-11-02 |title=Biography: The man Herman Chinery-Hesse {{!}} 3News |url=https://3news.com/news/biography-the-man-herman-chinery-hesse/#google_vignette |access-date=2024-11-02 |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |title=Herman Chinery-Hesse (1963 -2024) |url=https://3news.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/herman.pdf}}

Early life and education

Mary Blay was born to Robert Samuel Blay, a barrister, jurist, and Justice of the Supreme Court of Ghana during the First Republic. Her mother was Marjorie Lady Mould of Jamestown, Accra. Her maternal great-grandfather was John van der Puije, the Gold Coast merchant, newspaper publisher, traditional ruler and politician.{{Cite web |date=2024-10-16 |title=FUNERAL PROGRAMME FOR MRS MAUD EKELEBAH |url=https://pubhtml5.com/fpyb/xcnh/FUNERAL_PROGRAMME_FOR_MRS_MAUD_EKELEBAH/ |access-date=2024-10-16 |website=Pubhtml5 |language=en}} She had her secondary education at the Wesley Girls' Senior High School in Cape Coast.{{Cite web |title=Wesley Girls High School - Past Students |url=http://wesleygirls.edu.gh/achievement/past-students |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160901050238/http://wesleygirls.edu.gh/achievement/past-students |archive-date=1 September 2016 |access-date=22 January 2016 |website=wesley girls high school}} She also holds a BA (Hons) in Sociology and Economics and a Doctor of Laws (honoris causa) from the University of Ghana, and she did postgraduate training in Development Economics at Trinity College Dublin.{{Cite web |title=Biography of Ms. Mary Chinery-Hesse |url=https://www.un.org/News/dh/hlpanel/hesse-bio.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150502000240/http://www.un.org/News/dh/hlpanel/hesse-bio.htm |archive-date=2 May 2015 |access-date=22 January 2016 |website=United Nation}}{{Cite web |title=Mary Chinery-Hesse |url=http://www.ipdet.org/page.aspx?pageId=MaryChineryHesse |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160128100705/http://www.ipdet.org/page.aspx?pageId=MaryChineryHesse |archive-date=28 January 2016 |access-date=22 January 2016 |website=ipdet}} At the World Bank Institute in Washington D.C., she was inscribed as a Fellow of the Institute.

Career

In her early career, Mary Chinery-Hesse was a principal secretary at the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning and secretary of the National Economic Planning Council.{{Cite web |title=Biography of Ms. Mary Chinery-Hesse |url=https://www.un.org/News/dh/hlpanel/hesse-bio.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150502000240/http://www.un.org/News/dh/hlpanel/hesse-bio.htm |archive-date=2 May 2015 |access-date=21 May 2019 |website=www.un.org}} She joined the UN in 1981, where she held the appointment of the first African woman Resident Coordinator of the United Nations System and Resident Representative of UNDP to many countries, including Sierra Leone, Tanzania, the Seychelles, and Uganda.{{Cite web |title=Biography of Ms. Mary Chinery-Hesse |url=https://www.un.org/News/dh/hlpanel/hesse-bio.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150502000240/http://www.un.org/News/dh/hlpanel/hesse-bio.htm |archive-date=2 May 2015 |access-date=21 May 2019 |website=United Nation}} She headed the Consultative Committee on Programme and Operational Questions (CCPOQ) of the United Nations from 1993 to 1998, the Commonwealth Expert Group of Eminent Persons on Structural Adjustment and Women, and was instrumental in the published report, Engendering Adjustment.{{Cite web |title=Biography of Ms. Mary Chinery-Hesse |url=https://www.un.org/News/dh/hlpanel/hesse-bio.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150502000240/http://www.un.org/News/dh/hlpanel/hesse-bio.htm |archive-date=2 May 2015 |access-date=21 May 2019 |website=United Nation}} She belonged to the Council of African Advisers of the World Bank between 1992 and 1998.{{Cite web |title=Biography of Ms. Mary Chinery-Hesse |url=https://www.un.org/News/dh/hlpanel/hesse-bio.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150502000240/http://www.un.org/News/dh/hlpanel/hesse-bio.htm |archive-date=2 May 2015 |access-date=21 May 2019 |website=www.un.org}} In the 1990s, she chaired the High-Level Panel of Eminent Persons on Review of Progress in the Implementation of the Programme for the Least Developed Countries. She was a member of the Eminent Persons’ Advisory Panel of the African Union and served on the Zedillo Commission, more formally known as the Distinguished High-Level Panel of Eminent Persons on Financing for Development.

In 1989, she was appointed as the first woman Deputy Director-General of the International Labour Organization in Geneva, Switzerland. She served as an advisor to John Kufour, the former President of Ghana. She was the vice chairman of the National Development Planning Commission.

She has served on several boards, including those at the Centre for Policy Analysis and the Voluntary Fund for Technical Cooperation of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. She was also a Commissioner at the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission and at the Commission on HIV/AIDS and Governance in Africa.

She was appointed Chancellor of the University of Ghana succeeding Kofi Annan, former UN Secretary-General. She assumed this position on 1 August 2018 and served for the first 5-year term. She was reappointed in July 2023 and is currently serving a second term which commenced on 1 August 2023 and would conclude 31 July 2028. {{Cite web |date=2023-07-13 |title=Mary Chinery-Hesse re-appointed University of Ghana Chancellor |url=https://citinewsroom.com/2023/07/mary-chinery-hesse-re-appointed-university-of-ghana-chancellor/ |access-date=2023-09-28 |website=Citinewsroom - Comprehensive News in Ghana |language=en-US}}

She serves as the Chair of the Goodwill Ambassadors of the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre{{Cite web |date=2017-12-21 |title=President Nana Akufo-Addo inaugurates Goodwill Ambassadors for KAIPTC |url=https://www.kaiptc.org/president-nana-akufo-addo-inaugurates-goodwill-ambassadors-for-kaiptc/ |access-date=2023-09-28 |language=en-US}} and is also the Chair of the Board of the Centre for Regional Integration in Africa.{{Cite web |title=Board of Trustees {{!}} Centre for Regional Integration in Africa |url=https://www.cria-africa.org/board-of-trustees |access-date=2023-09-28 |website=cria-africa.}}

Chinery-Hesse Committee

She was commissioned by the erstwhile Government of former President John Kufour to determine the end-of-service benefits and emoluments of Article 71 officer holders.{{Cite web |last=Boateng |first=Michael Ofori Amanfo |title=Chinery Hesse Committee report ready |url=http://politics.myjoyonline.com/pages/news/200906/31349.php |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160131013638/http://politics.myjoyonline.com/pages/news/200906/31349.php |archive-date=31 January 2016 |access-date=24 January 2016 |website=Politics Myjoyonline}}{{Cite web|title = The Chinery Hesse Committee Report Palaver - A Case of Negligence or Recklessness?|url = https://www.modernghana.com/news/200056/1/the-chinery-hesse-committee-report-palaver-a-case-.html|website = Modern Ghana|access-date = 24 January 2016|language = en-GB|first = Zakaria Tanko|last = Musah|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160129175903/https://www.modernghana.com/news/200056/1/the-chinery-hesse-committee-report-palaver-a-case-.html|archive-date = 29 January 2016|url-status = live}}

Personal life

She was married to Lebrecht James Chinery-Hesse (1930–2018), a Ghanaian lawyer and former principal state attorney who had done international stints in Sierra Leone, Zambia, and Uganda and was awarded the Grand Medal by the Ghanaian government. {{Cite web |date=13 October 2018 |title=A "Very Nice Man" Goes Home |url=https://dailyguidenetwork.com/a-very-nice-man-goes-home/ |access-date=25 May 2019 |website=DailyGuide Network |language=en-US}} Their son, Herman Chinery-Hesse, was a software entrepreneur.{{Cite web |title=Herman Chinery-Hesse, Biography |url=https://www.ghanaweb.com/person/Herman-Chinery-Hesse-3439 |access-date=2023-08-29 |website=Ghanaweb.}}

Works

Chinnery-Hesse, Mary et al. (1989), "Engendering adjustment for the 1990s : report of a Commonwealth expert group on women and structural adjustment" London: Commonwealth Secretariat{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/engenderingadjus0000unse|title=Engendering adjustment for the 1990s : report of a Commonwealth expert group on women and structural adjustment|last1=Chinnery-Hesse|first1=Mary|last2=Secretariat|first2=Commonwealth|last3=Women|first3=Commonwealth Expert Group on|last4=Adjustment|first4=Structural|date=1989|publisher=London : Commonwealth Secretariat|isbn=9780850923407|language=English|url-access=registration}}

Legacy

From 2010 to 2013, she was a member of the Panel of the Wise, a consultative body of the African Union for West Africa and the board chairman for Zenith Bank, Ghana.{{Cite web |author=Peace FM |title=Chinery-Hesse To Chair Board Of Trustees For Komla Dumor Foundation |url=http://news.peacefmonline.com/pages/social/201410/220156.php |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304191355/http://news.peacefmonline.com/pages/social/201410/220156.php |archive-date=4 March 2016 |access-date=22 January 2016 |website=Peace Fm Online News}}{{Cite web |title=Welcome! to Zenith Bank Ghana |url=http://www.zenithbank.com.gh/board.aspx |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130122013509/http://zenithbank.com.gh/board.aspx |archive-date=22 January 2013 |access-date=22 January 2016 |website=zenithbank Ghana}}

She has accomplished a lot of firsts. In addition to being Ghana's first female Chancellor of the country's top university, Mrs. Chinery-Hesse "was the first African woman to attain the rank of Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and the first African woman to be appointed Resident Coordinator of the UN System."{{Cite web |last=Larnyoh |first=Magdalene |date=2023-07-14 |title=Mary Chinery-Hesse reappointed as University of Ghana Chancellor |url=https://yen.com.gh/education/237498-mary-chinery-hesse-appointed-university-ghana-chancellor/ |access-date=2023-08-29 |website=Yen - Ghana news. |language=en}}

Awards and recognition

Chinery-Hesse received the highest national award in Ghana the Order of the Star of Ghana under John Kufour's administration. She was also awarded the Gusi Peace Prize for International Diplomacy and Humanitarianism in Manila, Philippines, on 24 November 2010.{{Cite web |title=Dr. Mary Chinery-Hesse of Ghana |url=http://ghanadot.com/personalities.drchinneryhesse.112510.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151229181230/http://ghanadot.com/personalities.drchinneryhesse.112510.html |archive-date=29 December 2015 |access-date=22 January 2016 |website=GhanaDot.}}{{Cite web|title = Dr Mary Chinery-Hesse Wins International Award|url = https://www.modernghana.com/news/306263/1/dr-mary-chinery-hesse-wins-international-award.html|website = Modern Ghana|access-date = 22 January 2016|language = en-GB|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160128082216/https://www.modernghana.com/news/306263/1/dr-mary-chinery-hesse-wins-international-award.html|archive-date = 28 January 2016|url-status = live}} In 1991, the University of Ghana bestowed an Honorary Doctor of Law degree upon Mrs. Chinery-Hesse, making her the first female graduate of the University of Ghana to receive this prestigious honor.{{Cite web |title=Press Release: Reappointment of Mrs. Mary Chinery-Hesse as Chancellor of the University of Ghana {{!}} University of Ghana |url=https://www.ug.edu.gh/news/press-release-reappointment-mrs-mary-chinery-hesse-chancellor-university-ghana |access-date=2023-09-14 |website=University Of Ghana}} In November 2021, she was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by the University of London for her contributions to public service.

Chinery-Hesse launched the Council on Foreign Relations-Ghana (CFR-Ghana) Memoirs Project Fund.{{Cite web |last=emmakd |date=2023-07-17 |title=Chinery-Hesse launches CFR-Ghana Memoirs Project Fund |url=https://www.ghanabusinessnews.com/2023/07/17/chinery-hesse-launches-cfr-ghana-memoirs-project-fund/ |access-date=2023-09-28 |website=Ghana Business News |language=en-US}} The creation of the Fund satisfies one of the Council's primary goals, which was to support and encourage retired diplomats and other professionals to write books. The "Contemporary Issues in Foreign Policy Diplomacy and International Affairs" book, which was published by the CFR-Ghana, was released in Accra at the same time as the CFR-Ghana Memoirs Project Fund. It was a collection of essays derived from a series of symposia and online webinars hosted by the CFR-Ghana.{{fact|date=December 2023}}

The University of Ghana reappointed Mrs. Mary Chinery-Hesse as Chancellor. The University of Ghana's first female chancellor, Mrs. Chinnery-Hesse, was credited with reviving ties with the University of London, the university's former degree-granting partner. The appointment of Mrs. Chinery-Hesse is valid from 1 August 2023, through 31 July 2028.{{Cite web |last=Quist |first=Ebenezer Agbey |date=2021-11-01 |title=Meet the top 3 principal officers at the University of Ghana who are all women |url=https://yen.com.gh/people/196832-meet-university-ghanas-female-history-makers-1st-vc-chancellor-chair/ |access-date=2023-09-14 |website=Yen- Ghana news. |language=en}}