With the addition of Ambassadors Nisreen Al-Shibl and Haifa Al-Judaea to the list of Saudi representatives in its embassies abroad, which also includes Princess Rima Bint Bandar Al Saud, Enas Al-Shahwan, and Amal Al-Mouallimi, the number of Saudi women leaders in the diplomatic corps has increased to five. This is in accordance with the Kingdom’s directives to improve women’s participation in public life
Al-Judai, the head of the Saudi mission to the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Association, and Al-Shibl, who was assigned to the Republic of Finland, took the oath in front of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman at Al-Yamamah Palace in the Saudi capital Riyadh.
Al-Judaea is one of the eight executives who make up the Saudi Research and Media Group. She served as the head of “SRMG Think,” the company’s newly established studies division, which aims to offer perspectives and analyses on issues pertaining to the Middle East and North Africa’s economies, geographies, foreign policies, and public affairs. the sociological of the area; In addition to offering research in literature and culture, innovative publication and analysis techniques, the discovery of business-related assistive technology, and associated opinion surveys.
Al-Jadaa had previously worked at the UN Center for Combating Terrorism, represented her nation in the UN and Security Council, and served as a supervisor for the Saudi Ministry of Tourism’s General Department of International Relations. She graduated from Syracuse University with a bachelor’s in journalism before earning master’s degrees in conflict resolution and negotiation from Columbia University, international relations from Syracuse University, and international relations from Syracuse University.
The priority was Princess Rima bint Bandar Al Saud, who took over the duties of the Saudi embassy in Washington, becoming at that time the first woman to hold the position of ambassador. She was later joined by Amal Al-Mouallimi, ambassador to Norway, and Enas Al-Shahwan, ambassador to Sweden. After these appointments, Saudi Arabia had 5 female ambassadors abroad.
Priority is given to Princess Rima Bint Bandar because, in addition to being the first ambassador to Saudi Arabia, she is also the first woman to serve as president of a multi-sports federation in the Kingdom. Princess Rima Bint Bandar earned a Bachelor of Arts from Mont Veron College at George Washington University in the United States of America in 1999.
Amal Al-Mouallimi started her career in the fields of education, training, and social development more than 20 years ago, where she spent one year working in the Ministry of Education’s Educational Training Division in addition to her five years spent working as a teacher, eight years spent working as a mentor.
After that, Al-Mouallimi served as the King Abdulaziz Center for National Dialogue’s director of the women’s section from 2013 to 2015 in addition to serving on a number of committees, including the National Committee for Drug Protection and the supervisory committee for the 2016 municipal elections. Additionally, she served as a consultant for planning on Saudi official television before being appointed to the Saudi Embassy in Norway.
The Agency for Political and Economic Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has Enas Al-Shahwan as its first female department director. After handling a number of significant political matters there, she was appointed ambassador to Sweden. During her time there, she represented Saudi Arabia in numerous regional and international forums, participated in lectures and workshops on international relations for a number of ministry employees, and handled a number of significant political matters.
Al-Shahwan holds an Australian master’s degree in international relations, is a part of the inaugural class of the Future Leaders Program, which was established by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2017, and has earned a diploma from Harvard University’s Emerging Leadership Program.
