Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka of South Africa has been named Executive Director of UN Women by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, replacing Michele Bachelet. Mlambo-Nguka is well known for her women’s rights advocacy work and for the progress she made in South Africa’s anti-AIDS program. She has served as South African Deputy President under Thabo Mbeki from 2005-2008, Deputy Minister in the Department of Trade and Industry from 1996 to 1999, Minister of Minerals and Energy from 1999 to 2005, Young Women’s Coordinator for the Young Women’s Christian Association in Geneva from 1984-1986, and as President of the Natal Organization of Women in 1983. Mlambo-Nguka also established the Umlambo foundation in 2008. The foundation supports schools in poor areas of South Africa and in Malawi.