Aminath Shabeena

Additional Secretary

Biography

Aminath Shabeena began her service in the public sector by joining the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in June 1990. After joining the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Shabeena contributed to the Foreign Service starting from grassroot level and up. During her long service, Ambassador Shabeena while continuing to serve the interest of the Maldives and the Foreign Service Cadre, both at home and abroad, rose through the ranks, and headed the International Organisations and Conferences Department, Consular Services Department as well as the South Asia Division of the Bilateral Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, apart from working in the other different levels in the Bilateral Department and Multilateral Department of the Ministry.

Ambassador Shabeena’s contribution to the Foreign Service as a diplomat based in a Diplomatic Mission of the Republic of Maldives began with the Permanent Mission of the Maldives to the United Nations in New York (2006 – 2007), followed by the Embassy of the Republic of Maldives in Beijing, China; where she worked in the establishment and opening of the Mission in 2007. After Beijing, Ambassador Shabeena’s next diplomatic postings were in New Delhi, India (2014 – 2015 & 2018 – 2020). During both her postings in China and India (2014), Ambassador Shabeena was promoted from Second Secretary to First Secretary and Counsellor to Minister-Counsellor, respectively. She was the Deputy Chief of Mission at both Diplomatic Missions of the Republic of Maldives, in China and India, where she was in charge of the bilateral relations, administration and finance sections.

Prior to her appointment, Ambassador Shabeena was fulfilling her second posting in New Delhi as the Acting High Commissioner, where she was posted as Minister (Deputy Chief of Mission) since the current Government came to power in November 2018, when the Maldives – India relations began elevating.

Upon completion of her last assignment, on 02 October 2023, as the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Maldives to the United Arab Emirates, currently she heads the Foreign Service Institute of Maldives (FOSIM). In addition, as the Head of FOSIM, Ambassador Shabeena is also a member of the Foreign Service Advisory Board.   

Ambassador Shabeena holds Masters in Business Administration (MBA) certificate from the University of West of England, Bristol, United Kingdom (Villa College, Maldives) and first degree Bachelor of Computing (Honours) with certificate from Staffordshire University, UK (APIIT, Kuala Lumpur).

Since 29 March 2021, Ambassador Shabeena has been concurrently accredited as the Non-Resident Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Maldives to the Arab Republic of Egypt; and from 31 March 2021 she has been accredited as the Permanent Representative of the Republic of Maldives to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).

Ambassador Shabeena is mother to a wonderful daughter.

Ahmed Saleem

Ambassador-at-large

Biography

Ambassador Ahmed Saleem is a long-serving Maldivian diplomat and statesman. He joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Maldives in 1968, holding numerous posts throughout his long and distinguished 55-year public service. At present, Ambassador Saleem is the Ambassador-at-large at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Early in his career, Ambassador Saleem held important portfolios within the Maldivian Foreign Service, such as those of the Chief of Protocol, Head of Multilateral Department, and Controller of Immigration. He had also served in Maldives’ diplomatic missions including in Colombo, Sri Lanka and  Counselor at the Permanent Mission to the UN. He served as the first Maldives Director in the SAARC Secretariat from 1990 to 1993 and in 2012, Ambassador Saleem was appointed as the 11th Secretary-General of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), which is a regional bloc among the South Asian 8 countries. Ambassador Saleem served as the High Commissioner of the Maldives to Pakistan from 2015 to 2020, with non-resident accreditation to Nepal. Ambassador Saleem served in other capacities outside the Foreign Service as well. Within various administrations, he has served in the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Education, Department of Information and Broadcasting, Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Youth, Women’s Affairs and Sports, and the Ministry of Transport. During his deputation to the Ministry of Finance as Under-Secretary in 1977, he also served as the first Maldives’ Alternate Governor to the World Bank, IDA and ADB. Mr. Saleem was one of the original nine members when the first Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM) was established by a Presidential decree in December 2003. He later served as President of the HRCM from 2006 to 2010, after it became an autonomous body by law. Mr. Saleem has traveled extensively and also attended numerous meetings of the UN including several General Assembly sessions and the Commonwealth, OIC, the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), SAARC and many other multilateral and regional meetings. As Director at the SAARC Secretariat, and subsequently as Secretary-General of the SAARC, Mr. Saleem was involved in the meetings of the Programming Committee, the Standing Committee, the Council of Ministers and the Summits held at various SAARC capitals. Ambassador Saleem is a strong advocate for human rights and democracy, and played a key role during the democratic transition of the Maldives.  As President of the HRCM he oversaw the country’s first democratic multi-party elections in 2008. He is credited with raising awareness domestically, on democracy and Maldives’ international human rights obligations, and has been a strong advocate for multilateralism in the global sphere. Ambassador Saleem is a keen sportsman and athlete, having played cricket, football and tennis at national level tournaments. He is also a prolific writer and has contributed numerous articles and publications on regional and international affairs. He was educated in Male’, Maldives and in New Delhi, India. He is married and has four children.

Dr. Hala Hameed

Secretary

Biography

Dr. Hala Hameed, is presently heading the Bilateral Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Appointed as Secretary, Bilateral in August 2022, she oversees and advises on bilateral engagements between the Maldives and diplomatic partners, promoting the Government’s foreign policy initiatives.

Prior to this, Dr. Hala served as Secretary, Multilateral and as the head of the economic cooperation department as of August 2020. Her responsibilities included managing the external resource mobilisation strategy at the most critical time of the global Covid-19 pandemic as well as overseeing the implementation of development projects funded by both bilateral and multilateral partners. As Secretary Multilateral she also led the Government stakeholders’ team in crafting the United Nations Sustainable Development Framework 2022-2026, working together with the United Nations agencies led by the United Nations Resident Coordinator’s Office.

Appointed as Additional Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in August 2015, Dr. Hala was posted to Geneva as the Permanent Representative of the Republic of Maldives to the United Nations Office and International Organisations in Geneva where she served from January 2016 until July 2020. During her tenure in Geneva, she was concurrently accredited as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Maldives to the Swiss Confederation and the Permanent Representative of the Republic of Maldives to the World Trade Organisation (WTO). Most notably, she was the Regional Coordinator for the Asia Pacific Group at the UN Human Rights Council for the year 2017. As the Permanent Representative, Dr. Hala was a particularly active proponent of gender equality and an advocate for universal representation at the United Nations Human Rights Council. Leading the Maldives delegation, she has guided discussions on human rights in Parliamentary processes and greater cooperation between legislative and rights-based institutions. She has also provided leadership on human rights issues affecting Small Island Developing States. During her tenure in Geneva Dr. Hala was a committed member of the International Gender Champions, Geneva Chapter.

Dr. Hala began her career in public service in 1981, at the National Planning Agency, working on formulating development projects. She has held numerous ranks at the President’s Office, from 1989 to 2008, beginning as a Research Officer at the Foreign Relations Section and later as Deputy Minister of Cabinet Division from 2006 to November 2008. Between 2009-2013 she held the position of Vice President and Commissioner of the Police Integrity Commission. She also served as Minister of State for Law and Gender from December 2013-2015, and was entrusted with the responsibility of directing the implementation of the Government’s policy to empower women, economically, socially and politically.

As a USAID scholar, Dr. Hala attended the American University of Beirut for her first two years of undergraduate studies. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from the University of the South Pacific, Suva Fiji. Dr. Hala earned her Master of Philosophy degree in Environmental Economics and read for her doctorate in Gender and Development at the University of East Anglia, Norwich, United Kingdom under a Commonwealth fellowship.

Dr. Hala is married to Mr Abdul Ghafoor Yoosuf and they are blessed with two sons and one daughter. 

Ahmed Shiaan

Secretary

Biography

Ahmed Shiaan is a former Ambassador to the UK, EU, Belgium, The Netherlands and Luxembourg. Since joining the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Maldives in 1996, Mr Shiaan has acquired a wealth of experience at the Foreign Ministry and at overseas missions to become one of Maldives’ most seasoned career diplomats. He has held a range of positions at the Foreign Ministry ranging from Head of Division to Head of Department. He has also been Director of the Foreign Service Institute of Maldives, conducting diplomatic training courses for Maldivian Foreign Service officials, and served on a number of National Committees focusing on the environment, health and security. Mr Shiaan has represented his country at a multitude of international meetings and conferences in over 60 countries across 5 continents. He has also coordinated and organised dozens of international meetings, conferences and seminars, including Heads of Government visits to and from Maldives. Mr Shiaan holds a Bachelors Degree in Political Science and Economics (Bangalore University, India), a Masters Degree in International Relations (Heidelberg University, Germany), and specialist training in Security Studies (Hawaii, USA). Additionally, he has completed number of training courses in diplomacy, international negotiation, security studies and environmental diplomacy in Europe and Asia. In addition to his mother tongue Dhivehi, Mr Shiaan is a fluent speaker of English, German, and Hindi.