Dina Kawar, who was one of the first women to work in Jordan’s Foreign Service, took over as her country’s ambassador to the United States on June 27, 2016. It’s her third such assignment.

Kawar was born in Amman, Jordan, but attended college in the United States. She graduated from Mills College in 1983 with a bachelor’s degree in international relations and followed that with a master’s in international affairs from Columbia University in 1985. She attended Harvard’s Center for International Affairs from 1986 to 1987.

Kawar then went to work in the Amman office of Jordanian Prince Hassan as a researcher and in press relations. In 1991, she took over as director of Hassan’s Paris office, remaining until 2000 when she assumed the directorship of King Abdullah’s office there.

The following year, Kawar was named Jordan’s ambassador to France. She added the Holy See and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to her portfolio in 2002 and Portugal in 2005.

Kawar was made Jordan’s permanent representative to the United Nations in 2014. When Jordan took its rotation on the Security Council that year, Kawar became the first Arab woman to preside over the body. She remained at the UN until taking the Washington post.

Kawar is married to Vincent Cortes. She speaks Arabic, English and French.

-Steve Straehley

To Learn More

Dina Kawar (Wikipedia)

Jordan UN Ambassador: Arab Women Don’t Fit Single Image (Al-Monitor)