Kuwait
Activist
Hijri Unknown-Present (AH); Common Era Unknown-Present (CE)
In 2009, Sheikha Rima Al-Sabah was named by a prominent Washington D.C. magazine as one of the 100 most distinctive women in Washington in the field of advocacy and nonprofit work. She was the only Arab and foreigner to make the list. Every year Rima Al-Sabah, along with her husband-- Kuwait Ambassador to Washington Salem Al-Sabah--hold an Annual Gala Dinner to raise money for a different beneficiary. Since 2005, Rima Al-Sabah, who is the Founder and Chairwoman of the Gala, has raised millions of dollars to support various causes: to USA for UNHCR, so as to assist Iraqi refugees wishing to return home; to UNICEF, so as to improve educational opportunities for children in Afghanistan, especially girls; to Project HOPE, so as to develop the Basrah children's hospital in Iraq. Other money has gone to reducing malaria in Africa, fighting climate change, and helping build schools for girls in remote areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan. Rima Al-Sabath praises Kuwait as “one of the most philanthropic [countries] in the world.”
