Curriculum Vitae
Her Excellency Dr. Rima Khalaf Hunaidi
Assistant Secretary-General and Director
Regional Bureau for Arab States
Born in Kuwait in 1953 and a citizen of Jordan, Ms. Khalaf Hunaidi is a graduate of the American University of Beirut (Economics), and of Portland State University (MA in Economics and a Ph.D. in Systems Science). She started her professional career in 1979 as Lecturer, Business School, Department of Economics with the Portland State University in Oregon. In 1985, she was appointed Director of Planning and Research Department, Ministry of Planning in Amman. Between 1990 and 1993 she occupied successively the posts of Director- General, Jordan Export Development and Commercial Centers Corporation and Director-General for the Investment Promotion Department in Amman.
She has held high ranking positions in Jordan, including Minister of Industry and Trade (1993-1995), Minister of Planning (1995-1998) and most recently Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Planning (1999-2000). During her tenure as head of the ministerial economic team, Ms. Khalaf Hunaidi succeeded in pushing forward the drive for economic reform while simultaneously spearheading the effort for poverty alleviation and strengthening the social safety net.
From November 1997 through September 2000, Ms. Khalaf Hunaidi served as a Senator in the Upper House of the Jordanian Parliament. Simultaneously and since December 1999, she also served as a member of the Economic Consultative Council, a public-private sector initiative established and directly supervised by His Majesty King Abdullah II bin Al-Hussein to promote economic reform and modernization in Jordan.
As of 28 September 2000, she was appointed Assistant Secretary-General and Director, Regional Bureau for Arab States (RBAS), at the United Nations Development Programme.
Ms. Khalaf Hunaidi is holder of the “Grand Cordon of the Order of Al-Kawkab Al Urduni (The Star of Jordan)” bestowed upon her in 1995 by His Majesty the late King Hussein bin Talal of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.