Obaid Ahmed Aldhanhani

Since March 2026, Obaid Ahmed Al Dhanhani has served as Head of the Early Recovery and Stabilization Support Section at the UAE Aid Agency, where he oversees the design and implementation of international humanitarian programmes aimed at advancing early recovery and promoting stability.

In 2025, Al Dhanhani served as Head of the Strategy at the Abrahamic Family House. Prior to that, he pursued a diplomatic career at the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which he joined in 2017, holding several positions in strategic planning, policy analysis, and diplomacy. From February 2024 to February 2025, he headed the Middle East and North Africa Policies Section within the Policy Planning Department.

In 2023, he was part of the team responsible for preparing the UAE’s hosting of the 28th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP28), serving as Senior Specialist for African Affairs in the Diplomatic Engagement Department.

Between March 2021 and November 2022, he served in the Office of His Excellency Sheikh Shakhboot bin Nahyan Al Nahyan, Minister of State, as a Senior Political Analyst specialising in sub-Saharan African affairs. He began his professional career at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as a Policy Analyst covering the Middle East and Africa in the Policy Planning Department, a position he held from 2017 to 2021.

Al Dhanhani holds a master’s degree in Leadership and Institutional Development from Abu Dhabi School of Management, a Postgraduate Diploma in UAE Diplomacy and International Relations from the Emirates Diplomatic Academy, and a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from United Arab Emirates University.

In 2023, he received the Minister of Foreign Affairs Award for Excellence in its fifth edition, under the Distinguished Young Employee category. He has also published several articles in UAE newspapers in social and cultural affairs and is the author of a short-story collection.