Mary Chinery Hesse

Education

Mary Chinery-Hesse had her secondary education at the Wesley Girls' Senior High School in Cape Coast. She also holds a BA (Hons) in Sociology and Economics, and Doctor of Laws (Honoris causa) from the University of Ghana and did postgraduate training in Development Economics at the University of Dublin.

Career

She began her career in 1981 at the UN 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. In 1989, she was appointed as the first woman Deputy Director-General of the International Labor Organization in Geneva, Switzerland. She served as an advisor to John Kufour, the former President of Ghana.

Chinery-Hesse Committee

She was commissioned by the erstwhile government of former President John Kufour to determine the end of service benefits of article 71 officer holders.

Legacy

She is currently 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.

Awards and recognition

Chinery-Hesse received the highest national award of Ghana the Order of the Star of Ghana under President John Kufour's administration. She was also awarded the Gusi Peace Prize for International Diplomacy and Humanitarianism in Manila, Philippines, on 24 November 2010.