23 Facts About Nadia Al-Sakkaf

Nadia Abdulaziz Al-Sakkaf is a former Yemeni Minister and politician.

Nadia Al-Sakkaf was the editor in chief of the Yemen Times from 2005 until 2014, before becoming Yemen's first female Minister of Information.

Nadia Al-Sakkaf fled Yemen in 2015 after the coup and is currently an independent researcher in politics, media, development and gender studies based in the United Kingdom.

In 2011, Al-Sakkaf gave a popular TED talk called "See Yemen through my eyes" which had over 3 million views.

Nadia Al-Sakkaf was born in March 1977 to Aziza and Abdulaziz Al-Saqqaf.

Nadia Al-Sakkaf's father was a lecturer in economics at Sana'a University, a founder of the Arab Organization for Human Rights and founded the Yemen Times in 1990.

Nadia Al-Sakkaf has a Bachelor of Engineering in computer science from the Birla Institute of Technology in India, a Master of Science in Information Systems Management from the University of Stirling in the United Kingdom and a PhD in political science from Reading University.

Nadia Al-Sakkaf worked as a systems analyst at the Arab Experts Center for Consultancy and Systems.

Nadia Al-Sakkaf joined the Yemen Times in July 2000 as a translator and reporter.

Nadia Al-Sakkaf died in 1999 after being hit by a car, although Al-Sakkaf and her brother believe he was assassinated for opposing the regime of President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

Nadia Al-Sakkaf is a member of the Yemeni Journalists Syndicate and the International Journalists Syndicate.

Nadia Al-Sakkaf is an advocate for women's rights, successfully recruiting female journalists to bring a gender balance to the newspaper's staff and running articles on female genital mutilation.

Nadia Al-Sakkaf was appointed Information Minister under Prime Minister Khalid Bahah in 2014.

On 20 January 2015, when Houthi fighters stormed the capital and took control of all media outlets, Nadia Al-Sakkaf took to Twitter to report the coup.

Nadia Al-Sakkaf is the director of Yemen 21 Forum a development NGO based in Sana'a.

Nadia Al-Sakkaf serves as deputy chair of the National Committee responsible for Monitoring the Implementation of the National Dialogue Conference's outcomes.

Nadia Al-Sakkaf has published in the fields of politics, media, and development.

Nadia Al-Sakkaf published a book collection on the experiences of Yemeni women as electoral candidates available in Arabic and English.

Nadia Al-Sakkaf's TED Talk Yemen through my eyes, is one of the most known videos on Yemen as it was translated to 34 languages and had over half a million views.

Nadia Al-Sakkaf was the first recipient of the Gebran Tueni Award in 2006, given by the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers and An-Nahar Newspaper in Beirut.

Nadia Al-Sakkaf received the Free Media Pioneers Award from the International Press Institute in Vienna on behalf of the Yemen Times in the same year.

Nadia Al-Sakkaf was chosen by the World Economic Forum as one of 2015 distinguished Young Global Leaders.

Nadia Al-Sakkaf is married to a Jordanian man and they have two children.