Mai bint Mohammed Al Khalifa is a Bahraini politician and former

government minister A minister is a politician who heads a ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is designated the ‘prime minister’, ...

Biography

Sheika Mai bint Mohammed Al Khalifa was appointed Minister of Information in Bahrain in 2009; she was the first woman to become the Information Minister in Bahrain. She is the Chairperson of the Board of the

Arab Regional Centre for World Heritage The Arab Regional Centre for World Heritage (French: centre régional arabe pour le patrimoine mondial ; Arabic: المركز الإقليمي العربي للتراث العالمي) is a Category 2 Centre under the auspices of UNESCO.The Ara ...

and the former President of the Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities. She served as the Minister of Culture of

Bahrain Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...

. In 2014 in the

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...

Middle East list of most powerful Arab women she was listed as number six. She visited the February 2014 and proposed plans to renovate it. As the culture minister she has worked to encourage artists in Bahrain. In the

World Monuments Fund World Monuments Fund (WMF) is a private, international, non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of historic architecture and cultural heritage sites around the world through fieldwork, advocacy, grantmaking, education, and trainin ...

’s 50th Anniversary on 21 October 2015 in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, Mai bint Mohammed Al Khalifa was awarded the Watch Award for her role in preserving the monuments and culture of Bahrain. In 2017 she was made the Special Ambassador of the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the

United Nations World Tourism Organization The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) is the United Nations specialized agency entrusted with the promotion of responsible, sustainable and universally accessible tourism. Its headquarters are in Madrid, Spain. UNWTO is the leading internati ...

(UNWTO). In 2020, Sheika Mai was nominated by the

Government of Bahrain The Cabinet of Bahrain is the chief executive (government), executive body of the Bahrain, Kingdom of Bahrain. According to Wikisource:Constitution of the Kingdom of Bahrain (2002)#Article 32 .5BSeparation of Powers.5D, Article 32 (b) of the Consti ...

as Secretary General of the World Tourism Organization. In January 2021, incumbent Secretary General

Zurab Pololikashvili Zurab Pololikashvili (born in Tbilisi on 12 January 1977) is a Georgian politician and diplomat, currently serving as Secretary-General of the World Tourism Organization. From 2005 to 2009 he was Georgian deputy Foreign Minister, and he served as ...

won the election at the 113th session of the Executive Council. In 2023, Sheika Mai was dismissed from her position as the President of the Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities. According to the Middle East Eye and

Doha News Doha News is an online news blog started in March 2009 by two American journalists, Shabina Khatri and Omar Chatriwala. It is based in Qatar and provides its readers with daily reports on breaking domestic and international news stories. It gaine ...

, she refused to shake hands with the Israeli

ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or sov ...

to Bahrain. Following this event, which happened in the United States ambassador Steve C. Bondy’s residence, the

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

ordered her removal from office.

Publications

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References

Alumni of the University of Sheffield Bahraini women in politics Bahraini women's rights activists Bahraini politicians

Khalifa Khalifa or Khalifah (Arabic: خليفة) is a name or title which means "successor", "ruler" or "leader". It most commonly refers to the leader of a Caliphate, but is also used as a title among various Islamic religious groups and others. Khalif ...

{{Bahrain-politician-stub

Biography

Publications

Further reading

References