Sheikha Al-Jufairi

Her Excellency Sheikha bint Youssef bin Hassan Al-Jufairi is a member of the Shura Council, a former elected member of the Central Municipal Council for Constituency Eight and Chair of its Legal Committee, Chair of the Board of Trustees of Al-Khansa Primary School for Girls, and a member of the Board of Trustees of the Islamic Call Organization.

For the 2015 cycle, an Amiri decree replaced named constituencies with numbers. In the 2019 cycle, she registered, issued her programme and met voters when no opponent initially came forward.

She was born in Barahat Al-Jufairi in central Doha and grew up in a prosperous extended family among grandparents, uncles and aunts. The household included her great-grandfather, the well-known nakhuda Muhammad Ibrahim Al-Jufairi, and her prominent uncle Jassim Muhammad Al-Jufairi. After the family moved to New Doha, she completed primary, preparatory and secondary school there, then continued university study while living in the Old Airport area and received a bachelor’s degree in law from Beirut Arab University.

A strong sense of responsibility appeared early and developed through study and public work. At the Ministry of Education in the early 2000s, she won two consecutive terms as president of the Social Solidarity Fund for ministry employees in elections contested by more than twenty candidates. She and her colleagues preserved the fund through difficult circumstances. Her decision to register as a voter in Qatar’s first Central Municipal Council elections in 1999 also gave her first-hand knowledge of the electoral process.

In April 2003, during the council’s second electoral cycle, she took the unprecedented step of standing against her cousins Ali Ibrahim Al-Jufairi and Ghanem Hassan Al-Hail. She prepared a programme, knocked on doors and met voters. Her competitors recognised her seriousness and announced their withdrawal at a press conference, leaving her to win unopposed as the only woman in the contest. She regarded their decision as evidence of Qatari men’s confidence in women’s public role.

On entering the council, she sought the chair of its Legal Committee and was elected unopposed, supported by her law degree and experience as Director of Legal Affairs at the Ministry of Education. She began implementing her electoral programme immediately after the victory of 7 April 2003, meeting ministers and senior municipal officials rather than pausing for celebration.

She stood again in 2007 against Muhammad Abdullah Al Emadi and Abdul Rahman Sultan Al Ishaq and won by secret ballot with the highest percentage of votes in Qatar. Her Excellency Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani congratulated her, and Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser invited her to Al Wajba Palace. Unlike the unopposed result of 2003, this victory directly demonstrated voters’ confidence.

The programme delivered practical changes: lighting on internal roads, family parks and additional green spaces, football pitches, improvements to the Airport Health Centre, and emergency departments for older people and children. A proposal to ease congestion in the ninth district also led to recommendations that congested roundabouts be converted into junctions, tunnels or bridges, work that was subsequently carried out.

In the 2011 cycle, the ninth constituency became known in the media as the ‘soft constituency’ because the only two candidates were women: the incumbent and Fatima Al-Kuwari. She won for a third time and again received the highest number of votes among successful candidates nationwide. She attributed the result to obeying election law, publishing a realistic service programme within the council’s powers, remaining in contact with voters during and after an election, and cooperating with fellow members in the public interest.

The work received encouragement from His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, His Highness the Father Amir and Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser. The Father Amir publicly expressed pride in Qatar’s elections and in her participation in the elected council. The late His Excellency Saud bin Abdullah Al-Hanzab, then council president, and the other twenty-eight members also worked with her on citizens’ needs, and colleagues gave her the affectionate description ‘Sister of Men’.

Her mother, Amna Muhammad Al-Jufairi, became seriously ill during the fourth cycle, and daily hospital visits affected her own health. In April 2012, she collapsed at the hospital with a cerebral haemorrhage and was admitted to intensive care. His Excellency the Prime Minister and former Minister of Foreign Affairs His Excellency Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabr Al Thani visited her there. She was transferred to London with two companions, remained for about two months and returned after recovering.

She also faced obstruction within the council, particularly from its Secretary-General. The late council president Saud Hamad Al Hanzab and other members supported her, allowing the work to continue despite the pressure.

For the 2015 cycle, an Amiri decree replaced named constituencies with numbers. She represented Constituency Eight, the largest constituency and approximately one third of Greater Doha, while Al Thumama—an area she had represented for nearly twelve years—became a separate ninth district. Competing against Mishaal Al-Dahanim, Mashari Al-Sa’i and Muhammad Al-Emadi, she won by a wide margin and recorded the second-highest vote total in Qatar, behind Muhammad Al-Azba of Constituency Twelve.

In the 2019 cycle, she registered, issued her programme and met voters when no opponent initially came forward. Abdulaziz Al-Haddad entered the race about ten days before polling. Voters attended from eight in the morning until five in the afternoon, and she again won by a substantial margin, placing second nationwide in total votes behind Hamad Al-Hanzab of Constituency Twelve.

That cycle brought an unprecedented internal contest over the Legal Committee. The council president and a number of members joined the committee in an attempt to support a male candidate, and all twenty-five council members eventually enrolled. A secret internal ballot confirmed her as chair. The president and his supporters withdrew until ten members remained, but relations later improved and cooperation resumed in the interests of citizens and residents.

Alongside municipal work, she served on the Arab Women’s Affairs Committee of the Arab Labour Organisation, the Women’s Affairs Committee of the Supreme Council for Family Affairs, the General Retirement and Social Insurance Authority and its Technical and Administrative Committee, and the Private Education Committee at the Ministry of Education. She was also appointed Director of Administrative and Financial Inspection for Legal Affairs at the Ministry of Education and Higher Education.

Her international participation included the 2004 founding conference of United Cities and Local Governments in the presence of the French president; visits to the British House of Commons and House of Lords; a 2005 invitation from the Mayor of Stockholm; the first Islamic conference in Istanbul; and an honour in Kuwait marking International Arab Women’s Day in February 2007.

During a council visit to Kuwait, the delegation met the late Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, then Amir of Kuwait, who expressed pride in the election of a woman to Qatar’s municipal council and in the Gulf more widely. In 2011, when the council was invited to meet His Highness the Father Amir, she was outside Qatar accompanying her mother for treatment; he noticed her absence, asked about her and praised her contribution.

After another election, members met His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani at the Amiri Diwan. During a further meeting in February 2017, she explained that the council’s role was supervisory and that some public bodies were not cooperating. His Highness directed government agencies to deal seriously and firmly with council requests, giving members renewed support in carrying out their responsibilities.

Her municipal record extended across nineteen years and established a place for women in elected local government. That sense of national responsibility continued when His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani appointed her to the Shura Council, entrusting her with a further sphere of public service.