Hilia Barber is a Bissau-Guinean politician who served as the country's first female Minister of Foreign Affairs in 1999.
She was chief of the Guinea-Bissau Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Europe-America department in 1982.
In this role Barber was part of a delegation sent to Cuba to negotiate technical assistance, international scholarships and military training.
[2] Whilst serving in this role, in July 1998 she successfully sought humanitarian aid from the Israeli government to help alleviate suffering as a result of the Guinea-Bissau Civil War.
[3] In early 1999 Barber was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs, the first woman to serve in that role.