Mbarka Bouaida

Bouaida was born in 1975 in Laqssabi near Guelmim.^[1] She is of Sahrawi origin, of the Aït Lahcen tribe, part of the Tekna confederation.^[2]

Bouaida has a degree from the Graduate School of Management in Casablanca, and MBA from the University of Hull and a Masters in Communication from the University of Toulouse.^[1][3]

Bouaida was Director of Audit and Management Control for the Petrom Group from 2003.

Bouaida is a member of the National Rally of Independents and was elected under the women's quota to the House of Representatives to represent Anfa in 2007, making her the parliament's youngest member.^[1][2] She chaired the Committee of Foreign Affairs and the National Defence and Religious Affairs and was in charge of relations between the Moroccan and European Parliaments.^[4] In June 2009, she was also elected to the city council of Greater Casablanca.^[1]

Bouaida was elected to a second parliamentary term outside the women's quota in 2010.^[5] She was appointed Minister-Delegate for Foreign Affairs by King Mohammed VI on 10 October 2013.^[3] From 2017, she served as Secretary of State to the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries.^[6]

Bouaida has been Vice-President of the International Parliamentarian Forum for Democracy since September 2011 and is a Member of the North-South Centre of the Council of Europe. She is also the General Secretary of the Moustaqbal Association for Education.^[4] She was named "Young Global Leader" by the World Economic Forum in 2012.^[3] She also represents Morocco in the Euro-Mediterranean Parliamentary Assembly.^[2] In 2015, she led Morocco's delegation to the White House Summit on Countering Extreme Violence led by Joe Biden.^[7]

On 5 July 2019, Bouaida was elected regional leader of Guelmim-Oued Noun, the first woman in the country elected as a regional leader.^[6]

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