Karima Benyaïch, whom His Majesty King Mohammed VI appointed Ambassador of Morocco to Spain in May 2018, was previously Ambassador of Morocco to Portugal from 2008.

Holder of an honorary doctorate from Nova University of Lisbon (2013) and a master’s degree in economics at the University of Montreal in Canada (1988) as well as a Bachelor from the Royal College of Rabat, Ms. Benyaich has held several positions during her illustrious career. This included Director of Cultural and Scientific Cooperation at the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, and previously representing the Kingdom of Morocco in Council of Francophonie.

Since 2013, Ms. Benyaïch has been Vice-Chair of the Executive Committee of the North-South Center of the Council of Europe. She has also received several decorations, including the Order of Isabella the Catholic in Spain (2000), and Officer of the National Order of Merit in France (2007).

Ms. Benyaïch is President and member of several associations dealing with children, women and culture., presiding over the Association “Voices of Women,” based in her natal city of Tetouan. The Association aims, through targeted socio-cultural actions, to promote the role of women as a vector of the cultural identity of the city in areas as diverse as oral tradition and the art of living. In the same way, it enters into its objectives to work for the promotion of the feminine art through all its forms of expression.

She believes that a project like HERA, a “city for women” should be based on tolerance and open mindedness and that it will be a space full of rich programs and philosophies, as well as a meeting point and bridge for multiple cultures and different experiences, based on solidarity and support to women and associations of women all over the world, in order to showcase their work, ambitions and dreams.