President Julius Maada Bio of Sierra Leone has appointed Former Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Mrs. Nabeela F. Tunis as the country’s new minister of Tourism and Cultural Affairs in his new cabinet announced and approved by parliament.
She replaced Dr Memunatu Pratt, who held the portfolio in the last cabinet. Mrs. Nabeela F. Tunis served as the country’s Foreign Minister since May 2019.
Minister Tunis has vast experience in Development Management, Diplomacy, Political Analysis and Governance, Conflict Prevention and Mediation, Gender Analysis and Mainstreaming, Environmental Governance and Human Rights issues.
Tunis has a Bachelor of Arts in political science from Fourah Bay College and English and a Master’s in Rural Development from Njala University, both part of the University of Sierra Leone. She worked as Program Manager of the Women’s Network for Environmental Sustainability and as a Senior National Officer within the United Nations office in Sierra Leone.
Tunis was appointed the Minister of Planning and Economic Development on 8 May 2018. In this role she helped produce the president’s National Economic Development Plan.
Tunis was appointed Foreign Minister in a cabinet reshuffle by President Julius Maada Bio in May 2019. Nabeela Tunis was named one of Sierra Leone’s Fifty Most Influential Women in 2019 and nominated again for the award in 2020.
