Being the first Arab woman to chair the Board of Governors of the IAEA fills me with pride and shows all women in the world that they have the chance to make the world better and safer.

Nabeela Abdulla Al-Mulla, born in Kuwait, is currently the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary and the Permanent Representative of the State of Kuwait to the United Nations (UN). She obtained her BA in Political Sciences in 1968 and an MA in International Relations four years later, both with distinction, from the American University of Beirut (AUB). She studied at a missionary boarding school (Beirut Evangelical School for Girls) and graduated from the AUB at the age of 20. She was Chairwoman of the Board of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) between 2002 and 2003.

The emphasis of the family on education and culture is a heritage of Nabeela Abdulla Al-Mulla’s grandparents and father, who are renowned for their contribution to the political, social and cultural development in Kuwaiti society. She is currently the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary and the Permanent Representative of the State of Kuwait to the UN, a capacity that she worked on for several years in countries like South Africa, Namibia, Mauritius, Botswana and Zimbabwe, Austria, Hungary, Slovakia and Slovenia on non-residency basis. Nabeela Al-Mulla occupies several other international positions, representing Kuwait in a number of international bodies. She is Resident Representative of Kuwait to the UN Office in Vienna, the UN Industrial Development Organization (Unido), the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and she represented Kuwait at the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) Ministerial Meetings in 2002. The choice to enlist in public life was a challenge to Nabeela Al-Mulla, given the prevalent lack of opportunity for women to advance and earn equal pay. She participated in Regular and Special Sessions of the General Assembly of the United Nations and represented the State of Kuwait in various Committee Panels and Conferences, such as talks on Arms Control and Regional Security in the Middle East and on Kuwait Prisoners of War (POWs) and detainees.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kuwait Kuwait Mission to the United Nations (UN) Board of Trustees of the American University in Kuwait (AUK)