Najla Mangoush
Najla El Mangoush | |
---|---|
Minister of Foreign Affairs | |
Assumed office March 15, 2021 | |
President | Mohamed al-Menfi |
Prime Minister | Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh |
Preceded by | (Al Bayda Cabinet) Mohamed Taha Siala (Tripoli Cabinet) |
Personal details | |
Born | London, England, United Kingdom | June 7, 1973
Political party | Independent |
Alma mater | Eastern Mennonite University George Mason University |
Najla Mohammed El Mangoush (Arabic: نجلاء محمد المنقوش; born 7 June 1973) is a Libyan diplomat and lawyer.[1] She has been Libya's Foreign Minister in Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh's government since 15 March 2021.[2] Najla El Mangoush is Libya's first female foreign minister,[3] as well as the fifth woman to hold the position of a foreign minister in the Arab World.
Early life[]
Mangoush was born in Cardiff, Wales, to a family of four children who originated from Libya, but she grew up in Benghazi, the city to which the family returned, when she was six years old.[4]
Education[]
Trained as a lawyer at Benghazi University (then Garyounis University) and was later an assistant professor of law at the university. Later on she gained a Fulbright Scholarship to the United States of America, where she graduated from the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding at EMU university in Virginia.[1]
Career[]
As a conflict-resolution expert, she was the country representative in Libya for USIP (United States Institute of Peace).[1]
She has served as the Program Officer for Peace-building and Traditional Law at the Center for World Religions, Diplomacy and Conflict Resolution in Arlington, Virginia.[1]
During Libya’s 2011 revolution, she headed the National Transitional Council’s (NTC) Public Engagement Unit which dealt with civil society organisations.[1]
Foreign minister[]
On 15 March 2021 she became a foreign minister in Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh's cabinet, which is a part of the government of national unity. She is the first female Foreign Minister of Libya and the fifth to hold such a position in the Arab World after Naha Mint Mouknass (2009 - 2011) and Vatma Vall Mint Soueina (2015) of Mauritania, Fawzia Yusuf H. Adam (2012 - 2014) of Somalia and Asma Mohamed Abdalla (2019 - 2020) of Sudan.[2]
On November 6, 2021, the Presidential Council suspended Mangoush on charges of carrying out foreign policy without coordination with the council. She was also barred from traveling.[5] Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh disputed[6][7] the right of the Presidential Council to suspend Mangoush, saying the power to appoint or suspend ministers in his government is his exclusive preserve.
See also[]
References[]
- ^ a b c d e "Najla Mangoush – Libya's first female Foreign Minister". Libya Herald. 11 March 2021. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
- ^ a b "Najla Mangoush first female Libyan FM". alwasat.ly (in Arabic). 15 March 2021. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
- ^ "Najla Mangoush – Libya's first female Foreign Minister". Libya Herald. Retrieved 2021-05-09.
- ^ Rausch, Colette (2015). Speaking Their Peace: Personal Stories from the Frontlines of War and Peace. Berkeley, California: Roaring Forties Press. ISBN 978-1938901386.
- ^ Libya's Presidency Council suspends foreign minister, spokesperson says
- ^ Wintour, Patrick (7 November 2021). "Libya's PM and president in dispute over foreign minister's suspension". The Guardian.
- ^ "Libya's Presidency Council suspends foreign minister, gov't rejects the decision". National Post. Toronto, Ontario. Reuters.
- Living people
- People from Cardiff
- Foreign ministers of Libya
- Female foreign ministers
- Eastern Mennonite University alumni
- George Mason University alumni
- Women government ministers of Libya
- 1970 births
- Libyan lawyers
- 20th-century Libyan women
- 21st-century Libyan women