Lila Hanitra Ratsifandrihamanana (born 1959) is a Malagasy

Madagascar

The Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...

 politician and diplomat. Ratsifandrihamanana was the Minister of Scientific Research from 1997 to 1998 and Minister of Foreign Affairs

Foreign minister

A Minister of Foreign Affairs, or foreign minister, is a cabinet minister who helps form the foreign policy of a sovereign state. The foreign minister is often regarded as the most senior ministerial position below that of the head of government . It is often granted to the deputy prime minister in...

 from 1998 to 2002. Ratsifandrihamanana resigned on February 27, 2002, amidst the political crisis that followed the December 2001 presidential election

Malagasy presidential election, 2001

Presidential elections were held in Madagascar on 16 December 2001. Initial results suggested a second round was necessary, with neither of the main candidates, incumbent President Didier Ratsiraka and Marc Ravalomanana. However, Ravalomanana rejected the results and declared himself President in...

, because, according to her spokesperson, "she was personally in favour of comparing reports" regarding the electoral controversy. She then became ambassador to Senegal

Senegal

Senegal , officially the Republic of Senegal , is a country in western Africa. It owes its name to the Sénégal River that borders it to the east and north...

in 2002. In 2007 she became Permanent Representative of the African Union, Permanent Observer Mission of the African Union to the United Nations in New York.