Climate change poses risks, COP27, presents unique opportunity for Africa.

Ambassador Maria de Jesus dos Reis Ferreira was appointed in February 2018 as the Permanent Representative of Angola to the UN, the first woman to hold the position. Among other issues, she has focused on peace and security in Africa and has echoed her country's strong support for universal vaccination of the global population. In this interview with Africa Renewal's Kingsley Ighobor, Amb. Ferreira discusses women's empowerment, free trade and what the continent can expect from the UN conference on climate (COP 27) that will be held in Egypt later this year. These are excerpts from the interview:

What has been your journey to this role as the Permanent Representative of Angola to the UN?

My journey has been a long one, I can take hours talking about it. I started in the army and years later I shifted to diplomacy, which has been quite an interesting and challenging journey.

I have worked as a diplomat since 1980. Before my current role, I worked as an Ambassador in Austria, Slovenia, Croatia and Slovakia with residence in Vienna, where I was the Permanent Representative to the United Nations.

I am the first woman to serve in this post since Angola became a UN Member State 46 years ago.

Congratulations! What are your top three achievements so far?

Talking about achievements, with regards to peace and security, it is important to note that as part of AngolaA's leadership of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) for the second time, our President Joao Lourenco, in his capacity as Chair, briefed the UN Security Council in June 2021 at a meeting dedicated to the situation in the Central Africa Republic. He called for an end to the arms embargo imposed on the country.

In addition, Angola continues to contribute and support a peaceful resolution of the conflict in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

Also in 2021, Angola presented for the first time its National Voluntary Review at the High-Level Political Forum on the implementation of the 2030 Development Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Another great achievement was that the UN General Assembly, through a resolution in February 2021, granted Angola three additional years [until 2024] to prepare for a smooth transition from the Least Developed Country category to a Middle-Income Country. That was after intense negotiations.

I must mention that Angola is, for the second time, a member of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ) for the...