Lolwah Rashid Mohammed Al-Khater (Arabic: لؤلؤة الخاطر) (born in

Doha Doha ( ar, الدوحة, ad-Dawḥa or ''ad-Dōḥa'') is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor, it is home to most of the coun ...

Qatar 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 sh ...

) is a Qatari

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 is the first Qatari woman to hold the position of Spokesperson for the Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Assistant Foreign Minister of Qatar. Since March 2023, she has served as Minister of State for International Cooperation at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Career

Lolwah Al-Khater holds a master's of science in computing and initially worked as an

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

in the field of oil and gas. She pursued a master's of arts in public policy, with a focus on public policy and Islam. According to her biography, she is a part-time lecturer at the

Doha Institute for Graduate Studies The Doha Institute for Graduate Studies is a higher education institute in Doha, Qatar. Its first student enrollment was in the 2015/2016 academic year. The Doha Institute is intended as a graduate studies academy; students enrolled in its progra ...

and a research associate at The Oxford Gulf and Arabian Peninsula Forum at St Antony's College at the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

. According to her biography, she is a DPhil Candidate at the University of Oxford in the area of Oriental Studies, examining Islam and Modernity in the context of the Arab Nahda. Al-Khater entered the Qatari ministry of foreign affairs as a minister plenipotentiary. She was Director of Planning and Quality at Qatar Tourism Authority and a Research Project Manager at Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development. In 2017, Al-Khater was appointed the Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs by

Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani ( ar, محمد بن عبدالرحمن بن جاسم آل ثاني; born 1 November 1980) is a Qatari diplomat, economist, and politician, currently serving as the Deputy Prime Minister, since 15 Nove ...

, the first woman to hold this post. This appointment has been cited as an important advance in women's representation in the Qatari government. In this role, she was "one of the most prominent voices" advocating for Qatar during the 2017

Qatar diplomatic crisis The Qatar diplomatic crisis was a diplomatic incident in the Middle East that began on 5 June 2017 when Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt severed diplomatic relations with Qatar and banned Qatar-registered planes and ships ...

, according to Al Khaleej, and pushed for "a meaningful solution" to the Syrian civil war. In 2019, she was appointed Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs by

Emir Emir (; ar, أمير ' ), sometimes transliterated amir, amier, or ameer, is a word of Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person possessing actual or cerem ...

Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani. She is Spokesperson for the Supreme Committee for Crisis Management in Qatar. In this role, she delivered daily briefings to the public on

Qatar TV Qatar Television, ( ar, تلفزيون قَطَر); abbreviated as Qatar TV or QTV), is a Qatar Government owned public service national television channel in Qatar which is owned and run by Qatar General Broadcasting and Television Corporation ...

during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. She is a member of the

Advisory Board An advisory board is a body that provides non-binding strategic advice to the management of a corporation, organization, or foundation. The informal nature of an advisory board gives greater flexibility in structure and management compared to th ...

of the Georgetown University in Qatar. In March 2023, Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani appointed Al-Khater Minister of State for International Cooperation at the

Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the government department responsible for the state's diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral relations affairs as well as for providing support for a country's citizens who are abroad. The entit ...

. Following the outbreak of the

2023 Israel–Hamas war } The ongoing armed conflict between Hamas-led Palestinian militant groups and Israel military forces began on 7 October 2023, 50 years after the start of the 1973 Yom Kippur War. Hamas's coordinated surprise offensive, codenamed "Al-Aqsa Fl ...

, Al-Khater was the first foreign official to visit the besieged

Gaza Strip The Gaza Strip (;The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p.761 "Gaza Strip /'gɑːzə/ a strip of territory under the control of the Palestinian National Authority and Hamas, on the SE Mediterranean coast including the town of Gaza.. ...

on Sunday, 26th of November. There she surveyed the disputed influx of

aid In international relations, aid (also known as international aid, overseas aid, foreign aid, economic aid or foreign assistance) is – from the perspective of governments – a voluntary transfer of resources from one country to another. Ai ...

, met wounded Palestinians and spoke with Wael Al-Dahdouh, Gaza bureau chief of Qatari-funded

Al Jazeera Al Jazeera ( ar, الجزيرة, translit-std=DIN, translit=al-jazīrah, , "The Island") is a state-owned Arabic-language international radio and TV broadcaster of Qatar. It is based in Doha and operated by the media conglomerate Al Jazeera ...

, who lost his wife, son and grandchild in an Israeli airstrike.

Writings

* *

References

External links

* * Ministerial website of
FRANCE 24 meets Lulwa Rashid Al-Khater, Qatar's foreign ministry spokeswomanDiplomat: Qatar's strategic choice has always been 'Gulf reconciliation'H.E. Lolwah Al Khater: MOFA Qatar's spokesperson and assistant to deputy foreign minister
{{DEFAULTSORT:Khater, Lolwah Alumni of Imperial College London Qatari women diplomats Qatari writers Qatari women Qatari women writers Foreign relations of Qatar 21st-century women politicians Qatari women in politics Hamad Bin Khalifa University alumni Year of birth missing (living people) Living people People from Doha Qatari Muslims

Career

Writings

See also

References

External links