Sima Sami Bahous

Bahous is Jordanian, and was born in June 1956. She has a bachelor's degree in English literature from the University of Jordan, a master's degree in literature and drama from the University of Essex, and a PhD in mass communications and development from Indiana University. She is fluent in Arabic and English.

In Amman, Jordan, from 1994 to 1995 Bahous was head of communications at UNICEF. From 1996 to 1997 in Sanaa, Yemen, she was then a development advisor at the World Health Organization.

She returned to Jordan in 1997, and served from 1998 to 2001 as Executive Director of the Jordanian King Hussein and Noor Al Hussein Foundations. From 2001 to 2003 she was head of media and communication at the Jordanian Royal Hashemite Court, and from 2003 to 2005 an advisor to Jordanian King Abdullah. Bahous served as head of the Jordanian Higher Media Council from 2005 to 2008.

From 2008 to 2012, she was Assistant Secretary-General of the Arab League in Cairo, Egypt. In this role, she led a number of Arab League departments. From 2012 to 2016, Bahous served as Assistant Secretary-General for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Administrator and Director of the UNDP's Regional Bureau for Arab States. In this post, Bahous led UNDP's 18 Arab region programme offices.

In 2016, she was appointed the Permanent Representative of Jordan to the United Nations in New York.

In 2021, Jordanian King Abdullah II bestowed upon her the Order of The State Centennial in appreciation of her services to Jordan.

On 30 September 2021 she became UN Women's third Executive Director. She was described by the United Nations Secretary General as: "A champion for women and girls."

Bahous is married to Ziad Rifai and has one daughter, Jahan.

During Bahous's tenure as UN Women Executive Director, UN Women and Bahous were criticized for expressing concerns on the effects of war on Palestinian women, while remaining silent on Hamas' sexual and gender-based violence in the 7 October attack on Israeli civilian women and female minors. The organization under her leadership was criticized for the lengthy delay in its response, a response that followed the organization's alleged silence during the war.

As reported by The New York Times, at the United Nations, Gilad Erdan, Israel's Ambassador to the United Nations, said he sent two letters about the use of rape by Hamas militants, appended with photographs of victims' bodies, to Bahous. He said: "I got no response whatsoever. Not even, 'We received your letter.'" Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen called on Bahous to resign. An analysis of her X posts and those of UN Women indicated that out of dozens of them, there were no condemnations of Hamas, and almost zero posts in the first week of the war.

Actress Natalie Portman posted on Instagram, and asked people to contact Bahous, providing her email address. She wrote, addressing Bahous: "Women's organizations have neglected their role and abandoned the hostages in Gaza. They must take a stand now! The heinous sexual crimes committed against Israeli women on October 7th by Hamas are war crimes and crimes against humanity. Distance yourself from these crimes. You are committed to preserving women's rights without distinction of religion, race, or gender."