Najla Bouden ( ar, نجلاء بودن), also known as Najla Bouden Romdhane (; born 29 June 1958), is a Tunisian geologist and university professor who is serving as the Prime Minister of Tunisia. She took office on 11 October 2021, making her the first female prime minister both in Tunisia and the Arab world. She previously served in the

education ministry An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

in 2011.

Early life

Bouden was born on 29 June 1958 in Kairouan. She is an engineer who graduated in 1983 from ESTP Paris, she also holds a doctorate in geology after defending her thesis at the Mines ParisTech in 1987 in

earthquake engineering Earthquake engineering is an interdisciplinary branch of engineering that designs and analyzes structures, such as buildings and bridges, with earthquakes in mind. Its overall goal is to make such structures more resistant to earthquakes. An earth ...

Professional career

She is then an engineer by profession and a professor of higher education at the National Engineering School of Tunis at

Tunis El Manar University The University of Tunis El Manar (UTM, ar, جامعة تونس المنار) is a university located in Tunis, Tunisia. It was founded in 2000 and is organized in 11 Faculties. Ranking According to URAP (University Ranking by Academic Performa ...

and

Tunisia Polytechnic School Ecole Polytechnique de Tunisie (EPT), ( ar, المدرسة التونسية للتقنيات al-madrasa at-tounisia lit-takniat, french: L'École polytechnique de Tunisie or ''EPT'') is a Tunisian Engineering education, Engineering School. It wa ...

at Carthage University, having specialized in geosciences. Her work has focused on seismic hazards, which led her to train many executives of the Tunisian Petroleum Activities Company.. She held also senior roles at the Tunisian Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research. In 2011, she was appointed Director General within the Ministry, then in 2015 held a position in the cabinet of Minister Slim Choura. In September 2016, she was responsible for the $70 million World Bank-funded program "PromEssE" to reform and "modernize" university education in order to help alleviate widespread unemployment among Tunisian graduates, a major social issue in the country.

Political career

On 29 September 2021, amid the Tunisian political crisis, President Kais Saied announced that he had appointed Najla Bouden to form the country's new government. She then replaced Hichem Mechichi who was dismissed on 25 July 2021. The first woman to take up this office, her appointment as head of the Tunisian government made her a pioneer in the country, in the Maghreb, as well as in the Arab world. President Saied described the news as "an honor to Tunisia and Tunisian women". On 11 October 2021, she took the oath with the members of her government at the Presidential Palace of Carthage.

Personal life

Her father Mohamed Bouden was a professor at the Sadiki College and then headmaster of

Lycée Alaoui In France, secondary education is in two stages: * ''Collèges'' () cater for the first four years of secondary education from the ages of 11 to 15. * ''Lycées'' () provide a three-year course of further secondary education for children between ...

. Her four brothers and sisters are all scientists. Bouden is married to the

ophthalmologist Ophthalmology ( ) is a surgery, surgical subspecialty within medicine that deals with the diagnosis and treatment of eye disorders. An ophthalmologist is a physician who undergoes subspecialty training in medical and surgical eye care. Followin ...

Kamel Romdhane. The couple has two children.

Honours

Officer of the National Order of Merit of Tunisia (2016)

Publications

* ''Contribution à l'étude de la fragmentation des massifs rocheux à l'explosif'' ("Contribution to the study of the fragmentation of rock masses with explosives"), PhD thesis, (1987). * ''Innovative geotechnical engineering. Proceedings of the International conference on geotechnical engineering'' ds. Sfax, Nouha editions, 2008

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bouden, Najla 1958 births People from Kairouan 21st-century Tunisian women politicians 21st-century Tunisian politicians Prime Ministers of Tunisia Mines ParisTech alumni Women prime ministers Women government ministers of Tunisia Tunisian women engineers Tunis El Manar University faculty Living people Independent politicians in Tunisia