{{Short description|Saudia Aarabian UN official (born 1945)}} {{Use British English|date=January 2023}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2023}} thumb|right|Obaid in 2009 '''Thoraya Ahmed Obaid''' ({{Langx|ar|ثريا عبيد|translit=Thurayyā ʻUbayd}}; born 2 March 1945) is a Saudi politician and diplomat who served as executive director of the United Nations Population Fund from 2000 to 2010.<ref name=britannica>{{cite web |title=Thoraya Obaid |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Thoraya-Obaid |website=www.britannica.com |publisher=Britannica |access-date=27 January 2023 |language=en}}</ref><ref name=wlf>{{cite web |title=Thoraya Ahmed Obaid |website= World Leaders Forum |url=https://worldleaders.columbia.edu/directory/thoraya-ahmed-obaid |publisher=Columbia University|access-date=27 January 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Thoraya Ahmed Obaid |url=https://www.unfpa.org/about/thoraya-ahmed-obaid |website=United Nations Population Fund |access-date=27 January 2023 |language=en}}</ref> From 2013 to 2016 she was a member of the Consultative Assembly of Saudi Arabia.<ref name="crossette">{{cite web |last1=Crossette |first1=Barbara |title=A Brave New Role for Thoraya Obaid, Former UNFPA Chief |url=https://www.passblue.com/2013/01/22/for-thoraya-obaid-former-unfpa-chief-a-brave-new-role/ |website=PassBlue |access-date=28 January 2023 |date=22 January 2013}}</ref>

==Early life and education== Obaid was born on 2 March 1945 in Baghdad, Iraq.<ref name=britannica /> Her father Ahmed Obaid was a Saudi journalist and scholar of classical Arabic, and she has said that he was "something of a dissident for his era".<ref name=crossette /> She began her education at the age of three at an Islamic school in Mecca, then from the age of six in 1951 attended the American College for Girls in Cairo, Egypt. She was the first woman to receive a Saudi state scholarship for study in the United States and gained a BA in English literature from Mills College (1966) and an MA (1968) and PhD (1970) from Wayne State University, where her doctoral thesis was ''The Moor figure in English Renaissance drama''.<ref name=britannica /><ref>{{cite thesis |last1= Obaid|first1= Thoraya Ahmed|title=Catalogue record for Obaid's thesis |url=https://elibrary.wayne.edu/record=b1136053~S47 |publisher=Wayne State University |access-date=28 January 2023 |date=1974}}</ref>

==Career== Obaid joined the staff of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) in 1975 and became its deputy executive secretary before moving in 1998 to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) as director of its Division for Arab States and Europe. She became the executive director of UNFPA in 2001 and held the position until 2010, with the status of Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations.<ref>{{cite web |title=Thoraya Ahmed Obaid: Former UNFPA Executive Director, UN Under-Secretary-General |url=https://www.unfpa.org/about/thoraya-ahmed-obaid |website=United Nations Population Fund |access-date=28 January 2023 |language=en}}</ref>

From 2013 to 2016 she was a member of the Consultative Assembly of Saudi Arabia, also known as the Shura Council. She was one of a group of thirty women who were the first to be appointed to this body, hitherto all-male.<ref name=crossette /><ref name="wlp">{{cite web |title=Thoraya Obaid |url=https://learningpartnership.org/people/thoraya-obaid |website=learningpartnership.org |publisher=Women's Learning Partnership |access-date=28 January 2023}}</ref>

She has served as a director of the Women's Learning Partnership.<ref name=wlp /> <!-- This red link occurs in several places, article likely -->

==Recognition== Obaid was awarded the United Nations Population Award for 2105 in the individual category, the citation referring to "her outstanding dedication and commitment to raising awareness of population issues, with a particular focus on the rights and empowerment of women, girls and young people, including successfully advocating for the expansion of the Millennium Development Goals to address maternal health and save the lives of women".<ref>{{cite web |title=Report of the Secretary of the Committee for the United Nations Population Award, 2015 |url=https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/798118/files/A_70_140-EN.pdf?ln=en |publisher=United Nations General Assembly |access-date=28 January 2023 |date=14 July 2015}}</ref>

In 2004, the Arabic edition of ''Forbes'' included Obaid in its list of the 50 most powerful Arab women in the world,<ref>{{cite web |title=Ms. Obaid Among 50 Most Powerful Arab Women, Forbes Says |url=https://www.unfpa.org/press/ms-obaid-among-50-most-powerful-arab-women-forbes-says |website=Press Release |publisher=United Nations Population Fund |access-date=28 January 2023 |language=en |date=7 February 2005}}</ref> and she appeared in the same listing in 2011.<ref>{{cite web |title=Lecture on Saudi women's empowerment and their role in national development |url=https://www.kapsarc.org/news/lecture-on-saudi-womens-empowerment-and-their-role-in-national-development/ |website=KAPSARC |access-date=28 January 2023 |date=30 April 2018}}</ref> She is one of the 100 Muslims (50 men and 50 women) described in Natana J. DeLong-Bas's 2006 work ''Notable Muslims: Muslim Builders of World Civilization and Culture'',<ref>{{cite book |last1=DeLong-Bas |first1=Natana J. |title=Notable Muslims: Muslim Builders of World Civilization and Culture |date=2006 |publisher=Oneworld |isbn=978-1-85168-395-6 |page=229 et seq |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OdnXAAAAMAAJ&q=obaid |access-date=28 January 2023 |language=en}}</ref> and is included in the 2023 edition of ''The 500 Most Influential Muslims''.<ref>{{cite web |title=Thoraya Ahmed Obaid |url=https://themuslim500.com/profiles/thoraya-ahmed-obaid/ |website=The Muslim 500 |access-date=28 January 2023}}</ref>

==Personal life== Obaid is married and has two daughters.<ref name=wlf /> Her husband is from Egypt.<ref>{{cite web |title=Thoraya Obaid, Leader Who Inspires, Leads from the Front Says UN Secretary-General |url=https://www.unfpa.org/news/thoraya-obaid-leader-who-inspires-leads-front-says-un-secretary-general |website=United Nations Population Fund |access-date=28 January 2023 |language=en |date=14 December 2010}}</ref>

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== * {{LinkedIn page|in/thoraya-obaid}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Obaid, Thoraya}} Category:1945 births Category:Living people Category:Saudi Arabian women in politics Category:United Nations officials Category:United Nations Population Fund Category:Mills College alumni Category:Wayne State University alumni