Banna Alkhelaifi

Banna Ali Mubarak Alkhelaifi is a retired police major and former head of social support in community policing. Across thirty-six years of service, she progressed from policewoman to major, became the first woman to head a section within the female police, and continued her education alongside work and family responsibilities.

Her working life stretched from the age of fourteen to sixty at the time the source biography was documented.

Her career encompassed numerous roles and concluded with service as an officer and Head of Social Support in the Community Police Department. She completed many professional courses and earned a diploma in educational and family counselling. Retirement did not end her commitment to learning. She continues to develop her knowledge so that she can serve her country, repay what it has given her and keep a promise to her mother to pursue education and service until the final moment of her life.

Her father died before her second birthday, leaving her with no memory of his appearance or features. Her mother raised her and her sisters as parent, friend and guide. She shared the details of life with them, surrounded them with affection and became their model. Intelligent, perceptive, prudent and wise, she taught her daughters self-reliance and responsibility. They absorbed her values not through instruction alone but by watching her example, and the path she prepared continues to guide her daughter.

She spent her childhood in the village of Smaisma, where a simple life taught her contentment and wise judgement. Neighbours formed an interdependent extended family, surrounding the children with enough care that they did not feel the absence of a father. From the community’s generosity and affection, she learned spontaneity, trust in God, the enjoyment of the present, social solidarity, sincere relationships, kind speech and consideration for other people’s feelings. She studied in Smaisma through the third year of primary school, then moved with her family to her grandfather’s home in Doha and continued through the third year of secondary school.

Her mother—may God have mercy on her—worked hard to provide her daughters with a dignified life, but the family encountered financial difficulty while she was at school. At fifteen, she began working to help her mother. She attended school in the morning and worked in customer service at Cable & Wireless, now Ooredoo, in the afternoon. She also spent a short period handling international calls before moving to Qatar Petroleum Corporation, where she worked in reception and secretarial support.

Qatar Petroleum recruited a group of young Qatari women when it needed female staff. The position required a commercial-secretarial course, but she could not complete it because she married and had her first child while the training conditions prohibited childbirth during the programme. She then worked briefly in Hamad Hospital’s Emergency Department before moving into education in an administrative position at the new Al Rayyan School.

Those varied positions across different sectors broadened her experience, gave her practical skills and strengthened the character she would bring to later responsibilities.

Her first attraction to police work was the official uniform. A female soldier from the United Arab Emirates once visited Qatar and was hosted by her mother at their home. The sight of the uniform fascinated her, and she hoped to wear one herself. Training later transformed that initial admiration into a lasting commitment to the profession.

When the establishment of a women’s police force and the recruitment of Qatari women were announced, a seemingly unattainable dream became possible. She registered immediately and was appointed to guard duty at the Ministry of Interior. Her ambition extended beyond that starting point. She worked to secure a meaningful place for herself and to represent women’s voices on the Recruitment Committee and the Nationality and Police Recruitment Committee.

The public authority of the uniform did not alter her role at home. There, she lived as a traditional woman who preferred family life and rarely went out except for work or necessity. She built a close household of six daughters and two sons, attended carefully to their needs and tried to spend as much time with them as possible. She loved the kitchen and cared for the smallest details concerning her children, their spouses and her daughters-in-law. Friday held particular importance as the day the family gathered and she found happiness in fulfilling their wishes.

Her childhood had seemed carefree because she was surrounded by loving siblings and an affectionate, well-mannered mother determined to give her daughters balance and happiness. At fourteen, however, she began to understand the family’s financial difficulty and chose to work without allowing her mother to feel that she had failed them. Cable & Wireless was the only employer willing to accept someone so young at a time when women’s work was largely confined to education. A second challenge came when she joined the police. Her mother initially opposed the choice, preferring the respected field of education and believing her daughter deserved a more senior occupation. Police work for women was new, and society still treated many such roles as exclusively male. Even after she became the first female corporal in the military police and worked as a prison guard, her mother took time to accept the career. Proving that women’s police work was a necessity rather than a luxury required years of discipline and perseverance. Completing university brought another struggle because approval was difficult to obtain. Without full-time study leave, she divided each day among family, work and university, often with little sleep or rest. In the end, she demonstrated to herself and others that the difficulties could be overcome.

She and her colleagues worked to change entrenched attitudes and establish the necessity of women in policing. After a brief initial period at the Ministry of Interior, she joined the Recruitment Committee and remained there until 1990, when the Personal Cards Department was established and she transferred to it. In 1994, she resumed university study and graduated from Qatar University with a very good bachelor’s degree in social work. She then moved to the Juvenile Police Department as a social worker. In 2004, she became Head of Awareness and Media. During that period, she completed a master’s degree, conducted written and television interviews and organised awareness programmes, lectures, seminars, forums and international workshops with participants from Canada, Australia and Britain, using each occasion to improve services related to her work. In 2015, she transferred to the Community Police as a social-support officer while retaining departmental leadership. Working directly with families to protect them from breakdown brought her especially close to the field she loved. It also encouraged further study. Her doctoral research examined social workers, their roles and ways to develop their practice. She received the doctorate, although it had not yet been accredited at the time of the source material.

She retired at the end of 2019 and devoted herself to training. Holding seven certificates as an accredited trainer, she now draws on her long experience in the family-counselling programmes she presents.

Her mother—may God have mercy on her—shared many of her achievements, attended her honours and watched her reach the rank of captain, proud that her daughter held the highest rank among women in the police. Yet she died before seeing the master’s degree completed in 2013, the doctorate awarded or the rank of major attained. Her death transformed the lives of all the sisters because she had been not only their mother but also their inspiration and closest source of support.

At every stage, her first aim was to repay a mother who had devoted her life to raising her daughters. Each decision carried the hope of making her happy, matching her sacrifices and proving that a widowed mother had given her children the finest upbringing. Persistence, determination, continuous education, unlimited ambition and personal development became her means of success, leading to many positions and qualifications and to recognition as an exemplary mother in the United Arab Emirates. She also believes Qatar deserves something in return from her because the country gave its children opportunities and did not neglect them.