The first Saudi women to assume a high post at the UN
Saudi Arabia, Culture, 10/26/2000

The UN secretary general Kofi Annan has appointed Mrs. Thuraya Ahmad Obeid as an executive director for the UNDP, as an unprecedented choice for a Saudi women for such a remarkable post at the UN organization.

Annan announced the appointment of Thuraya Obeid during a press conference he held on Wednesday in which he also stressed the nomination of Holland's former prime minister of the UNHCR.

Mrs. Obeid's record is very special due to her experience and sensitivity to cultural matters and the traditions of the UNFPA. She said at the press conference that the UN chief has broken " another barrier against the Saudi woman."

She said in statements to the press in New York that " Saudi Arabia has invested in the area of university education. And we are harvesting the investment to the education of women."

She added that there are no restrictions on her as a Saudi woman, noting that she has spent 25 years at the UN, and "the kingdom has not put any restrictions on me, rather always backed me." She added that the main challenge is that " to prove that the Saudi woman in this remarkable post will be an efficient producer."

Mrs. Obeid has succeeded Dr. Nafis Sadeq to this post which she had been assuming for 14 years. Obeid had the post of the Arab and Europe department at the Fund. In 1975 she established the first development program to develop women in West Asia. She is the first Saudi woman to receive a governmental scholarship to study at the US where she had got her doctorate. Obeid is married and mothers two girls who are studying medicines and engineering in Britain.

Previous Stories:
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  Saudi Arabia to give women the same rights given to men   (4/28/2000)
  Dialogue in the Saudi society on women's role   (4/22/1999)

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