On Wednesday 9 December 2020, the Ambassador of the Republic of Cameroon to the Kingdom of the Netherlands, H.E. Ms. Madeleine Liguemoh Ondoua, presented her Letters of Credence to the King of the Netherlands, His Majesty Willem-Alexander Claus George Ferdinand.
In prelude to the event that unfolded in solemnity and pomp, the King’s Chamberlain received and led the Ambassador to the palace after the performance of the National Anthem of the Republic of Cameroon and the associated military honours reserved for the occasion. Upon fulfilment of all relevant official and ceremonial requirements, King Willem-Alexander granted an audience to the Ambassador in the course of which they reviewed the state of cooperation between Cameroon and the Netherlands.
A diplomat by profession H.E. Madeleine Liguemoh Ondoua started her career at the Ministry of External Relations in 2005 and in the hierarchical order of the corps she is at the rank of Minister Plenipotentiary. She gained admission into the International Relations Institute of Cameroon (IRIC) in 1994, after obtaining a Bachelor’s degree in Francophone Private Law from the University of Yaoundé II in 1994. At IRIC, she obtained a Professional Master’s degree in 1997, a Diploma of Higher Specialized Studies in 1999 and a Doctorate in International Relations in 2005. From there she was integrated into the Ministry of External Relations as an official in the Department of Information, Documentation and Diplomatic Archives.
With regard to important markers in the evolution of her career she served as an Assistant Research Officer in the Department of Legal Affairs and Treaties from 2006 to 2011 and from 2011 to 2017, she was a Sub-Director in the Department of Cameroonians Abroad. In 2017, the wave of appointments and deployment of Cameroonian diplomats abroad led her to occupy the post of First Counsellor at the Cameroonian Embassy in Berne (Switzerland). Her tenure in this position lasted from 7 November 2017 to 11 September 2020, when she was appointed as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Cameroon to the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
A trail of capacity building endeavours at home and abroad including training seminars on dispute settlement organised by the World Trade Organization (WTO), IRIC and the Higher Institute of Public Management (ISMP), equally underpin H.E. Liguemoh Ondoua’s career and academic progression.
She has also built a solid foundation on years of social engagement in interprofessional associations and active participation in key projects. She has notably served as Vice-President of the association regrouping Cameroonian female diplomats (Dynamique des Femmes de la Diplomatie Camerounaise, DYFEDCAM) and she was a member of the International Women’s Organisation (IWO) in Uganda. She was the Editor -in-Chief of the journal for Women in Cameroonian Diplomacy “Diploladies” and she served as the President of the Scientific Committee of the first Diaspora Forum (FODIAS) organized by the Government of Cameroon.
Moreover, the mother of two is an awardee of the prestigious Henry Dunant Award issued by Ugandan Red Cross Society in 2002.
