Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan

Career

Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the United Arab Emirates on 9 February 2006.

During his tenure as Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, the UAE has witnessed a rapid expansion of its diplomatic relations with countries in Latin America, the South Pacific, Sub-Saharan Africa and East Asia as well as a consolidation and strengthening of its relations with Western countries.

As Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sheikh Abdullah launched a number of international forums, including the Sir Bani Yas Forum the Global Forum on Relationships between the Arab World, Latin America and the Caribbean, and the Arab League countries dialogue with Pacific Island States.

Yousef Al Otaiba, UAE Ambassador to US, got his mails compromised by a group of hackers, which revealed that Abdullah bin Zayed was in favour of Abu Dhabi hosting Taliban embassy. Otaiba's conversations also convey that he received angry call and complaints from Abdullah bin Zayed on not being able to do so.

Abdullah attends the UNFCCC climate change negotiations; in 2011 he led the UAE delegation at the G20 Summit in Cannes, France; and he has supported UN Women since it was established. From 2010-2012 he served as a member of the UN Secretary-General's High-level Panel on Global Sustainability, which issued the report Resilient People, Resilient Planet: A Future Worth Choosing in 2012.

He is a Global Champion of the Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative, launched by William Hague, the UK Foreign Secretary in 2012.

He has advocated international action on countering piracy and supporting stability and development in Somalia. To further these goals, he established an annual high-level Counter Piracy Conference in the UAE.

In 2009 Sheikh Abdullah headed the UAE's international campaign to rally support for its successful bid to host the headquarters of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). He supported Dubai’s winning bid to host the World Expo 2020.

According to the Book "Clinton Cash", an interesting coincidence, puts Sheikh Abdullah visiting Washington D.C. Dec. 12, 2011 to meet with then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. During this visit to see Then Secretary of state Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton was in Abu Dhabi staying at the Emirates Palace Hotel. The subject of Bill Clinton's speech was on the "Lack of Environmental Data" "On top of all environmental issues, the financial crisis is making the world's stability even worse. The only way out, though, is a green economy". This speech was paid for by the UAE Royal family according to the book's statements. The sum quoted was $500,000.

In August 2017, Sheikh Abdullah urged Iran and Turkey to end what the UAE called their "colonial" actions in Syria, signaling unease about diminishing Gulf Arab influence in the war, and calling "the exit of those parties trying to reduce the sovereignty of the Syrian state." He added that "if Iran and Turkey continue the same historical, colonial and competitive behavior and perspectives between them in Arab affairs, we will continue in this situation not just in Syria today but tomorrow in some other country."

Other roles & Previous roles

Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed is a member of the UAE’s National Security Council, Deputy Chairman of the UAE’s Permanent Committee on Borders, Chairman of the National Media Council, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Emirates Foundation for Youth Development, Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD) and Board Member of the National Defense College.

Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed served as Minister of Information and Culture from 1997 to 2006. Previously, he served as Chairman of Emirates Media Incorporated, Chairman of the UAE Football Association (1993-2001), and as the Under Secretary of the Ministry of Information and Culture from 1995 to 1997.

Social initiatives

Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed is active on social media through his Twitter handle @ABZayed, under which he promotes social initiatives and interacts directly with tweets and mentions.

He is an ambassador of the Abu Dhabi Reads Campaign, which aims to encourage younger generations to read. As part of the campaign, he visited an elementary school in Abu Dhabi where he spent time interacting with students and reading stories to them.

Personal life

Abdullah bin Zayed was born in Abu Dhabi on the 30 April 1972. He holds a degree in Political Science from UAE University. He is married to Sheikha Alyazia bint Saif Al Nahyan, extraordinary FAO Goodwill Ambassador since 2010, and has four children:

Honours