Athaliah Lesiba Molokomme
Alternate Board Member for African Countries
Dr. Athaliah Molokomme is the Permanent Representative of Botswana to the UN and other international organisations in Geneva and Ambassador to Switzerland since 2017.
Prior to her current position, she served for 11 years as the first female Attorney General of the Republic of Botswana, where she was Principal Legal Advisor to the Government and ex-officio member of the Cabinet. In this role, she was a member of Botswana delegations to regional and international meetings held under the auspices of the Southern African Development Community, the African Union, the Commonwealth and the United Nations.
She holds a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Botswana and Swaziland, a Masters in Law from Yale Law School, and a PhD in Law from Leiden University. She also attained a Diploma in International Commercial Arbitration from the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIARB) in London, and is a Fellow of the CIARB.
She has served as a Judge of the High Court of Botswana, Senior Programme Officer for Gender at SADC, and Senior Lecturer in Law at the University of Botswana. She also authored and published a number of journal articles and book chapters, as well as participated as a speaker and resource person at many conferences, seminars and workshops.
Dr Molokomme has contributed to the founding of a number of Human Rights Organisations at national, legal and international level, and currently serves on international boards including the Nuremberg Principles Advisory Council; Justice Rapid Response and the International Gender Champions Global Board.
During her tour in Geneva, she has served on a number of Committees including as Chairperson of the WTO Trade Policy Review Body; co-Chair of the Informal Working Group on Women and Trade; Chairperson of the ITC Joint Advisory Group for 2021; Chairperson of the WTO Dispute Settlement Body in 2022 and was appointed Chairperson of the WTO General Council in March 2023.
