Rumaitha Al Busaidi is an Omani climate change activist, women's rights activist, radio presenter, marine scientist, entrepreneur and footballer. She is regarded as the first female football analyst in the

Arab World The Arab world ( ar, اَلْعَالَمُ الْعَرَبِيُّ '), formally the Arab homeland ( '), also known as the Arab nation ( '), the Arabsphere, or the Arab states, refers to a vast group of countries, mainly located in Western A ...

and also became the youngest Omani woman to cross

South Pole The South Pole, also known as the Geographic South Pole, Terrestrial South Pole or 90th Parallel South, is one of the two points where Earth's axis of rotation intersects its surface. It is the southernmost point on Earth and lies antipod ...

. She is also widely popularly regarded as one of the prominent radio personalities in Oman.

Career

Rumaitha obtained diploma from the

University of Delaware The University of Delaware (colloquially UD or Delaware) is a public land-grant research university located in Newark, Delaware. UD is the largest university in Delaware. It offers three associate's programs, 148 bachelor's programs, 121 mas ...

in 2005. She obtained master's degree from the

Sultan Qaboos University Sultan Qaboos University, located in Al Seeb in the Muscat Governorate, is one of the two public universities in the Sultanate of Oman. Most students entering the university are selected based on their performance in high school final examina ...

in 2014. She also received higher education at the Urecht University. She received

Master of Public Administration The Master of Public Administration (M.P.Adm., M.P.A., or MPA) is a specialized higher professional post graduate degree in public administration, similar/ equivalent to the Master of Business Administration but with an emphasis on the issues of ...

degree from the

Harvard Kennedy School The Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), officially the John F. Kennedy School of Government, is the school of public policy and government of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school offers master's degrees in public policy, public ...

. Rumaitha holds MSc degrees in the fields of

Environmental Science Environmental science is an interdisciplinary academic field that integrates physics, biology, and geography (including ecology, chemistry, plant science, zoology, mineralogy, oceanography, limnology, soil science, geology and physical geograp ...

and

Aquaculture Aquaculture (less commonly spelled aquiculture), also known as aquafarming, is the controlled cultivation ("farming") of aquatic organisms such as fish, crustaceans, mollusks, algae and other organisms of value such as aquatic plants (e.g. lot ...

. She was also named as Millennium Fellow for 2019 by the

Atlantic Council The Atlantic Council is an American think tank in the field of international affairs, favoring Atlanticism, founded in 1961. It manages sixteen regional centers and functional programs related to international security and global economic prosp ...

. She served as vice chairperson of food manufacturing for Omani National Program for Enhancing Economic Diversification. She had also served as an adviser to the

Government of Oman A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

. She also serves as director of Projects and Environmental Affairs and Fisheries Development in Oman. Rumaitha founded WomeX, a platform to teach negotiation skills for Arab women in order to groom emerging female entrepreneurs in the Arab region. She also advocates for women's rights as well as environmental youth leadership. She has also worked as radio presenter for several years in Oman and she is known as Oman's first local English presenter in Oman private radio station. She also played football representing Oman national women's team for a brief period of time before the team was sanctioned by FIFA in 2007. She was part of

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, ...

's Global Shapers Community from 2013 to 2020. In 2017, she was named as One Young World Peace Ambassador by the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body o ...

. In addition, she was appointed as Challenge 22 ambassador for

2022 FIFA World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup is an international association football, football tournament contested by the men's national teams of FIFA's member associations. The 22nd FIFA World Cup is taking place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022 ...

. She was also named as ambassador for the

Institute for Economics and Peace The Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP) is a global think tank headquartered in Sydney, Australia with branches in New York City, Mexico City and Oxford. IEP studies the relationship between peace, business, and prosperity, and seeks to pro ...

(IEP). She has also raised her voice and concerns about the global climate change in the Davos Agenda of the World Economic Forum. She was one of the activists who took part in digital TED Countdown in April 2021 as part of Earth Day Live event.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Busaidi, Rumaitha Omani activists Omani businesspeople Omani scientists 21st-century Omani women politicians 21st-century Omani politicians University of Delaware alumni Sultan Qaboos University alumni Utrecht University alumni Atlantic Council Harvard Kennedy School alumni Place of birth missing (living people) Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Omani women's footballers Women's association football players not categorized by position