RIYADH — Amal Bint Yahya Al-Moallimi has become the second Saudi woman to hold the post of the Kingdom's ambassador to a country after Princess Reema Bint Bandar, ambassador to the United States. Al-Moallimi took oath as ambassador of Saudi Arabia to Norway in front of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman and in the presence of Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman in a virtual ceremony held on Tuesday. Her appointment represents the vibrant entry of women to the prestigious position of envoys that were hitherto a monopoly of male diplomats. Al-Moallimi assumes the new diplomatic position after serving key positions in a brilliant academic career spanning over 23 years. She held the high-ranking position of Director General of Organizations and International Cooperation at Saudi Human Rights Commission since 2019, after holding several leading professional positions in the fields of education and social training and development. Al-Moallimi, a daughter of Qunfudhah city in the Makkah region, comes from a family background associated with representing the Kingdom abroad. She is the sister of Abdullah Al-Muallimi, permanent representative of Saudi Arabia to the United Nations in New York, and daughter of the late eminent writer Lt. Gen. Yahya Al-Muallimi. Lt. Gen. Al-Muallimi was also assistant director of the Saudi Public Security and member of the Academy of the Arabic Language in Cairo. The new ambassador holds a Postgraduate Certificate in Mass Communication and Journalism from the University of Denver in the United States of America. She got her Bachelor of Arts in English language from Princess Noura Bint Abdul Rahman University in Riyadh, in addition to a Fellowship from the Oxford Center for Islamic Studies at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Al-Moallimi, who has incomparable expertise, began her career in the field of education, training and social development, where she worked as a teacher for five years, and as a mentor for eight years, in addition to her work for one year in the Educational Training Department at the Ministry of Education. Al-Moallimi subsequently held the position of director of the women's branch at the King Abdulaziz Center for National Dialogue between 2013 and 2015, and was a member of several committees, including the Supervisory Committee for the Municipal Elections in 2016 and the National Committee for Narcotics Control, as well as a preparation consultant for the Saudi Television. Al-Moallimi addressed a number of international and Saudi conferences. This includes her speech during the inauguration of the King Abdullah International Center for Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue (KAICIID) in Vienna, in front of leaders of dialogue, culture and world civilization. The appointment of Al-Moallimi reinforces the presence of women in high-ranking diplomatic positions, after Riyadh took its first steps in this direction, when last year it appointed Princess Reema Bint Bandar as its ambassador to Washington.
