Nadia Al-Sakkaf | |
|---|---|
نادية عبد العزيز السقاف | |
 Al-Sakkaf interviewed by AlJazeera in 2015 | |
| Yemeni Minister of Information | |
| In office 7 November 2014 – 1 December 2015 | |
| President | Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi |
| Prime Minister | Khaled Bahah |
| Yemen Times editor-in-chief | |
| In office 2005–2014 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1977-03-08)8 March 1977 (age 48) |
| Parent |
|
| Alma mater | |
| Awards | Business for Peace 2013 |
Nadia Abdulaziz Al-Sakkaf (Arabic:نادية عبد العزيز السقاف; born 8 March 1977) is a formerYemeni Minister and politician. She was the editor in chief of theYemen Times from 2005 until 2014, before becoming Yemen's first femaleMinister of Information. She fled Yemen in 2015 after thecoup and is currently an independent researcher in politics, media, development and gender studies based in the United Kingdom.In 2011, Al-Sakkaf gave a popularTED talk called "See Yemen through my eyes" which had over 3 million views.[1][2]
Al-Sakkaf was born in March 1977 to Aziza andAbdulaziz Al-Saqqaf.[3] Her father was a lecturer in economics atSana'a University, a founder of theArab Organization for Human Rights and founded theYemen Times in 1990.[2][3] She has two brothers and one sister.[2][4]
Al-Sakkaf has aBachelor of Engineering in computer science from theBirla Institute of Technology in India, a Master of Science in Information Systems Management from theUniversity of Stirling in the United Kingdom and a PhD inpolitical science fromReading University.[5] She was a student member ofAmnesty International.[6]
Al-Sakkaf worked as asystems analyst at the Arab Experts Center for Consultancy and Systems.[6] She joined theYemen Times in July 2000 as a translator and reporter. The newspaper is the country's first independent English language newspaper and was started by her father in 1991. He died in 1999 after being hit by a car, although Al-Sakkaf and her brother believe he was assassinated for opposing the regime of PresidentAli Abdullah Saleh.[3][7] She became an assistant editor in September 2000.[6]
Al-Sakkaf worked inOxfam's humanitarian program in 2003.[6] In March 2005, she became the editor in chief of theYemen Times. In 2011, during theArab Spring in Yemen, Al-Sakkaf and her staff participated in protests demanding that Saleh step down[7] and played a significant role in reporting theYemeni Revolution to the wider world.[1] Al-Sakkaf is a member of the Yemeni Journalists Syndicate and the International Journalists Syndicate.[6] She is an advocate forwomen's rights,[8][9] successfully recruiting female journalists to bring a gender balance to the newspaper's staff and running articles onfemale genital mutilation.[7][10]
In 2012, she launchedRadio Yemen Times, an FM radio station which was Yemen's first free public platform for expression, broadcasting ten hours a day as an alternative to thestate-monopolisedmedia.[10] In 2014 she launched Radio Lana, the first community radio in the south of Yemen.[11]
Al-Sakkaf was appointed Information Minister under Prime MinisterKhalid Bahah in 2014.[12][13] On 20 January 2015, whenHouthi fighters stormed the capital and took control of all media outlets, Al-Sakkaf took to Twitter to report the coup. She later said, "I felt more like a reporter than the minister of information. I wasn't scared at the time but I was afterwards when I realised the implications. My name was everywhere. I had more than 20,000 more followers on Twitter in one day."[12] In May 2015, Al-Sakkaf was living in exile inRiyadh as a member of the internationally recognised Yemeni government seeking to restorePresidentAbdrabbuh Mansur Hadi to power.[12]
Al-Sakkaf is the director of Yemen 21 Forum a development NGO based inSana'a.[14]
In 2020 she is co-founder of the National Reconciliation Movement, a Yemeni initiative for peace, and in 2021 she co-founded Connecting Yemen, an organisation advocating for affordable and equal access of internet in Yemen.[citation needed] She serves as deputy chair of the National Committee responsible for Monitoring the Implementation of the National Dialogue Conference's outcomes.[15]
Al-Sakkaf has published in the fields of politics, media, and development. She also published a book collection on the experiences of Yemeni women as electoral candidates available in Arabic and English. Her TED Talk Yemen through my eyes, is one of the most known videos on Yemen as it was translated to 34 languages and had over half a million views.[citation needed]
Al-Sakkaf was the first recipient of theGebran Tueni Award in 2006, given by theWorld Association of Newspapers and News Publishers andAn-Nahar Newspaper inBeirut.[6] She received the Free Media Pioneers Award from the International Press Institute inVienna on behalf of the Yemen Times in the same year.[16] In 2013, she received theOslo Business for Peace Award, an award chosen by winners of the Nobel Prizes inEconomics andPeace and given to leaders in the private sector who have "demonstrated transformative and positive change through ethical business practices."[10][14][17] She was recognised by theBBC as one of "100 women who changed the world" in 2013.[14][18] She was also chosen by the World Economic Forum as one of 2015 distinguished Young Global Leaders.[19]
Al-Sakkaf is married to a Jordanian man and they have two children.[3][6][7]
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)