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Pillay, who succeeds Louise Arbour of Canada, who completed her term 30 June, is taking over a growing office that now has 1,000 staff working in 50 countries.
She was appointed the new UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in July by the UN General Assembly, on the recommendation of Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
She becomes the fifth High Commissioner since the office, which is based in Geneva, was created in 1993.
PANA reports that the South African lady had served as Judge on the International Criminal Court (ICC) based in The Hague, Netherlands, which is the first permanent independent court set up to try cases of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Prior to that, she served as both Judge and President on the UN International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), which she joined in 1995.
"Her career as a human rights advocate began in her home country, where she made a name for herself as a grassroots lawyer who defended many anti-apartheid campaigners,'' according to a press release issued by her office.
In 1967, she became the first woman to start a law practice in South Africa's Natal Province, and in 1995, after the end of apartheid, she became the first black woman to be appointed a judge on the South African High Court.
A fervent supporter of women's rights, Pillay was one of the co-founders of the international non-governmental organisation Equality Now, which campaigns for women's rights.
She has also been involved on issues relating to children, detainees, victims of torture and domestic violence as well as a range of other economic, social and cultural rights.
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