Nihal Naj Ali Al-Awlaqi of Yemen - IWOC 2016

Nihal Naj Ali Al-Awlaqi (alternative spellings: Nihal Naji Ali Al Awlaki, Nehal Al-Awlaqi) ( ar, نهال ناجي علي العولقي; born 1977) is a

Yemen Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...

. She was the Yemeni Minister of

Legal Affairs ''Legal Affairs'' was an American legal magazine that was launched under the auspices of Yale Law School, and which later became an independent non-profit venture with an educational mission. As the first general-interest legal magazine, ''Legal Af ...

from 9 January 2016 to 17 December 2020. In 2016 she received the

International Women of Courage Award The International Women of Courage Award, also referred to as the U.S. Secretary of State's International Women of Courage Award, is an American award presented annually by the United States Department of State to women around the world who have ...

Life

Al-Awlaqi is from the

Shabwah Governorate Shabwah ( ar, شَبْوَة, Šabwa) is a governorate (province) of Yemen. Its main town is Ataq. During the Yemeni Civil War in 2015, the province became a battleground. The battle, known as the Shabwah Campaign, ended on August 15, 2015, af ...

in Yemen. She received a Bachelor of Legal Sciences, Master of Law and Doctor of Laws degrees from

Mohammed V University Mohammed V University (, french: Université Mohammed-V de Rabat), in Rabat, Morocco, was founded in 1957 under a royal decree ( Dahir). It is the first modern university in Morocco after the University of al-Qarawiyyin in Fez. History The uni ...

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

. She speaks Arabic, English, and French. Al-Awlaqi became an assistant law professor at the

University of Aden The University of Aden is the first Yemeni university beside Sana'a university at the same year founded in the Republic of Yemen. History The foundation of the College of Education in 1970 and Nasser’s College for Agricultural Sciences in 1972 w ...

, where she worked on research and training on the status of women. In 2013-14 she was a member of the State-Building Working Group of the

National Dialogue Conference The National Dialogue Conference (NDC) was a transitional dialogue process held at the Movenpick Hotel in Sanaa, Yemen from March 18, 2013 to January 24, 2014, as part of the Yemeni crisis reconciliation efforts. National Dialogue is a key part of ...

. In March 2014 she was appointed a member of the

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When ...

drafting committee (CDC), and was subsequently elected deputy chair of the CDC. She was a member of the government negotiating team in Geneva. In January 2016 she was announced as Minister of Legal Affairs. On September 9, 2016, Yemen President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi officially appointed al-Awaqi, then 39 years old, as Minister of

( وزيراً للشؤون القانونية ). She retained this role until 17 December 2020.

References

External links

2016 International Women of Courage Awards, U.S. State Department photostream on Flickr
(U.S. Department of State) {{DEFAULTSORT:Awlaqi, Nihal Naj Ali 1977 births Living people Yemeni lawyers Mohammed V University alumni Women government ministers of Yemen Recipients of the International Women of Courage Award Legal Affairs ministers of Yemen 21st-century Yemeni politicians 21st-century Yemeni women politicians