Nabeela Abdulla Al Mulla

Nabeela Abdulla Al Mulla is a Kuwaiti diplomat, scholar, and educator. Al Mulla was the first woman ambassador from Kuwait and the Gulf Cooperation Council. She was also the first woman from the Middle East and South Asia to chair the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency in 2002. In 2004, Al Mulla became the first Arab woman to be named Permanent Representative to the United Nations. Throughout her career, Al Mulla has represented Kuwait in diplomatic missions in Belgium, Luxembourg, Austria, Slovenia, Hungary, Slovakia, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Mauritius, Botswana, and the Bahamas. She has also represented Kuwait in international organizations such as the United Nations, European Union, and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. In 2022, she was appointed by the United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres as a member of the United Nations' Advisory Board on Disarmament Matters (ABDM).

Education Al Mulla pursued her studies in international affairs at the American University of Beirut, obtaining her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science in 1968 and Master of Arts in International Relations in 1972, both with distinction.

Career Al Mulla began her diplomatic career when she joined the Kuwaiti Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1968 after completing her education. In 1973, she was posted to the United Nations in New York where she represented Kuwait in various committees of the United Nations General Assembly.

In 1993, Al Mulla made history as the first woman from Kuwait and the Gulf Cooperation Council to serve as an ambassador, From 1993-1995 Al Mulla was appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Zimbabwe and non-resident ambassador to South Africa, Namibia, and Botswana. In 1996, she served as ambassador to South Africa and non-resident ambassador to Namibia, Mauritius, and Botswana. From 2002-2003 she was Chairwoman of the Board of the International Atomic Energy Agency. She also represented Kuwait at the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization. becoming the first Arab woman to hold this position. In 2022, Al Mulla was appointed by the UNSG as a member of the UN Advisory Board on Disarmament Matters and the Board of Trustees of the UN Institute for Disarmament Research (UNDIR) for a period of two years.

Selected publications

Awards and honors Over the course of her career, Al Mulla has been the recipient of a number of decorations and awards. In 2004 she was awarded the Austrian Grand Golden Decoration of Honor for First Class Merit for her work with the IAEA during the Korean and Iranian crises. and the SOS Children's Villages Badge of Honor in Gold in 2014.