Qatar: woman appointed President of Hamad medical establishment

Lateifa Ibrahim al-Houti was appointed as the chairperson of the board of Hamad medical establishment in Qatar. According to the decree which was signed by the Amir of Qatar, Shaikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani, on Wednesday, each of Aesha al-Ansari and Hanan Muhammad Salem al-Kawari were appointed in the membership of the establishment's board council which is composed of 6 persons.

The announcement to formulating the board of the new Hamad medical establishment coincided with a decision released by the prime minister, Sheikh Abdullah Bin Khaleifa al-Thani, appointing Turkey Muhammad al-Khater as a director general for the establishment.

During the past few months, several women were appointed for the presidency of important official establishments in Qatar. In May this year, Sheikha al-Mahmoud was appointed as a minister of education to be the first woman in the Gulf region to assume a ministerial post in the government. In November Aesha al-Mana'e was appointed a dean for the faculty of Sharia, the law and the Islamic studies at Qatar university in an unprecedented event in the Arab and Islamic world.

The appointment of both Sheikha and Aesha came following the ratification of the first constitution in Qatar since the independence of the country in 1971, in a referendum on April 29 this year. The Qatari constitution offered woman the right to vote as a candidate and prticipate in elections, and created the principle of a Parliament by forming the Shoura council whose 45 members are elected by direct vote, in elections to be held next year.