Shaima Al Mazrouei – UAE Politician

The youngest member of the UAE cabinet is Shaima Al Mazrouei – the country’s first Minister of State for Youth Affairs. She studied in Abu Dhabi at the New York University and while there she won a Falcon Scholarship to study at Oxford University for her thesis on labor market prospects for Emirati women.

Mazrouei then went to the UK to study public policy and earned a Master’s degree. She then went on to work in private equity with an Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund at the UAE Mission to the United Nations. Mazrouei also worked as an intern in Washington, DC, at the UAE Embassy.

In 2016, Mazrouei was appointed the Minister by the Prime Minister Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum at the age of 22, which made her the youngest government minister in the world. She gained this status, after Al Maktoum sent out a tweet that asked the UAE’s universities to nominate someone for the role.

Currently, she works with many young professionals of varying backgrounds to bring the issues of the youth to the government's attention. Mazrouei also created “Youth Circles,” which is a consultative meeting for youth to participate in - to explore important issues like education or climate change. She was named one of the 100 most influential young Arabs in the world by Arabian Business.

The feminine name Shaima is a variant transcription of Shayma, which might mean “to look out” in Arabic. The name is popular in the Gulf countries and in India.