1. Rama Yade was born on Mame Ramatoulaye Yade; 13 December 1976 and is a Senegalese-born French politician and author who has been director of the Atlantic Council's Africa Center since 2021.
23 Facts About Rama Yade
1. 2.
Rama Yade was the Permanent Delegate of France to UNESCO from December 2010 to June 2011.
3.
Rama Yade held the vice-presidency of the centre-right Radical Party up until 25 September 2015.
4.
Rama Yade announced her candidacy in the 2017 French presidential election, but was unable to obtain enough signatures to be a participant in the presidential race.
5.
Rama Yade's campaign was aimed at "the forgotten people" of France.
6.
Rama Yade's mother, Aminata Kandji, was a professor and her father, Djibril Yade, a professor, was the personal secretary of Senegalese President Leopold Sedar Senghor and a diplomat.
7.
Rama Yade moved to France with the rest of her family at the age of eight.
8.
Rama Yade was educated in Catholic schools and then at the Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris, where she graduated in 2000.
9.
Rama Yade worked at the Paris city hall and the National Assembly.
10.
Rama Yade later became an administrator in the Senate in 2002.
11.
Rama Yade joined the Union for a Popular Movement political party in 2005 and became National Secretary in charge of Francophonie in 2006.
12.
In May 2007, Rama Yade was appointed as Secretary of State for Human Rights under the Minister of Foreign and European Affairs, Bernard Kouchner.
13.
On 6 November 2007, Yade was among the guests invited to the state dinner hosted by US President George W Bush in honor of Sarkozy at the White House.
14.
In November 2008, Rama Yade was rumoured to be Sarkozy's favorite choice for replacing Jean-Pierre Jouyet as Secretary of State for European Affairs, and was privately asked to lead one of the UMP lists for the 2009 European Parliament elections.
15.
Rama Yade was moved to the post of Secretary of State for Sports on 24 June 2009.
16.
Rama Yade was appointed as French Ambassador to the UNESCO in December 2010.
17.
In 2012, Rama Yade left the UMP, joined the Radical Party and supported Jean-Louis Borloo in the presidential elections until he decided not to run.
18.
Rama Yade later supported Nicolas Sarkozy, but joined the New Centre.
19.
Rama Yade ran and lost in the 2012 parliamentary elections in Hauts-de-Seine's 2nd constituency for the National Assembly of France.
20.
Rama Yade believes that this ban should be decided "as a defense of secularism and the dignity of women" and calls on Muslims to "leave the literal text behind, and adjust to the times".
21.
In September 2013, Rama Yade was sentenced to pay a 2000 euro fine and 4000 euros in damages for libeling her political rival Philippe Sarre.
22.
In January 2014, Rama Yade was again convicted for slandering Jean-Marie Le Pen and his daughter Marine Le Pen.
23.
Rama Yade is married to Joseph Zimet, the son of Yiddish singer Ben Zimet, and an adviser to former Secretary of State Jean-Marie Bockel.