Jeanne Dambendzet (born 1 August 1943) is a Congolese politician. She served in the government of Congo-Brazzaville from 1989 to 1991 and again from 1997 to 2009. Since 2009 she has been the First Vice-President of the Economic and Social Council, a state institution. She is a member of the Congolese Labour Party (PCT) and has been National Executive Secretary of the Women's Organization of Congo, the PCT's women's organization, since 2013. Background and early political career Dambendzet was born in Franceville, located in southeastern Gabon. She is related to President Denis Sassou Nguesso (he is her mother's first cousin) and the two have known each other since they were children. She became a teacher and was an activist within the teachers' union; she was also a founder of the Revolutionary Union of Congolese Women (URFC). From 1977 to 1980, she was a URFC delegate to the Women's International Democratic Federation; subsequently, she was the Women's International Democratic Federation's Permanent Representative to UNESCO from 1980 to 1984. At the PCT's Third Ordinary Congress, held on 27–31 July 1984, Dambendzet was elected to the 75-member PCT Central Committee. She was also assigned to head the studies and research division of the PCT. On 13 August 1989, she was appointed to the Congolese government as Minister of Labour and Social Security, holding that post until the PCT regime ended in 1991. Political career since the early 1990s Dambendzet remained loyal to Sassou Nguesso during the presidency of Pascal Lissouba (1992–1997) and worked actively on his behalf during the June–October 1997 civil war. After the victory of Sassou Nguesso's forces, Dambendzet was again appointed to the government as Minister of the Civil Service and Administrative Reform on 2 November 1997; her portfolio was expanded to include the advancement of women on 12 January 1999. In the May 2002 parliamentary election, Dambendzet was elected to the National Assembly as the PCT candidate in Ngoko constituency, located in Cuvette Region; she received 55.43% of the vote and won the seat in the first round. Following the election, she was moved to the post of Minister of Agriculture, Animal Husbandry, Fisheries, and the Advancement of Women on 18 August 2002; she remained in that position in the government named on 7 January 2005, although her portfolio was reduced to agriculture, animal husbandry, and fisheries. Her portfolio was further reduced to agriculture and animal husbandry on 3