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Manal Abdel Samad

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Manal Abdel Samad
Minister of Information
In office
21 January 2020 – 10 September 2021
Prime MinisterHassan Diab
Preceded byJamal Al-Jarrah
Succeeded byGeorge Kurdahi
Personal details
Born (1975-03-28) 28 March 1975 (age 49)
Ammatour, Lebanon
Political partyIndependent
Alma materAmerican University of Beirut
University of Paris 1 Pantheon-Sorbonne

Manal Abdel Samad Najd (Arabic: منال عبد الصمد; 28 March 1975[1]) is a Lebanese politician who held the position of the Minister of Information in the Cabinet of the Prime Minister Hassan Diab in the year 2020.

Education

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From the year 2004 until the year 2009, Manal Abdel Samad Najd studied fiscal laws at the American University of Beirut (AUB), from where she also received her MBA.[2] Then, she pursued her studies to obtain her Ph.D[2] from the Sorbonne University in France, Paris in 2014.

Professional career

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In the year 1997, Manal Abdel Samad Najd began her service in the Lebanese Ministry of Finance,[3] in which she was involved in the implementation of a Value-added Tax (VAT) in Lebanon. A few years later, she was promoted to the Head of the Department of Tax Legislation and Policy at the Directorate of VAT.[4] Additionally, she was a lecturer at both the Saint Joseph University (USJ) and the American University of Beirut (AUB).[2]

Political career

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In January 2020, she became the Minister of Information, after being proposed by the Prime Minister Dr. Hassan Diab as an independent candidate.[3] She was one of the six female ministers out of a total of 20 ministers in the Diab Government, an event that was regarded as a step in the right direction towards achieving gender equality in Lebanese politics.[5] In relation of the spark of the Coronavirus disease pandemic, many conspiracy theories started to circulate in the country, which she quickly addressed and countered by announcing a cooperation with World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF and the United Nations Development Programme.[6] Then, Manal Abdel Samad Najd resigned her position on the 9th of August 2020, following the explosions in the port of Beirut which took place on August 4, 2020.[7] The next day, Dr. Hassan Diab announced the resignation of the government, and Manal Abdel Samad had been fulfilling the duties of the minister as a caretaker until a new successor is found.[8]

Personal life

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Manal Abdel-Samad was born on 28 March 1975. She is married to Youssef Najd and has three children with him: Carole, Rayan and Rami-Jo. She is fluent in Arabic, English, and French.[9] Manal Abdel-Samad is a Druze.[5]

References

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  1. ^ "Abdel Samad, Manal (1975-....)". IdRef. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
  2. ^ a b c Libnanews, Newsdesk (25 January 2020). "Qui est Manal Abdel Samad, la nouvelle ministre de l'information?". libnanews.com (in French). Retrieved 9 August 2020.
  3. ^ a b "Who is in the new Lebanese government?". The National. 22 January 2020. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
  4. ^ "Vers une nouvelle gouvernance fiscale". fr.linkedin.com. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
  5. ^ a b "Six female ministers: a positive step in the right direction, but what about political impartiality?". L'Orient-Le Jour. 27 January 2020. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
  6. ^ "The Ministry of Information partners with WHO, UNICEF and UNDP to counter the spread of COVID-19 misinformation in Lebanon". www.unicef.org. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
  7. ^ "Lebanon information minister quits in first cabinet resignation since blast". The Guardian. Agence France-Presse. 9 August 2020. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
  8. ^ "Lebanese government quits amid fury over Beirut blast". SWI swissinfo.ch. Archived from the original on 9 July 2021. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
  9. ^ "Manal Biography". Archived from the original on 11 August 2020. Retrieved 24 October 2020.
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