Melanie Verwoerd - Former Ambassador of South Africa to Ireland

Will present a seminar at 4pm on Wednesday 2nd December in the Geography Library.

The subject of her talk will be her recently-published co-edited book (with Sonwabiso Ngcowa)  21 at 21: The Coming of Age of a Nation, interviews with young  people concerning the 21 years which have passed since the ending of apartheid in  South Africa and the establishment of a democracy there.

Ms Verwoerd was elected as a Member of Parliament for the African National Congress (ANC) during the first democratic elections in South Africa in 1994. She was the youngest woman ever to be elected. She was re-elected in 1999. In 2001 she was appointed as South African Ambassador to Ireland a position she held until 2005. Between 2007 and 2011 she was the Executive Director of UNICEF Ireland. Currently she is working in South Africa as a consultant in the NGO sector.