Samira Merai Explained

Samira Merai
Office:Minister of Public Health
Primeminister:Youssef Chahed
Term Start:27 August 2016
Term End:12 September 2017
Predecessor:Said Aidi
Successor:Slim Chaker
Office1:Minister of Women, Family and Children
Primeminister1:Habib Essid
Term Start1:2 February 2015
Term End1:27 August 2016
Predecessor1:Saber Bouatay
Successor1:Néziha Labidi
Birth Date:1963 1, df=y
Birth Place:Zarzis, Tunisia

Samira Merai Friaa (born 10 January 1963) is a Tunisian doctor and politician who served as Minister of Public Health from 2016 to 2017.

Early life and education

Merai was born on 10 January 1963 in Zarzis. She attended the technical high school in Medenine and obtained a degree in mathematics and science in 1981. She graduated from the Faculty of Medicine in Tunis in 1986, specialising in pulmonology.[1] [2]

Career

Merai began working at the Abderrahmen-Mami Hospital in Aryanah in 1993. In 2003, she was appointed Associate Professor of Respirology at the Faculty of Medicine in Tunis. She is a member of the European Respiratory Society and the American Thoracic Society.[1]

Merai is a member of the Afek Tounes party and joined its central committee in May 2011.[1] She was elected to the Constituent Assembly for the constituency of Medenine on 23 October 2011.[2] On 1 February 2012, she was elected Deputy Speaker of the NCA.[3] After the dissolution of Afek Tounes, she became a member of the Republican Party, but resigned on 10 July 2013.[4] She was not re-elected at the 2014 legislative elections.

Merai served as the Chair of the Committee on Women's Rights of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean in 2014.[5]

On 2 February 2015, Merai was appointed Minister of Women, Family and Children in the government of Prime Minister Habib Essid.[2] [3] [6] On 20 August 2016, she was appointed Minister of Public Health in the cabinet of Youssef Chahed.[7] [8] [9]

Personal life

Merai is married and has three children.[2]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: DOSSIERSBiographie de Samira Merai Friâa, ministre de la Santé publique. French. Business News. 20 August 2016. 23 January 2017.
  2. Web site: Gouvernement Youssef Chahed: Qui est Samira Merai, ministre de la Santé?. 21 August 2016. 23 January 2017. Direct Info.
  3. Web site: Tunisian minister says more pro-women reform needed. The Arab Weekly. 21 August 2015. 23 January 2017. 8 March 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170308143456/http://www.thearabweekly.com//special-focus/1627/Tunisian-minister-says-more-pro-women-reform-needed. dead.
  4. Web site: Tunisie-Politique : La députée Samira Merai Friaa quitte le parti Al-Joumhouri. Kapitalis. 11 July 2013. 23 January 2017.
  5. Web site: Dear Members of the Committee on Women's Rights of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union for the Mediterranean (PA-UfM). Samira. Merai=Friaa. 18 August 2014. 23 January 2017. PAUfM. 2 February 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170202020052/http://www.paufm.org/committee/Women/19Sept2014_Maia/Invitation_EN.pdf. dead.
  6. Web site: Ennahda joins new government lineup. Al Monitor. Marouen. Achouri. 4 February 2015. 23 January 2017.
  7. Web site: Samira Merai says "optimistic" about future of Chinese-Tunisian health co-operation. 21 October 2016. 23 January 2017. Agence Tunis Afrique Presse.
  8. Web site: Tunisia PM-designate presents unity govt line-up. 20 August 2016. 23 January 2017. The Daily Star Lebanon.
  9. Web site: Notes on Tunisia's New National Unity Government. Project on Middle East Democracy. Raouia. Briki. 31 August 2016. 23 January 2017. 1 December 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171201101205/http://pomed.org/homepage-entries/latest-from-pomed/notes-on-tunisias-new-national-unity-government/. dead.