Mariam Almheiri

Early life and education

Almheiri was born in 1979 to an Emirati father and a German mother. She attended the Latifa School for Girls in Dubai and RWTH Aachen University in Germany, where she received bachelor's and master's degrees in mechanical engineering specialising in development and design engineering.

Career

After graduation, Almheiri joined the Emirati Ministry of Environment and Water, where she was involved in the Khalifa Bin Zayed Centre for Marine Research, the UAE integrated waste management project, and the construction of a number of facilities. In 2014, she was appointed director of the Education and Awareness Department in the ministry, where she was responsible for formulating a national strategy to raise environmental awareness in the UAE

In 2015, Almheiri was appointed assistant undersecretary for water resources and nature conservation affairs at the Ministry of Climate Change, after a period as acting assistant undersecretary.

In October 2017, Almheiri has been minister of state for food security. In September 2018, she announced plans for 'Food Valley,' a food technology hub in the UAE, named after Silicon Valley. In January 2019, she was made an overseer of the Security and Foreign Affairs sector of the UAE's National Expert Programme. In the same month, she launched the UAE Food Security Strategy, consisting of five pillars: diversification of sources of food imports, research and development to increase domestic food production, reduction of food waste, maintenance of food safety standards, and increasing the UAE's ability to respond to crises. The goal of the strategy is to see UAE's place on the Global food security index advance from 31 to first place by 2051.

Almheiri has also been a member of the board of the Emirates Equestrian Federation since 2016

Her Excellency Mariam bint Mohammed Saeed Hareb Al Mehairi

Minister of State

Her Excellency Mariam bint Mohammed Saeed Hareb Al Mehairi has been appointed as Minister of State for Food Security following the Cabinet reshuffle of October 2017. Her responsibilities include overseeing the development of necessary infrastructure to achieve food security objectives in line with “UAE Centennial 2017”.

Al Mehairi served as the Assistant Undersecretary for Water Resources and Nature Conservation Affairs at the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment, where she was appointed to handle the strategic planning. Her Excellency was also involved in the Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan Centre for Marine Research. Her Excellency is a board member in the Higher Committee of Zayed International Foundation for the Environment.