Panafrican News Agency

Libyan Foreign Minister honoured by US with International Women of Courage Award 2022

Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - Libyan Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Najla Al-Mangouch, has been honoured by the US State Department with the 2022 International Women of Courage Award as one of 12 extraordinary women from around the world working to build a better future for all.

An official virtual ceremony will be held on 14 March in the presence of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, with the First Lady of the United States, Dr. Jill Biden, delivering a speech, according to a statement from the US Department.

The US State Department's Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs congratulated Ms. Al-Mangouch and Iraqi Deputy Finance Minister Taif Sami for the award, according to a tweet on Tuesday on the occasion of International Women's Day.

US Special Envoy to Libya and Ambassador, Richard Norland, also congratulated Ms. Al-Mangouch for receiving the distinguished award.

The State Department website states that the award is given to women who "demonstrate leadership, courage and a willingness to sacrifice for others, especially to better promote women's rights".

In a citation, the US State Department said that appointed on 15 March 2021, Ms. Al-Mangouch became Libya's first female foreign minister and the fifth to hold such a position in North Africa.

During the 2011 Libyan revolution, Ms. Al-Mangouch headed the National Transitional Council's public engagement unit, which dealt with civil society organisations.

An expert in conflict resolution, she has served as the Libya representative to the US Institute of Peace and as a programme officer for peacebuilding law at the Centre for World Religions, Diplomacy and Conflict Resolution in Arlington, Virginia.

Ms. Al-Mangouch trained as a lawyer at the University of Benghazi (then Garyounes University) where she later worked as an assistant professor of law.

She studied on a Fulbright scholarship in the United States, where she graduated from the Centre for Justice and Peace Building at Eastern Mennonite University in Virginia, and later earned a PhD in Conflict Analysis and Resolution from George Mason University.

-0- PANA BY/IS/BBA/MA 10March2022