Rola Dashti

Dr. Rola Dashti is a leading activist in Kuwait and throughout the region advocating democratic reform, fighting for gender equality and increasing roles for women in public life [ [http://www.vitalvoices.org/DesktopDefault.aspx?page_id=14 Vital Voices - Global Advisory Council Bios ] ] . Most recently, Dr. Dashti lobbied for the May 2005 decree permitting Kuwaiti women to vote and run for parliamentary elections for the first time. She was the first woman to file her papers at the election department, when the registration opened [ [http://www.rationalistinternational.net/home/welcome.htm Welcome ] ] , and she herself was a candidate in the historical parliamentarian election in 2006.

Education

She received her doctorate in Population Economics from Johns Hopkins University where she also lectured and managed research in development and applied economics.

Career

She has held key positions in R&D institutions such as Manager of the Economics Department at the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research, and other major local and international financial and development institutions such as Senior Economist at the National Bank of Kuwait and the World Bank. Dr. Dashti also managed all the contracts signed on behalf of the government of Kuwait for the Emergency and Reconstruction Program during the invasion-to-post liberation period from 1990-1991.

In 2005, Dr. Dashti was the winner of The King Hussein Humanitarian Award and has been involved in several volunteering activities since her undergraduate years, where she worked with the International Red Cross in Lebanon to assist refugee families from the south in 1982. She has also been involved in various activities for the economic empowerment of women in the Republic of Yemen. Dr. Dashti is a leading activist in the MENA region advocating democratic reform, fighting for gender equity and increasing the role of women in public life.

Dr. Dashti has contributed to the efforts to energize civil society institutions to turn them into a major driving force behind economic, social and political reform. Developing work in these institutions also became one of her main focuses since her election as chairman of Kuwait Economic Society.

Dr. Dashti was listed among the world’s 100 most influential Arabs for 2007 [ [http://www.arabianbusiness.com/power100/2007/profile/586 Power 100, The World's Most Influential Arabs, Rank List 2007 - ArabianBusiness.com ] ] and 2008 [ [http://www.arabianbusiness.com/power100/profile/524?clr=2 Power 100, The World's Most Influential Arabs, Rank List 2008 - ArabianBusiness.com ] ] . She was the first woman elected to chair the Kuwaiti Economic Society, which was founded in 1970 [ [http://www.vitalvoices.org/DesktopDefault.aspx?page_id=14 Vital Voices - Global Advisory Council Bios ] ] . In addition to serving in this position, Dr. Dashti heads an international consultancy firm in Kuwait focusing on privatization and activation of SMEs, she is a member of the executive committee of Young Arab Leaders and is the founder of the Women Participation Organization.

Footnotes

References

Tetreault, Mary Ann. ”Advice and Dissent in Kuwait.” Middle East Report 226 (2003):36-39.

Etheridge, Jamie. “Progress on Political Rights for Kuwaiti Women.” Christian Science Monitor (2005): 7.

External links

* [http://www.zu.ac.ae/leadership2006/roladashti.aspx Women as Global Leaders]
* [http://www.mideastliberty.org/tabid/314/AuthorID/140/Default.aspx Center for Liberty in the Middle East]
* [http://www.kesoc.org/kes/bod/ Kuwait Economic Society]