The Harvard Arab Alumni Association and the Harvard Kennedy School Present:

Weekend Keynote Address

Friday, November 13, 17:30 - 18:00

Harvard Kennedy School, Taubman Building, Nye  ABC

For further information, please email info@harvardarabalumni.org

H.E. Dr. Rima Khalaf
Former Assistant Secretary-General and Director of the Regional Bureau for Arab States at the United Nations Development Program, and Former Deputy Prime Minister of Jordan

Dr Khalaf has held high-ranking ministerial positions in Jordan, including that of Minister of Industry and Trade (1993-1995), Minister of Planning (1995-1998) and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Planning (1999-2000).

Between 2000-2006, Dr. Khalaf served as Assistant Secretary-General; and Director of the Regional Bureau for Arab States (RBAS) at the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), where she was the principal architect of the Arab Human Development Report series. The first volume, “Creating Opportunities for Future Generations,” received the 2003 Prince Claus Award, and the third report, “Towards Freedom in the Arab World,” received the King Hussein Leadership Prize.

Between February 2006 and December 2007, Dr. Khalaf served as the Chairperson of Advisory Board of the UN Democracy Fund, and between 2008 and March 2009 as the Chief Executive Officer of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation.

Dr. Khalaf is a regular contributor to regional and international policy forums concerned with the state of development in the Arab world, and in 2005 was honored with the League of Arab States award for “the Most Distinguished Arab Woman in the Field of International Organizations.” Dr. Khalaf is also holder of the Grand Cordon of the Order of Al-Kawkab Al-Urduni (The Star of Jordan) bestowed upon her in 1995 by King Hussein bin Talal.

A Jordanian citizen, Dr. Rima Khalaf holds a BA in economics from the American University of Beirut and a Master’s in Economics and a Ph. D in System Science from Portland State University in the United States. In 2009, she received the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Humane Letters from the American University of Cairo in recognition of her “important regional initiatives in education, women’s rights, civic engagement and economic growth”.