Dr. Maher ABUOKADA is a former senior diplomat with over 25 years of experience as part of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Egypt. His diplomatic service focused principally on the African, Middle-Eastern and Asian affairs, as well as economic and consular affairs.

Dr. ABUOKADA served in a number of Egyptian embassies abroad. He was also assigned to the Permanent Mission of Egypt in the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) as a part of his service in the Egyptian embassy in Lusaka (Zambia) 2007-2010.

Dr. ABUOKADA represented Egypt in various multilateral fora, including the 56th session of the UN General Assembly (2001), the Livingstone (Zambia) Conference on Cluster Munitions (2008), the 14th COMESA Summit in Eswatini (2010), the Second Tripartite Summit (COMESA & SADC & EAC) in Johannesburg (South Africa - 2011), the NESA symposium on Red-Sea security challenges in Istanbul (Turkiye - 2011) and others.

Prior to his diplomatic career, Dr. ABUOKADA served in the public health sector in Egypt as a medical doctor between 1992 and 1995.

Dr. ABUOKADA has a diverse academic background. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in medicine from the Faculty of Medicine at Tanta University (Egypt) in 1992. He also earned a Master's degree in Security and Diplomatic Studies from the University of East Anglia in London in 2014.