Ambassador Sallama Shaker was the first appointed woman Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs for the Americas in the history of the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. She was appointed Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs for Cultural, Educational Relations, Technical Cooperation, and Dialogue for Egypt in September of 2004. For four years prior to that, she was Egypt’s ambassador to Canada. In addition to her current post, she has held several positions within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, including Deputy Minister for North and Latin America, Advisor to the Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs on Egyptian/American Relations and NATO, First Secretary at the office of the Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs, and attaché at the Soviet Desk within the ministry. From 1985-1990, Dr. Shaker served as the Consul General at the Egyptian Embassy in Washington, D.C. She has also served as Economic and Political Counselor at the Embassy in Turkey, as well as Cultural and Political attaché at the Embassy of Egypt in Malta. Dr. Shaker began her education at the American College for Girls in Cairo, Egypt. She went on to earn her B.Sc. in Political Economy at Cairo University. She holds two Masters Degrees in Political Economy and Economics, from Johns Hopkins University and the London School of Economics/Malta University respectively. In 1993 she received her Ph.D. in International Development from American University in Washington, D.C. Dr. Shaker was a Senior Associate at the Woodrow Wilson Center from 1992-1994, where she did research on the impact of the first Gulf War on the economies of Egypt and Turkey.
Dr. Shaker was a visiting professor at Claremont Graduate University and is currently teaching at Yale University. Throughout her career she has been active on women’s rights in the Islamic world. In 2008 she was the organizer of a conference held at the Library of Alexandria in Egypt on Challenges facing Arab Women in the 21st Century. She authored a research on the role of NGOs in
Eradicating Poverty and overcoming Feminization of Poverty which was published by the International Fund for Agricultural Development. Dr. Shaker is embarking on another major work to find new approaches that can define empowerment and how to break the frames of Oriental myth that women are less than men.
Publications
Canada and the Middle East, In Theory and Practice, in Paul Heinbecker & Bessma Momani, ed. Practitioners’ Perspectives on Canada-Middle East Relations (The Center for International Governance Innovation and Wilfried Laurier University Press, 2007).
Aid, Privatization, and Development in Turkey 1979-1990, trans. by Kurhane-Oglu, Ankara: METU, 1995(In Turkish)
State, Society, and Privatization in Turkey, 1979-1990, (Woodrow Wilson Center Press/Johns Hopkins University Press, 1994)
Development and Islamic Values, in Elise Boulding, ed., Building Peace in the Middle East: Challenges for State and Civil Society (Boulder: Lynne Rienner, 1993
Economic Aspects of Chinese Foreign Policy, Quarterly of the University of Malta [is this the journal’s exact title?] ([Vol. and No.], 1975), [pages]
Mauritius after Independence, (in Arabic), Al Siyasah Al Dawliyah (Arabic Quarterly, Cairo, Egypt (Vol. II, 1972)
Presentations
“ Conflict Resolution: Negotiation with a Human Face”, Yale University, May, 2012.
The Policy Studies Organization’s Middle East Dialogue 2012
“Women and Their Challenges in Arab and Muslim Societies: a Multidimensional Framework”
“Challenges of Two Worlds: Dialogue to Bridge the Gap”, Middle East Dialogue, Conference held in Washington D.C. February 2012. (This paper is published in the Fall Issues of Middle East Dialogue; 2012”.
“ We Need Two Wings to Fly”: Women in Islam”, paper presented at Cornell University : November, 2011.
“Arab Awakening and Gender Issues”, presentation at Yale University, Conference for World Young Leaders, September 2011.
“Learning Experiences and Leadership”, “Pathway Training for Better Future Forum–Yale University, June 2011.
“The Arab Awakening: Struggle for Dignity”, Yale University MS Forum
March 2011.
“Islam, Gender Issues and Globalization”, Richmond University, February 2010.
“Can Women be Leaders?”, Women and Leadership Program Conference held at Harvard University, July 2010.
“The Magic Touch: Education, Empowerment, Leadership with a Human Face”, Yale Divinity School, February 2009.
“Challenges Facing Women in the Arab World”, Conference held at the Library of Alexandria, Egypt, 2009.
“Theory and Practice”, Claremont Graduate University Conference on Minorities and the World Out There, February 2008.
“Legacy of Martin Luther King in Africa”, Claremont Graduate University: Conference on Race Relations, and Tran nationalism. February 2008.
“Women, Power Politics and Liberation Movements”, Claremont Graduate University, 2007
“Leadership and Building Bridges”, Leadership Conference, Washington D.C. 2006
“Women in Development” and “Building Bridges between Religions and Cultures”, Claremont Graduate University, 2005
“Building the Culture of Peace”, Institute of Peace and International Development, Harvard University, 2004
“Multiculturalism and Diversity”, Faculty of Economics and Political Sciences, Cairo University, 2004
“Dialogue between Religions”, conference on Diversity in Islam, Ottawa, 2003
“Women are Engines of Economic Growth”, conference on Development and Human Resources, [location], 2001
“Women in Islam”, World Bank conference on Sustainable Development and Eradication of Poverty, Washington, 1996
“Privatization and Rent-Seeking: Turkey as a Case Study”, Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars, 1994
“Conflict Resolution and Art of Negotiation”, American University, 1994
“Role of NGOs in Developing Islamic Societies”, Panel organized by Women in International Security, National Press Club, Washington, 1994
“Equity and Justice in Islam”, Forum on Equity and Justice, Aspen Institute, 1992
“Diversification of the Economies of the Gulf Countries after the Invasion of Kuwait”, International Development Society, [location], 1992
“Impact of the Gulf War on the Middle East Region”, University of Maryland and George Mason University, 1992
“Political Economy of the Middle East”, American University, 1991
“Socio–Economic Problems in Egypt and Turkey after the Gulf War”, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, 1991
“Training Women in Africa to Cope with Water Scarcity in the Context of Sustainable Development”, Summit Conference on African Water Policies, Cairo, 1990
“Regional Security in the Middle East: Egypt and Turkey, 1978-1983”, [Research paper-sponsored by Rockefeller Endowment: N.Y., 1985]
“Socio-Economic Impact of Economic Reform Policies in African Countries: Ghana, Tanzania, and Sudan”, Johns Hopkins SAIS, 1984
“Ideology, Politics and Economic Problems in China”, Forum on Chinese Economic Policies, Royal University of Malta, 1974.
Conferences:
2003 Diversity in Islam conference–held in Ottawa, Canada.
2004 Women in Islam conference–held in Ottawa, Canada.
2004 Interfaith Dialogue conference held at Harvard University in coordination with Yale university–held in Boston, USA
2005 Non-alignment conference on gender issues and women empowerment–held in Malaysia.
2005 Choosing our Future–UNDP conference-held in Cairo, Egypt.
2006 Women in Peace conference–held at the library of Alexandria, Egypt.
2007 Women in Conflict Conference–held in Claremont Graduate University–California, USA
2008 Interfaith Dialogue–“common word’’ conference held at Yale Divinity School–New Haven–Connecticut, USA.
2009 Challenges Facing Arab Women in the 21st century– held at the library of Alexandria, Egypt.
2010 New Beginning: US-Muslim relations workshop–held at Yale Divinity School–New Haven–Connecticut, USA
2010 Initiatives in Education, Science and Culture– towards enhanced US-Muslim countries collaborations held at the library of Alexandria, Egypt.
2011 Middle Ground /Middle East: religious sites in urban contexts conference held at the Yale School of Architecture.
2011 Islam and Ecology conference held at Yale School of Environment.
2012 Al-azhar reform bulletin and the Arab awakening workshop held at Yale Divinity School.
2012 Women, Violence and Development–conference held at Macmillan Center–Center for Middle East studies, Yale University.
2012 Middle East Dialogue–conference sponsored by Policy Studies Organization in Washington DC.
2012 Strategies for Healing and Rebuilding in Transition Environments, conference coordinated and sponsored by United Nations & Yale divinity school.
2012 Program Chair of Conference “Religious Dimensions of Democratization Processes in Muslim-majority Nations’’ held at Yale Divinity School sponsored by Yale Divinity School & Council of Middle East studies and association of Muslim Social Scientists of North America (AMSS).
2012 Conference on Peace Building in the Middle East at Yale Divinity School.
2012 Is it Arab Spring or Arab Winter ? – workshop held in New Cannan–“Abraham’s” tent.
