Joaquim Chissano

Joaquim Chissano served as President of Mozambique from 1986 to 2004. He is Chairperson of the Joaquim Chissano Foundation and the Africa Forum of Former African Heads of State and Government. He is a founding member of the Mozambique Liberation Front (FRELIMO) and was prime minister of the transitional government to independence. Following independence, he was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs and elected to the Presidency in 1986. In 1994, he won the first multiparty elections in Mozambique’s history, and was re-elected in 1999. He voluntarily decided not to stand in the 2004 presidential elections. He has served as Chairperson of the Southern African Development Community and Chairperson of the African Union and appointed Envoy of the UN Secretary-General for the 2005 Summit to Review the Implementation of the Millennium Declaration and Special Envoy of the UN Secretary-General to Guinea-Bissau, Democratic Republic of Congo, and LRA affected areas in Uganda. Currently, he is a member of the Club of Madrid, The Hunger Project, International Crisis Group, Peace Parks Foundation, Goodwill Ambassador for CPLP (Portuguese Spoken Countries Community) and Global Partnership Initiative Youth Ambassador. He has received awards from many countries and has received several prizes, including the inaugural Mo Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership in 2007.