Hajia Alima Mahama was appointed Ambassador of the Republic of Ghana to the United States in June 2021. Prior to her appointment, Ambassador Mahama was a Member of Parliament (MP) and Minister of Local Government and Rural Development (2017-2021). She previously served as Minister of Women and Children’s Affairs, Member of Parliament (2005-2009), and Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry.

Her passion for gender equality and child protection has been evident throughout her career, especially in her contribution to the passage of Ghana’s Domestic Violence Act and Trafficking in Persons Act, as well as the ratification of relevant conventions at the African Union and UN level. She also influenced changes to Ghana’s National Health Insurance Act aimed at improving maternal health, among other things.

As Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, she was instrumental in the development of the National Decentralization Policy and Strategy (2020-2040). It was designed to promote quality services through a decentralized system of local governance and active citizen participation to promote economic growth, income generation and poverty alleviation.

Other initiatives that earned her credit include the development of the Local Economic Development Policy and Action Plan, the Rural Development Policy and Strategic Implementation Plan, and the adoption of the new Birth and Death Registration Act. They paved the way for decentralization and digitization of the birth and death registry in Ghana.

In addition to her work in government, Ambassador Mahama has had a long career in international development. She has worked as a consultant for IFAD, OXFAM and Action Aid Ghana. She was a senior technical advisor on MDG 3 in Liberia (2009-2011), a program supported by the Danish government to promote gender equality.

From 1987 to 2001, she served as Senior Planner and Gender Development Coordinator for the Northern Rural Integrated Program (NORRIP), an initiative of the Government of Ghana and the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA).

Ambassador Mahama was a Humphrey Fellow at Rutgers University, where she studied urban policy and planning and women’s studies, and was affiliated with the Center for Women’s Global Leadership and the Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP). She is the recipient of a Pearson Fellowship, sponsored by the Government of Canada and administered by Ottawa University, Carleton University and the International Development Research Centre (IDRC).

Ambassador Mahama graduated from Ghana Law School and was called to the Bar in 1982. She holds a master’s degree in development studies from the Institute of Social Studies (ISS) in The Hague.