{{Short description|Liberian diplomat (born 1949)}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Marjon Vashti Kamara | image = | caption = | office = Minister of Foreign Affairs of Liberia | president = Ellen Johnson Sirleaf | term_start = 6 January 2016 | term_end = 2018 | predecessor = Augustine Kpehe Ngafuan | successor = Gbehzohngar Milton Findley | birth_date = | birth_place = Monrovia, Liberia | alma_mater = Western Michigan University | occupation = Diplomat, Politician | awards = Dame Great Band and Chancellor of the Orders in the Humane Order of African Redemption }}
'''Marjon Vashti Kamara''' (born 13 August 1949) is a Liberian diplomat and politician who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2016 to 2018.
==Early life and education== Kamara was born on 13 August 1949 in Monrovia to Jacob and Edith Kamara.<ref name=challenge>{{cite web|url=http://allafrica.com/stories/201601112430.html|title=Liberia: Foreign Minister Marjon Kamara's Challenges|date=10 January 2016|accessdate=9 April 2017|work=Daily Observer|publisher=All Africa}}</ref> She attended Saint Theresa's Convent High school and graduated from Western Michigan University with a Bachelor of Arts in 1970 and a master's degree in political science in 1973.<ref name=washington/><ref name=meet/>
==Career== Kamara began working in Liberia's Ministry for Foreign Affairs in 1974, working closely with Cecil Dennis,<ref name=challenge/> before working at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) offices in Ethiopia, Uganda and Geneva from 1983 until 1994.<ref name=washington/> She was UNHCR's Representative to Angola from 1994–1998 and to Tanzania from 1998-2001. She then became Director of the Division of Operational Support in 2001, before being appointed Director of UNHCR for Africa in October 2005.<ref name=washington/>
Kamara was appointed Liberia's ambassador to the United Nations in New York on 8 October 2009.<ref name=washington>{{cite web|url=http://www.washdiplomat.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2717%3Aher-excellency-marjon-v-kamara&catid=1184&Itemid=136|title=Her Excellency Marjon V. Kamara|publisher=Washington Diplomat}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.un.org/press/en/2009/bio4134.doc.htm|publisher=United Nations|title=New Permanent Representative of Liberia Presents Credentials|date=8 October 2009|accessdate=9 April 2017}}</ref><ref name=meet>{{cite web|url=http://www.myafricanwoman.com/2016/01/meet-liberias-new-foreign-minister/|title=Meet Liberia's New Foreign Minister|date=7 January 2016|accessdate=9 April 2017|first=Wade C. L.|last=Williams|work=LibPolitices}}</ref> She chaired the fifty-sixth and fifty-seventh sessions of the Commission on the Status of Women and was elected to serve as Vice President of the sixty-sixth session of the General Assembly.<ref>{{cite book|title=Introduction to Liberian Government and Political System|first=Monie R.|last=Captan|publisher=Lulu Press|year=2016|isbn=9781483448787|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ke0ZDAAAQBAJ|authorlink=Monie Captan}}</ref>
Kamara was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs by President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf on 6 January 2016.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mofa.gov.lr/public2/2press.php?news_id=1914&related=7&pg=sp|title=Ambassador Marjon Kamara Appointed New Foreign Minister|publisher=Government of the Republic of Liberia Ministry of Foreign Affairs|access-date=2017-04-09|archive-date=2016-10-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161023133459/http://www.mofa.gov.lr/public2/2press.php?news_id=1914&related=7&pg=sp|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=challenge/>
==Awards and honours== In 2016, Kamara was made a Dame Great Band and Chancellor of the Orders in the Humane Order of African Redemption.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://frontpageafricaonline.com/index.php/politics/384-amb-marjon-kamara-admitted-into-humane-order-of-african-redemption|title=Amb. Marjon Kamara Admitted into Humane Order of African Redemption|date=6 April 2016|accessdate=9 April 2017|work=Front Page Africa}}</ref>
==Publications== * {{cite book|title=United Nations Capital Development Fund: poor and rich worlds in collision|first1=Marjon Vashti|last1=Kamara|first2=Jack C.|last2=Plano|publisher=Western Michigan University Press|year=1974|isbn=9780932826145|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3e43AQAAIAAJ}} * {{cite journal|first=Marjon|last=Kamara|title=Daring to dream of an end to exile in sub-Saharan Africa|journal=Forced Migration Review|place=Oxford|volume=33|date=September 2009|pages=30–32}}
==References== {{reflist}}
{{LiberianForeignMinisters}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kamara, Marjon}} Category:1949 births Category:Living people Category:Politicians from Monrovia Category:Western Michigan University alumni Category:United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees officials Category:Permanent representatives of Liberia to the United Nations Category:Female foreign ministers Category:Ministers of foreign affairs of Liberia Category:Liberian officials of the United Nations Category:Women government ministers of Liberia Category:Ellen Johnson Sirleaf administration cabinet members Category:21st-century Liberian politicians