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Founded in 1996 as the first private university in the Yemen, Queen Arwa University is the product of two remarkable women who lived more than 800 years apart. It was created by Wahiba Fara¡¯a, a graduate of Cairo University who was concerned about the paucity of educational opportunities for women in her own country. In 2001 she became Yemen¡¯s first female cabinet minister.

The university's name commemorates Queen Arwa, the last monarch of Yemen¡¯s Sulayahid Dynasty. Her rule over the Yemen, first in partnership with two husbands but eventually by herself lasted from 1067 to 1138, a reign even longer than the UK¡¯s famously durable female monarchs of the last 200 years.

The university is based in the Yemeni capital Sana¡¯a, a city of around four million people at an altitude of 7500 ft. Its declared purpose is to "provide distinctive educational and creative resources that serve the community and contribute to building the knowledge economy by creating a stimulating environment for learning and intellectual creativity, optimal employment of technology and effective local and global partnership".

It has a motto of "steady stages towards the future". The university started with faculties of arts and humanities, engineering, law, science, education and applied and fine arts, adding economics and administration in 1997, a Graduate School in 1998, dentistry and pharmacy in 2003 and medical sciences in 2010.

Objectives include offering "different yet specialised courses in higher education, in cooperation with other education institutions", with the main focus on women¡¯s studies, environmental studies and population studies.