Sheikh
Sheikh (pronounced or ; ar, شيخ ' , mostly pronounced , plural ' )—also transliterated sheekh, sheyikh, shaykh, shayk, shekh, shaik and Shaikh, shak—is an honorific title in the Arabic language. It commonly designates a chief of a ...
a Alya Ahmed Saif Al-Thani ( ar, علياء بنت أحمد آل ثاني; born 1974) is a
Qatari
Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it sha ...
diplomat
A diplomat (from grc, δίπλωμα; romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state or an intergovernmental institution such as the United Nations or the European Union to conduct diplomacy with one or more other states or internati ...
who currently serves as the Permanent Representative of the State of Qatar to the
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...
.
Early life and Education
Her father, Sheikh Ahmed bin Saif Al-Thani, is a former diplomat. Her uncle also served as a diplomat. She graduated with a
B.S.
A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years.
The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University ...
in economics from
Qatar University
Qatar University ( ar, جامعة قطر; transliterated: Jami'at Qatar) is a public research university located on the northern outskirts of Doha, Qatar. It is the only public university in the country. The university hosts ten colleges – Arts ...
and obtained a
M.A.
A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...
in international studies and diplomacy from
SOAS, University of London
SOAS University of London (; the School of Oriental and African Studies) is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the federal University of London. Founded in 1916, SOAS is located in the Bloomsbury are ...
in 2006. She is the first woman to serve as Permanent Representative of the State of Qatar to the United Nations.
Career
From October 2003 to May 2004, she served as a senior specialist in the General Secretariat of the International Relations Department of the Board of Governors.
Al-Thani subsequently served as Deputy Director from June 2004 to August 2006, and later as director of the child's rights division of the Supreme Council for Family Affairs from September 2006 to March 2007.
She became a counselor for UN affairs from April 2007 to May 2009, before becoming an Envoy in June 2009. She also served as deputy Permanent Representative of Qatar to the UN from May 2010 to July 2011.
In August 2011, she became the Ambassador to the Cabinet of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a position she held until October 2011.
Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Geneva
From 2011 to 2013, she served as Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the State of Qatar to the European headquarters of the United Nations in
Geneva
Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...
, the World Trade Organization (WTO), and as the General Consul of the State of Qatar to the Swiss Federation.
In 2013, Al-Thani was named a
Young Global Leader
Forum of Young Global Leaders, or Young Global Leaders (YGL), was created by Klaus Schwab, founder of the World Economic Forum. The YGL, a non-profit organization managed from Geneva, Switzerland, is under the supervision of the Swiss government ...
by the
World Economic Forum
The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental and lobbying organisation based in Cologny, canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German engineer and economist Klaus Schwab. The foundation, ...
.
Permanent Representative to the United Nations HQ
On 24 October 2013, she was announced as the Permanent Representative of the State of Qatar to the United Nations in
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
Global Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking in Persons
The Global Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking in Persons is a human trafficking action plan adopted by the United Nations in July 2010.
Description
Kyrgyzstan supported the plan's adoption, as did Canada, and Mexico signed off on the plan th ...
.
In 2018, she co-organized the intergovernmental consultations to review the reform of the
United Nations Economic and Social Council
The United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC; french: links=no, Conseil économique et social des Nations unies, ) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations, responsible for coordinating the economic and social fields ...
.
In June 2021, she was appointed Chairperson for the seventy-sixth session of the
United Nations General Assembly
The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; french: link=no, Assemblée générale, AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as the main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ of the UN. Curr ...
.
In November 2021, Al-Thani was appointed by
Abdulla Shahid
Abdulla Shahid ( dv, ޢަބްދުﷲ ޝާހިދު; born 26 May 1962) is Maldivian politician who served as President of the 76th United Nations General Assembly between 2021 and 2022. Shahid is the first Maldivian politician to hold that post. ...
,
President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
*President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
of the
76th United Nations General Assembly
The Seventy-sixth session of the United Nations General Assembly was the session of the United Nations General Assembly which ran from 14 September 2021 to 13 September 2022. The President of the UN General Assembly is from Asia-Pacific Group.
...
, to co-chair the intergovernmental negotiations on the
United Nations Security Council reform
Reform of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) encompasses five key issues: categories of membership, the question of the veto held by the five permanent members, regional representation, the size of an enlarged Council and its working m ...
.
In 2022,
Csaba Kőrösi
Csaba Kőrösi (; born 1958) is a Hungarian diplomat currently serving as President of the 77th United Nations General Assembly.77th United Nations General Assembly appointed her to conduct consultations on the political declaration to be adopted by th SDG Summit in September 2023.
She has authored and facilitated several
United Nations General Assembly Resolutions
A United Nations General Assembly resolution is a decision or declaration voted on by all member states of the United Nations in the General Assembly.
General Assembly resolutions usually require a simple majority (50 percent of all votes plus on ...
, such as the Resolution welcoming the 2022
FIFA World Cup
The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...
in Qatar, the International Day to Protect Education From Attack, which followed the adoption of a Resolution on the
Right to Education
The right to education has been recognized as a human right in a number of international conventions, including the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights which recognizes a right to free, compulsory primary education for ...
in Emergencies ten years earlier, a Resolution on an International Day of
Women Judges
Women in law describes the role played by women in the legal profession and related occupations, which includes lawyers (also called barristers, advocates, solicitors, attorneys or legal counselors), paralegals, prosecutors (also called Distric ...
and on World Autism Awareness Day, and a Resolution on improving the effectiveness and coordination of military and civil assets for natural disaster response.
She started important United Nations Groups of Friends, and co-chairs the Group of Friends fo Gender Parity the Group of Friends for the
Responsibility to Protect
The Responsibility to Protect (R2P or RtoP) is a global political commitment which was endorsed by all member states of the United Nations at the 2005 World Summit in order to address its four key concerns to prevent genocide, war crimes, ethnic ...
, the Group of Friends to Assist on the International, Impartial, and Independent Mechanism IIIM to help investigate crimes committed in
Syria
Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
Global Health
Global health is the health of the populations in the worldwide context; it has been defined as "the area of study, research and practice that places a priority on improving health and achieving equity in health for all people worldwide". Problem ...
Security, and the Group of Friends for the Responsibility to Protect.
Ambassador Al-Thani sits on the boards of several international human rights, sustainable development, and women's rights organizations.
She has won several awards, including being nominated as a Young Global Leader to improve the state of the world by the
World Economic Forum
The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental and lobbying organisation based in Cologny, canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German engineer and economist Klaus Schwab. The foundation, ...
in 2013. She has written opinion pieces as well as the foreword to the book "Overcoming Smallness: Challenges and Opportunities for Small States in Global Affairs"
See also
*
List of current Permanent Representatives to the United Nations
This is a list of the current permanent representatives to the United Nations at United Nations Headquarters, New York City. The list includes the country that they represent and the date that they presented their credentials to the UN Secretary- ...