Rachel Mayanja is the former United Nations Special Adviser of the Secretary-General on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women and has a long-standing international career as a civil servant with vast experience in normative, policy and operational work of the United Nations including peace-building, peace-keeping and inter-agency collaboration. Ms. Mayanja’s career with the UN started in the Women’s Division shortly after the first World Conference in Mexico in the midst of sensitization of the world to women’s right to equality, development and peace. As Secretary to the drafting committee of the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, she was actively involved in the establishment of this landmark legal instrument. Ms. Mayanja actively participated in peace-building and peacekeeping missions and therefore possesses an understanding of the suffering created by conflicts and the challenges facing the UN in such situations. This first hand knowledge was essential in her role as the Secretary-General’s Special Adviser, especially in the area of women, peace and security. Ms Mayanja, a national of Uganda, obtained law degree from Makarere University, as well as Master’s Degree in Law from the Harvard University Law School. She has three children.