UNITED NATIONS, 9 June 2006 — The General Assembly elected a champion of women’s rights as its next president yesterday, making Haya Rashed Al Khalifa of Bahrain the third woman to lead the 191-nation UN body. Haya, chosen without a recorded vote, takes up the presidency at the opening of the assembly’s 61st session on Sept. 12. She succeeds Jan Eliasson, the Swedish foreign minister.
Haya, Bahrain’s first woman diplomat and one of the first two Bahraini women to practice law in her country, has used her legal career to advance women’s rights under the Shariah in Islamic family courts. She began her legal practice three decades ago, focusing on diplomacy, international arbitration and dispute resolution as well as the status of women in the Middle East. She heads her own law firm and is the legal adviser to Bahrain’s Royal Court. From 2000 to 2004 she served as Bahrain’s ambassador to France and as its nonresident ambassador to Belgium, Switzerland and Spain and as permanent delegate to UNESCO.
