JULIA DOLLY JOINER Commissioner for Political Affairs African Union Commission Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Tel: (251-115) 52 58 59 Fax: (251-115) 52 58 56 Email address – jdollyj@yahoo.com
BIODATA Date of birth: Place of birth: Nationality: Citizenship: Sex: Marital Status: 11 November 1956 Bathurst (now Banjul), The Gambia Gambian Gambian Female Married with two children
SUMMARY OF EXPERTISE A multi-disciplinary career spanning public administration and management, project planning, implementation and evaluation, research and development work as summarized below: Experience: Public administration and management including personnel management and financial control; Preparation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of development projects and policies;
Collation and analysis of data; Resource management; Coordinated and served as Resource Person at various local workshops, seminars, training programmes;
Represented The Gambia and the African Union at several international conferences, workshops, seminars overseas including United Nations, Organization of African Unity/African Union, Non Aligned Movement and Economic Community of West African States fora; Authored and/or contributed to the preparation of various technical papers and policy documents; Served as Head of the Diplomatic Service of The Gambia (March 1995 to November 1996) and thereafter provided advice to the Government of The Gambia on related and other issues in various capacities at the Office of the President; As Commissioner for Political Affairs at the African Union, the thrust of my mandate is promoting democracy, good governance and human rights in Africa. I am also responsible for the humanitarian affairs portfolio which addresses the plight of refugees, returnees and internally displaced persons and have delegated responsibility for external relations in the African Union Commission. In 2005 and 2006, I served as a Judge at the Moot Court Competitions organized by the Centre for Human Rights of the University of Pretoria, an annual event for law students in African Universities.
Educational Background: St Joseph’s High School (1967-1973) - “O” level Examination Gambia High School (1973-1975) - “A” Level Examination Dakar University, Senegal (1975-1976) – Cours de Langue et de Civilisation Francaise - 2ème Degré - (Diploma Course on French Language and Civilisation Level Two) Grenoble University, France (1976-1980) – Diplome Superieure d’Etudes Francaises - 3ème Degré (Higher Diploma in French Studies – Level Three); Licence de Lettres Modernes (BA French); Licence de Linguistiques (BA Linguistics); Maitrise de Linguistiques (MA Linguistics) Nuffield Centre for Health Services Studies, Leeds University, U.K. (1984 – 1985) – Postgraduate Diploma in Health Planning and Administration (Diploma Certificate awarded with Distinction) Sahel Institute, Bamako, Mali, 1986 – Formation sur les Méthodes de Planification (Training Programme on Planning Methods) organized in association with UNESCO
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Development and Project Planning Centre, Bradford University, U.K. (1992) – Course on Women into Senior Management Personnel Management Office, The Gambia (1997) – Training programme on Negotiation Strategies and Techniques for Senior Managers run in conjunction with the Commonwealth Fund for Technical Cooperation with academic support from the National Institute for Public Administration (INTAN), Malaysia Management Development Institute, The Gambia, (1998) – Certificate Course on MS Word and Excel, Level I School of Public Policy, University of Birmingham, U.K. (1999) – The New Public Executive Programme – course run by the Commonwealth Association for Public Administration and Management and the Commonwealth Fund for Technical Cooperation Public Administration International, U.K. (2002) Trust in Government: Promoting Ethics and Professional Standards in Public Service – programme run in association with the Governance and Institutional Development Division of the Commonwealth Secretariat
Employment Record: Assistant Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture (March – September 1981) Assistant Secretary, Ministry of Health, Labour and Social Welfare (September 1981-April 1983) Assistant Secretary, Health Planning Unit (May 1983 – December 1985) Project Manager, UNCDF Primary Health Care Facilities Project (1983 – 1984; 1985 – 1988) Health Planner, Ministry of Health and Social Welfare (January 1986 – September 1988) Planner/Coordinator of Projects and Programmes, - on secondment to the Women’s Bureau under UNDP/UNIFEM sponsorship (October 1988 – May 1982) Principal Assistant Secretary, Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture (June 1992 September 1994) Deputy Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture (September 1994 – June 1995)
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Permanent Secretary and Head of the Diplomatic Service, Ministry of External Affairs (June 1995 – November 1996) Permanent Secretary, Office of the President (November 1996 – December 1998) Secretary to Cabinet (January 1999 – December 1999) Secretary General and Head of the Civil Service (January 2000 – November 2002 Commissioner for Political Affairs, African Union September 2003 to date
Responsibilities: African Union Commission (2003 to date)
As Commissioner for Political Affairs, my duties include: Responsibility for the democracy, governance, human rights and humanitarian affairs portfolios and delegated responsibility for the external relations portfolio – specific involvement includes policy formulation, advocacy and sensitization work, networking, programme formulation, implementation and monitoring; Overseeing responsibility for the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights and Focal Point for the Pan African Parliament and the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights; Overall supervision of the external/representational offices of the African Union currently in New York, Washington, Brussels, Geneva; Representing the Chairperson of the African Union Commission at high level meetings and making statements on his behalf; Assisting the Chairperson of the African Union Commission in building relations with Governments, UN agencies, international organizations, regional and national institutions, non-governmental organizations, civil society and other stakeholders; Assisting the Chairperson of the African Union in maintaining liaison on policy matters with Member States’ Governments, other Departments within the African Union Commission and offices outside the Headquarters.
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Office of the President and Ministry of External Affairs, The Gambia (i) Secretary General and Head of the Civil Service (2000-2002) Principal Advisor to the President – I was responsible for ensuring that all policy papers brought before the President conform to the policy framework adopted by the Government and that proper consultation with the relevant Ministries was carried out; Accounting Officer in the Office of the President responsible for finance and budgeting; Head of the Civil Service in charge of management of The Gambia’s public service personnel, which involved me in strategic planning, human resources development and capacity building; Handled Parliamentary matters and provided support to the Vice President who was the Leader of Government Business in the National Assembly; Member of the Cabinet; Member of the Governance Task Force; Member of the National AIDS Council; Member of the National Security Council; Member of the Chancery of the National Order of the Republic of The Gambia; Preparation of speeches, policy statements, technical papers; Any other duties assigned by the President including representational functions.
(ii) Secretary to Cabinet (1999)
Overall coordination of Cabinet Business; Arranging Cabinet Meetings and keeping records of proceedings; Preparing Minutes and Conclusions of Cabinet Meetings; Processing (reviewing, amending, reconciling, etc.) of Cabinet Memoranda; Monitoring the implementation of Cabinet Directives, with respect to policies and programmes;
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Coordination of Cabinet Business among Departments of State (Ministries); Facilitating Cabinet Sub-Committees and Task Force Meetings on Draft Legislation, Parliamentary Questions and Answers, Procurement Tenders; Any other duties assigned by the President or the Secretary General. (iii) Permanent Secretary (1995 – 1998) Principal policy analyst of the Secretary General (1996 – 1998) and Chief advisor to the Minister of External Affairs (1995-1996); Head of the Diplomatic Service (1995-1996); Overall Administrator and Manager of the Ministry of External Affairs and assistant to the Secretary General and Head of the Civil Service; Coordination of policies and programmes; Personnel management; Preparation of Annual development/Capital and Recurrent Budgets and financial/accounting management and control; Coordination of the Programme Budgeting System and Public Expenditure Review for the Presidency and Ministry of External Affairs; Preparation and Review of Policy and Cabinet Papers, briefs and speeches; Collation and Preparation of Project Performance Progress Reports; Coordination/Liaison with Donors and other institutions; Representational functions; Any other duties assigned by the Minister or Secretary General.
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Ministry of Youth Sports and Culture Coordination of the Ministry’s Programmes and Projects; Formulate Policies and Programmes of Action for the Ministry; Prepare, Monitor and Control the Ministry’s Budget and Finances; Personnel management and administration of the Ministrty; Coordination of the Ministry’s Human Resources Development; Drafting of technical papers, speeches and statements; Any other duties assigned by the Permanent Secretary.
Significant Papers/Dissertation/Studies/Publications: Community Participation in the Implementation of Universal Primary Health Care with particular reference to The Gambia (Dissertation submitted within the framework of the postgraduate Diploma Course at Leeds University) Proposal for the Strengthening of The Gambia Women’s Bureau (submitted to the World Bank Appraisal Team for the Women in Development Project) Women and Credit and Savings (study commissioned by UNIFEM) Women and Sustainable Development: The Brefet Swamp Rehabilitation Project (case study commissioned by the International Union for the Conversation of Nature) A key consultant/participant at the Baseline study on Women in Development (study commissioned by the Women’s Bureau) Participated at various other studies/surveys related to women and youth in The Gambia Authored the Foreword to the “Compendium of Key Human Rights Documents of the African Union”, a 2005 publication of the Centre for Human Rights of the University of Pretoria
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Contributed a Chapter entitled “Beyond Commitments, Towards Practical Action” in Human Rights, Regionalism and the Dilemmas of Democracy in Africa, a 2006 publication by the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA) Authored the Foreword to a 2006 publication entitled “Africa in the United Nations System 1945-2005” by Issaka K. Souaré
Language Proficiency: Writing English: French: Excellent Very Good Speaking Excellent Very Good Comprehension Excellent Excellent
HONOURS/AWARDS Government of The Gambia Scholarship (1967 – 1975) for High School education; French Government Award (1975 – 1980) for University training in Senegal and France; World Health Organisation Award (1984-1985) for training in Health Planning and Administration in The U.K; Commonwealth Secretariat/Commonwealth Fund for Technical Cooperation sponsorship (1999) for programme at the University of Birmingham; United Nations Development Programme sponsorship (2002) for study programme at the Public Administration International; National Women of Excellence Award (February 2001) – Special Recognition for “Meritorious Service”; National Order of the Republic of The Gambia – Awarded Insignia of Commander of the Republic of The Gambia in February 2001 “ in recognition of immense contribution to enhancing socio-economic development in The Gambia”; Paul Harris Fellow, The Rotary Foundation of Rotary International – award was “in appreciation of tangible and significant assistance given for the furtherance of better understanding and friendly relations among peoples of the world”.
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INTERESTS/HOBBIES: Current Affairs – regional and international Development Issues Charity Work Gardening.
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