Jump to content

Samira Rafaela

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Samira Rafaela
MEP
Rafaela in 2019
Member of the European Parliament
for the Netherlands
In office
2 July 2019 – 15 July 2024
Parliamentary groupRenew Europe
Personal details
Born (1989-02-11) 11 February 1989 (age 35)
Zoetermeer, Netherlands
Political partyDemocrats 66
Alma materLeiden University

Samira Rafaela (born 11 February 1989) is a Dutch politician of Democrats 66. She served as a Member of the European Parliament between 2019 and 2024,[1][2] and she was also a member of the Young Democrats.[2]

Early life

[edit]

Rafaela grew up with her Jewish Dutch-Curaçaoan mother in Uitgeest. Her father was of Ghanaian-Nigerian descent and a practicing Muslim. She considers herself a progressive, liberal, feminist Muslim.[3]

She attended Bonhoeffer College in Castricum[4] and studied public administration at Leiden University. She did research on the causes of radicalization and terrorism and obtained a master's degree in Crisis and Security Management.[5] She worked as a policy maker and administrative advisor for the municipality of Amsterdam. In 2016, she transferred to the Police Netherlands, where she acted as project leader for inclusion.[6] As a social entrepreneur, she worked in Africa with young talent and as an international trainer and speaker on women's participation, leadership, security and inclusion.

Samira Rafaela met President Barack Obama in 2019 when she was selected for his Townhall meeting in Berlin with 300 young leaders from Europe.[7]

Political career

[edit]

Samira Rafaela was elected a Member of the European Parliament in the 2019 election, making her the first Dutch MEP with Afro-Caribbean roots.[8] She has been a member of the Committee on International Trade (since 2019), the Committee on Women's Rights and Gender Equality (since 2019)[2] and the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs (since 2021).[9]

In 2019, Rafaela delivered the prestigious Martin Luther King speech at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, where she spoke about the role of activists and politicians in society.[10] Rafaela stated that if politicians want to bring about change, they should adopt a bit of an activist mindset as well.[11]

Rafaela was the Co-Chair of the Anti-Racism and Diversity Intergroup in the European Parliament. In 2020, she called for a U.S.-EU joint action plan against racism, which included dedicated funding and support for civil society initiatives.[12]

In 2020, Rafaela was named one of the "20 MEPs to Watch in 2020" by Politico, highlighting her as a symbol of a new trade direction within the European Parliament.[13]

In February 2021, Samira Rafaela requested that the European Commission initiate legal proceedings against the government of The Netherlands. She argued that the childcare benefits scandal involved institutional racism, which violated European laws and treaties.[14]

In 2023, Rafaela succeeded in securing a debate in the European Parliament about the childcare benefits scandal. The debate highlighted the need for ethical use of algorithms, using the scandal as an example of the risks associated with AI replacing human decision-making. During the debate, EU Commissioner Helena Dalli committed to monitoring the remediation process for the victims.[15]

In 2024, Samira Rafaela was shortlisted and nominated for the Youth Champion of the Mandate Awards for her work on eliminating inequalities, fostering sustainable trade policies, and promoting an inclusive labour market.[16] In the same year, Samira Rafaela was listed among the Top 100 most politically influential Members of the European Parliament out of 705 members. She was also ranked in the top 20 for Social Policy and top 20 for Trade as the most influential Members throughout the mandate of 2019–2024.[17] Rafaela achieved the best score among Dutch Members of the European Parliament in the mandate of 2019–2024 due to her high performance as a Rapporteur.[18]

Rafaela was the lead negotiator for the EU Pay Transparency directive.[19] She was also the Rapporteur for the Forced Labour Regulation, an EU law that will ban products made from forced labour from the EU single market.[20]

Samira Rafaela served as the Rapporteur for the Corporate Sustainability and Due Diligence Directive in the Employment and Social Affairs Committee.[21] Rafaela was also the Rapporteur for the EU-Chile Trade Agreement, which included the first EU Gender and Trade chapter.[22]

In addition, Rafaela worked on a plan of actions to combat anti-rights movements in Europe. She stated that anti-rights movements and the continuous misuse of EU public funds by anti-democratic actors are sometimes linked to foreign interference and are becoming increasingly common in institutions.[23]

Rafaela served as the Renew Europe Rapporteur for the EU Women on Boards Directive, where she introduced a ‘faming list’ to give positive recognition to companies promoting gender equality.[24] Rafaela also addressed the issue of the ‘pink tax’, urging the European Commission to amend EU legislation to prevent women and girls from paying more than men for the same products.[25][26]

In addition to her committee assignments, Rafaela was part of the Parliament's delegations to the Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly (EuroLat) and to the EU–Chile Joint Parliamentary Committee.[2] She also co-chaired the European Parliament Anti-Racism and Diversity Intergroup and was a member of the European Parliament Intergroup on Artificial Intelligence and Digital[27] and the European Parliament Intergroup on Disability.[28][29]

On 3 May 2022, an internal commission of D66 investigated complaints of 3 former co-workers of the European D66-delegation about, among other things, abuse of power by Rafaela.[30] She received a warning, but a dispute committee ruled in November of the same year that the investigation was sloppy and that the warning was unjustified.[31][32]

In 2023, Rafaela – together with Malin Björk and Evin Incir – alleged in a letter to the President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola that their fellow MEPs Anders Vistisen, Isabella Adinolfi and Cristian Terheș breached Parliament's rules on offensive language during a debate on the ratification of the 2011 Istanbul convention against gender-based violence and urged Metsola to investigate.[33] On 21 December 2023, she announced she would not seek re-election in the 2024 European Parliament election.[34] Her term ended on 15 July 2024.[2]

In 2023, Rafaela alerted the European Commission to "very worrying practices" by major social media platforms, alleging that these platforms were secretly hiding certain posts and content they deemed incompatible with their own opinions.[35]

Rafaela is now a visiting fellow at Cornell University Global Labor Institute where she works on global labor governance.[36]

Recognition

[edit]
  • 2020 – International Woman of the Year, awarded by Harper's Bazaar[37]
  • 2023 – Changemaker, awarded by Rise and Lead Women[38]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "S. (Samira) Rafaela MA". www.parlement.com (in Dutch). Retrieved 27 October 2020.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Samira RAFAELA". European Parliament. 11 February 1989. Retrieved 26 July 2024.
  3. ^ Vuijsje, Robert (13 May 2019). "Samira Rafaela: 'In het Europese Parlement is een gebrek aan diversiteit in alles. Jong, vrouw en kleur: het zit er allemaal niet, of niet genoeg'". De Volkskrant. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
  4. ^ "Oud-leerling Bonhoeffercollege verkiesbaar voor het Europees Parlement". www.kijkopcastricum.nl (in Dutch). 12 May 2019. Retrieved 13 June 2023.
  5. ^ "Samira Rafaela gaat voor het EuroParlement / "Dit gaat over ons allemaal"". Afromagazine.nl. 27 February 2019. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
  6. ^ "Samira Rafaela: ik wil Europa in". Nederlandse Politiebond. 16 May 2019. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
  7. ^ "Samira Rafaela ontmoette Obama en kreeg kers op haar taart". Afromagazine (in Dutch). Retrieved 16 January 2025.
  8. ^ Baume, Maïa de la (13 January 2020). "20 MEPs to watch in 2020". Politico. Retrieved 27 October 2020.
  9. ^ "Movers and Shakers". The Parliament Magazine. 26 March 2021. Retrieved 13 June 2023.
  10. ^ "Martin Luther King-lezing 2019 door Samira Rafaela". Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. Retrieved 16 January 2025.
  11. ^ "Als ik een bepaalde ambitie of energie voel bij iemand, dan wil ik daar meteen iets mee doen". Nieuwwij. Retrieved 16 January 2025.
  12. ^ "Progressing in Transatlantic Cooperation: ARDI co-chairs MEP Samira Rafaela and MEP Romeo Franz offer ways forward". Anti-Racism and Diversity Intergroup. 2020. Retrieved 16 January 2025.
  13. ^ "20 MEPs to watch in 2020". Politico. Retrieved 16 January 2025.
  14. ^ "Europarlementariër D66 wil strafprocedure tegen Nederland om toeslagenaffaire". Het Parool. 17 February 2021. Retrieved 16 January 2025.
  15. ^ "Toeslagenaffaire besproken in Brussel: 'Dit was geen China, maar Nederland'". NOS. 11 May 2023. Retrieved 16 January 2025.
  16. ^ "Shortlist 2024 - MEP Awards". MEP Awards. Retrieved 16 January 2025.
  17. ^ "Top 100 most politically influential Members of the European Parliament". Google Sheets. Retrieved 16 January 2025.
  18. ^ "Europese verkiezingen: JA21 en SGP werken harder dan PVV en FVD". Chris Aalberts. 16 April 2024. Retrieved 16 January 2025.
  19. ^ [1]
  20. ^ [2]
  21. ^ "Samira Rafaela - Parliamentary History". European Parliament. Retrieved 16 January 2025.
  22. ^ "Parliament backs deeper political and economic ties with Chile". European Parliament. 23 February 2024. Retrieved 16 January 2025.
  23. ^ "Renew Europe sounds the alarm on the growing threats from anti-rights movements". Renew Europe Group. 26 April 2024. Retrieved 16 January 2025.
  24. ^ "The Women on Boards Directive: At last, the European Union takes legal measures towards gender equality". Renew Europe Group. 22 November 2022. Retrieved 16 January 2025.
  25. ^ "Pink tax: Why are women's razors more expensive than men's?". NOS Nieuwsuur. 16 May 2021. Retrieved 16 January 2025.
  26. ^ "Question for written answer E-002131/2021". European Parliament. 2021. Retrieved 16 January 2025.
  27. ^ Intergroup on Artificial Intelligence and Digital European Parliament.
  28. ^ "Bureau". Anti-Racism and Diversity Intergroup (ARDI). Retrieved 27 October 2020.
  29. ^ "Members of the Disability Intergroup - Renew Europe". European Disability Forum. Retrieved 27 October 2020.
  30. ^ Aharouay, Lamyae; de Witt Wijnen, Philip (13 May 2022). "Scheuring in Brusselse fractie van D66, klachten over Europarlementariër Samira Rafaela". NRC Handelsblad. Archived from the original on 15 October 2022.
  31. ^ Damen, Fleur (24 November 2022). "D66 berispte Europarlementariër Rafaela onterecht; integriteitsonderzoek 'onzorgvuldig'". de Volkskrant (in Dutch). Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  32. ^ [3]
  33. ^ Wax, Eddy; Sorgi, Gregorio (11 May 2023). "Three MEPs denounced for racist, sexist and transphobic 'hate speech' in European Parliament". Politico Europe.
  34. ^ Roorda, Jasper (21 December 2023). "Europarlementariër Samira Rafaela (D66) stopt". Brusselse Nieuwe (in Dutch). Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  35. ^ "Parliamentary Question E-003111/2023". European Parliament. 2023. Retrieved 16 January 2025.
  36. ^ "GLI Announces new visiting fellow MEP Samira Rafaela | The ILR School". www.ilr.cornell.edu. 30 April 2024. Retrieved 12 December 2024.
  37. ^ Yoni Moldovan (16 December 2020), Women of the Year 2020: Samira Rafaela is Bazaars International Woman of the Year Harper's Bazaar.
  38. ^ "Awards | Celebrating Companies Advancing Diversity And Equality". Rise And Lead Women. Retrieved 12 December 2024.


Stub icon

This article about a Member of the European Parliament from the Netherlands is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Samira_Rafaela&oldid=1272414469"