Safa Abdulsalam Karman (born June 5, 1987) is a Yemeni investigative journalist, a political commentator, and a researcher on conflicts, supremacy and casteism. She earned her Master in Laws degree from

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, Harvard Law School is the oldest law school in continuous operation in the United ...

in May 2018, marking the first degree ever awarded by Harvard Law to a Yemeni citizen. She received her degree in Master of Public Policy on November 3, 2018, from

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

. In 2010, Safa joined

Al Jazeera Al Jazeera Media Network (AJMN; , ) is a private-media conglomerate headquartered in Wadi Al Sail, Doha, funded in part by the government of Qatar. The network's flagship channels include Al Jazeera Arabic and Al Jazeera English, which pro ...

Media Network and became the first Yemeni woman to join the network and the youngest to be assigned top news coverage at the time. She is best known for her highly acclaimed investigative documentary "The Road to Sana’a" which examines who paved the way for the Houthi Militias to take over the Yemeni capital Sana'a on September 21, 2014. She is also known for her short series of reports "Yemen, the Land and the People”, her coverage of Egypt's 2012 presidential elections, and her reporting on the Arab Spring and its aftermath, especially Yemen's 2011 revolution. Safa is a co-founder and board member of "Be Human Initiative", the first Yemeni NGO to organize awareness campaigns for war and conflict-related

posttraumatic stress disorder Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental disorder that develops from experiencing a Psychological trauma, traumatic event, such as sexual assault, domestic violence, child abuse, warfare and its associated traumas, natural disaster ...

(PTSD). In 2007, Safa was elected vice president of the Legal and Constitutional Committee of the Youth Shura onsultationCouncil which was founded as a civil society body in parallel to the government's Supreme Shura Council to assist the latter with legal issues concerning the Youth. During her undergraduate studies, Safa worked as an English teacher for two years at one of Yemen's most prestigious English Institutes, Exceed Language Center. She earned her bachelor's degree in Law and Sharia from

Sana'a University Sana'a University ( ) was established in 1970 as the first and the primary university in the Yemen Arab Republic (North Yemen), now the Republic of Yemen (see also Aden University). It is located in Sanaa, the capital of Yemen, and is currently ...

in Yemen in 2009.

Personal life

Safa was born in the Yemeni city

Taiz Taiz () is a city in southwestern Yemen. It is located in the Yemeni highlands, near the port city of Mocha on the Red Sea, at an elevation of about above sea level. It is the capital of Taiz Governorate. As of 2023, the city has an estimated p ...

on June 5, 1987, but was mainly raised in the capital

Sana'a Sanaa, officially the Sanaa Municipality, is the ''de jure'' capital and largest city of Yemen. The city is the capital of the Sanaa Governorate, but is not part of the governorate, as it forms a separate administrative unit. At an elevation ...

. She is the youngest among ten children and comes from a very well-known political family. Her father is Abdulsalam Karman, a lawyer and a prominent politician, who once served and later resigned as Minister of Legal Affairs in Ali Abdullah Saleh's government. Her sister is

Tawakkol Karman Tawakkol Abdel-Salam Khalid Karman (; ; born 7 February 1979) is a Yemeni journalist, politician, and human rights activist. She co-founded and leads 'Women Journalists Without Chains', a group established in 2005 to advocate for press freedom ...

, the first Arab female to receive the

Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Peace Prize (Swedish language, Swedish and ) is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the Will and testament, will of Sweden, Swedish industrialist, inventor, and armaments manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Nobe ...

Career

Safa began her journey by volunteering with different NGOs and organizing social and political debates between Yemenis themselves and Yemenis with international visitors. As a law student, she was elected vice president of the Legal and Constitutional Committee in the Youth Shura Council, a parallel body to the Upper House, and a project of the Democracy School. Safa also worked as an English teacher and supervisor for two years (2008–2010) before leaving to join the Al Jazeera Network in

Doha Doha ( ) is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor (city), Al Khor and Lusail, it is home to most of the country's population. It ...

Qatar Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Geography of Qatar, Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares Qatar–Saudi Arabia border, its sole land b ...

. She is the co-founder and board member of "Be A Human Initiative", an NGO in Yemen that provide psychological treatment and support for war-zone civilians suffering from war and conflict-related posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Education

Safa Karman is the first Yemeni citizen to graduate from Harvard Law School and hold two master's degrees from both Harvard and Oxford Universities. In 2009, Safa got her undergraduate degree in Law and Sharia from Sana'a University in Yemen. She graduated from Arw High School. She also had several professional training courses from Al-Jazeera training & development center and a certificate in Film-Making in Hi-Definition from

New York Film Academy New York Film Academy – School of Film and Acting (NYFA) is a Private college, private For-profit higher education in the United States, for-profit film school and Drama school, acting school based in New York City, Los Angeles metropolitan ar ...

. She graduated from the Yemen-American Language Institute (YALI) in 2005. Safa speaks Arabic as her native language and fluent English as well.

References

* The Road to Peace in Yemen * Let's Talk Supremacy in Yemen * Unveiled - Why I dress Like This! * Safa Karman in Conversation with Alan Rusbridger * * * * * *

External links

Safa Karman's Official Website

Safa Karman's Twitter

Safa Karman's Youtube page

Safa Karman's official Facebook page

Safa Karman's Instagram page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Karman, Safa 1987 births Living people Yemeni women journalists Sanaa University alumni Alumni of the University of Oxford Harvard Law School alumni People from Sanaa Al Jazeera people