Ambassador Irene Kasyanju is a Tanzanian career diplomat residing in Dar Es Salaam. She offers 35 years of experience serving in the Foreign Service and most part in the Legal Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Having graduated from the University of Dar es Salaam with an LL. B (Honours) degree (April 1987), she undertook a 9-month Internship Programme with the Judiciary, Tanzania Legal Corporation, and the Ministry of Justice. She joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in December 1987 and was immediately enrolled for a Postgraduate Diploma in International Relations and Diplomatic Law and Practice from Dr. Salim Ahmed Salim Centre for Foreign Relations at Dar es Salaam (1988). Between 1988 and 1999 Ambassador Kasyanju took part in several sessions of the Sixth (Legal) Committee of the United Nations General Assembly in New York and in various bilateral, regional, and international meetings and conferences held under the auspices of the United Nations, African Union, and East African Cooperation hence maintaining Tanzania’s participation in the international legal arena. She served as Senior Diplomat and Legal Advisor at the Permanent Mission of the United Republic of Tanzania to the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland (1999 – 2005) and returned to the Ministry to serve as Head and thereafter Director for Legal Affairs (2005 – 2015) and subsequently appointed to serve as Ambassador of Tanzania to the Kingdom of the Netherlands (2015 – 2022).
Ambassador Kasyanju participated in the Preparatory Commission for the establishment of an International Criminal Court (ICC) and took part in the process of drafting the Rome Statute for the Court in New York and Rome, Italy (1996 – 1998). She participated in the negotiations in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (2006 – 2008) which culminated in transforming Arusha as a seat of the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights. She led the Team that facilitated the granting of permanent residency and legal status of the African Institute of International Law (2012 – 2013) along with other international institutions situated in Arusha, including the UN Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (2012 – 2014) successor to the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, and the African Union Advisory Board Against Corruption (2012 – 2013).
Ambassador Kasyanju takes part in building awareness about International Diplomatic Law and Practice among government officials appointed to serve in various embassies abroad under the auspices of Dr. Salim Ahmed Salim Centre for Foreign Relations, Dar es Salaam and elsewhere if needed.
