Ambassador Nabeela: History maker in illustrious career
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This is an extract from ‘Women of Kuwait: Turning Tides’ by Chaitali B. Roy (Haranand Publications 2016).
— Editor mbassador Nabeela Abdulla Al Mulla has created history several times in her illustrious career, and she has done it not only for herself but for her country and her region. In 1993, Ambassador Al Mulla made history when she became the first woman ambassador from Kuwait and from the GCC, a region, which has since then seen an encouraging rise in the number of female diplomats. In 2002, she repeated the feat by becoming the first woman from the Middle East and South Asia to chair the Board of the elite International Atomic Energy Agency. In 2004, she made history yet once again by becoming the first Arab woman to lead her country at the United Nations.
Nabeela Al Mulla joined the Foreign Service and rose through the ranks at a time when the women’s suffrage movement was in full swing in Kuwait. With her appointment as Kuwait’s first woman Ambassador, she became an influential role model not only in her country but in the region. Shortly afterwards, women diplomats from Kuwait, and elsewhere in the GCC followed in her footsteps with important postings around the world. “A lot depends on the person, the country and the opportunities available. Circumstances call the shot, and it depends on the person if she rises to the occasion or not,” observed the Ambassador.
As a young girl growing up in the midst of a large extended family, Nabeela had no inkling that her future
ABy Chaitali B. Roy
HE Nabeela Abdulla Al Mulla at the release of ‘Women of Kuwait: Turning Tides’ at the National Library.
was in diplomatic service. Those were happy days of being cosseted by her older sisters and of tomboyish pranks with her nearer to age brothers. “I had a loving family. I was the youngest girl of 10 children, and my sisters, who were far older than me, mothered me. They dressed me up and took me to school while I was still very small because they didn’t want to leave me behind,” she says with a wistful smile. Young Nabeela went with the flow. “I addressed my eldest sister as ‘Mama’. In fact, if I yelled ‘Mama’ my mother and sister would both respond,” she laughs. Nabeela’s brothers were her partners in crime. She spent her days running around with them. “When my two younger brothers got their bicycles, they got one for me as well.”
Nabeela Al Mulla earned her Bachelors in Political Science from the American University of Beirut. When she came back to Kuwait in 1968, she went on to embrace life and whatever it had to offer with all its challenges and uncertainties. “I became a career diplomat by default,” she chuckles. “Frankly speaking, I wanted to teach and do research, but unfortunately, when I came back to Kuwait, I found out that the University scholarships that were offered for higher studies abroad was frozen.” The Undersecretary at the Foreign Ministry, a family friend, had offered her a job earlier, but Nabeela had been unsure. However, with the immediate prospects of a scholarship abroad drying up, she decided to take him up on his offer. “I could have also joined the family business, (Incidentally the Al Mulla Group, the family business is one of the leading and fastest growing groups in the Middle East with more than 40 companies), but I had no liking for business,” she says dismissively. Nabeela Al Mulla was 20 at that time, and with the resilience and enthusiasm of youth, she tackled her first assignment at the foreign ministry.
In later years, while serving in the International Organizations Department of the Foreign Ministry, she earned a postgraduate degree in International Relations from the American University of Beirut.
From 1968 to 1973, Nabeela worked her way up the diplomatic ladder until she received her first overseas posting to the United Nations in New York. She continued to serve her country for two more decades and was awarded a series of promotions that ultimately culminated with her appointment as Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN. In 1993, she made history when she was appointed an Ambassador, the first woman in Kuwait, and the Arabian Gulf. In fact, in all instances, Nabeela Al Mulla became the first woman diplomat from the Gulf to occupy the senior-most rank wherever she was sent.
Ambassador Al Mulla served in many countries including South Africa, Zimbabwe, Austria, Hungary, the Slovak Republic, and Slovenia. Also, she represented Kuwait at the United Nations Office in Vienna (UNOV); the United Nations Industrial Organization (UNIDO); the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization (CTBO); the OPEC Extraordinary Ministerial Meetings and at The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). In 2002, Ambassador Al Mulla became the First Arab (Middle East & South Asia) woman to Chair the IAEA Board of Governors. She was honoured and lauded for her efforts several times in her career. In 1994, she was awarded the Austrian Grand Golden Decoration of Honour for first Class merit. Later, she was one of the women collectively nominated by civil society for the 2005 Nobel Peace Prize for her work with the International Atomic
Energy Agency (IAEA) during the Korean and Iranian crisis. Recently, she was also honoured with the Belgian Grand Cross Decoration and the SOS Children’s Villages Badge of Honour for her support of Arab children.
As a junior diplomat at the UN, Nabeela noticed the scarcity of women officers, especially from the Arab world. “But that was in the past. Today, I am happy to say that the Ambassadors of Oman, UAE and Bahrain are women. There has definitely been a change for the better.” In 2003, Nabeela Al Mulla was sent to New York as Permanent Representative of the State of Kuwait to the United Nations and Kuwait’s non-resident Ambassador to Mexico, Cuba and the Bahamas. With that appointment, she became the first Arab woman to serve as Permanent Representative to the UN since its founding in 1945. “I recall my Egyptian counterpart applauding: ‘Bravo Nabeela!’ I looked at him and quipped, ‘Whatever happened to the women of Egypt, Ahmad? We have not had a woman ambassador from Egypt in 60 years of the United Nations.” Ambassador Ahmed Aboul Gheit had no reply to offer.
From 1997 to 2013, Nabeela Al Mulla served as Ambassador to Belgium, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and Head of Mission to the European Union. Moreover, she also represented Kuwait at NATO. A regular participant and speaker at the European Union and NATO Conferences on Weapons of Mass Destruction/Non-Proliferation, from (20112012), she also represented Kuwait to the NATO Regional Cooperation Course (NRCC) and served on the Academic Advisory Board (AAB) of the NATO Defense College in Rome.
A surgical operation in progress.