Haya Rashed Al-Khalifa

Haya Rashed Al-Khalifa, born October 18, 1952, is a Bahraini lawyer and diplomat who earned a Bachelor of Law degree from the University of Kuwait in 1974 and later diplomas in civil rights private law from the University of Alexandria and comparative law from Ain Shams University in Egypt. In 1979 she and Lulwa Al Awadhi became among the first two women admitted to practice law in Bahrain, and she went on to found her own firm, the Haya Rashed Al Khalifa Law Firm, and to serve as vice chairwoman of the International Bar Association from 1997 to 1999. She served as Bahrain's first female ambassador, accredited to France, from 1999 to 2004, and from September 2006 to September 2007 presided over the 61st session of the United Nations General Assembly, elected by acclamation on Bahrain's nomination by Asian nations and becoming both the first woman to hold the post since 1969 and the first Muslim woman to hold it.