Androulla Kaminara

Since 2021, Kaminara has been the chair of the Pakistan chapter of the Core Group - Support Platform for the Solutions Strategy for Afghan Refugees (SSAR) and is spearheading the multilateral Core Group platform on policy and operational dialogue to foster inclusive policies and resilience building measures for Afghan Refugees in Pakistan. In acknowledgement that refugee protection and solutions are a collective responsibility, Ambassador Kaminara, is likewise a driving force behind converging the interests of the Core Group members and towards a coordinated approach in supporting the Government of Pakistan in their efforts of hosting refugees for the last four decades.

On 24 November 2021, President of Pakistan Dr. Arif Alvi awarded Androulla Kaminara with the International Peace Award in recognition of her services for the cause of interfaith harmony. She initiated, in collaboration with Maulana Abdul Khadir Azad, Grand Imam of Badshahi Mosque, a series of interfaith roundtables that brought together representatives and experts with very different backgrounds i.e., religious leaders and human rights activists with the shared objective to advance interfaith harmony and the respect of the freedom of religion and belief. She received the award during the International Interfaith Peace Conference in Islamabad which was organized by the Interfaith Council for Peace and Harmony and Majlis Ulema-e-Pakistan and attended by representatives of various religions.

On 25 November 2021, Androulla Kaminara received another award On Behalf of the People of Pakistan acknowledging the services of outstanding Foreign Ambassadors in Pakistan. The award was presented by the Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Farrukh Habib in the fourth Global Ambassadors Award Ceremony 2021 organized by The Diplomatic Insight Group. Androulla Kaminara was recognized for her tireless work to promote the political, economic, cultural, educational, people-to-people contacts, trade, and development works in Pakistan. As well as her close coordination with Government of Pakistan to further strengthen the EU-Pakistan Relations. The ceremony was attended by Senator/ Chairman Standing Committee on Info & Broadcasting Faisal Javed Khan, Ambassadors, Diplomats, Businessmen, and Civil Society leaders.

In her efforts to promote Interfaith Harmony, Kaminara initiated, a series of interfaith roundtables, in collaboration with Maulana Abdul Khadir Azad, Grand Imam of Badshahi Mosque, with the first one taking place in Islamabad in December 2020 and last one in July 2021. This initiative brought together representatives and experts with very different backgrounds: religious leaders and human rights activists and they all shared the objective to advance interfaith harmony and the respect of the freedom of religion and belief.

Under her ambassadorship, there is a close cooperation with Economic Affairs Division on key issues of donor coordination, streamlining of programme approval procedures and other topics relevant to the cooperation of the Government of Pakistan with Development Partners. The EU signed five financing agreements in 2020–2021, worth EUR 141 M, with the Government of Pakistan, related to public finance management, rule of law, education, water management and poverty reduction, ensuring funds commitments in a timely manner. Constructive consultations were held at federal and provincial levels in 2020 and 2021 on the future multi-annual indicative programme for bilateral EU-Pakistan cooperation from 2021 to 2027, paving the way for funding of the coming seven years.

Androulla Kaminara assumed the office as Ambassador and Head of the Delegation of the European Union to Pakistan on September 17, 2019. She presented her credentials to President of Pakistan Dr. Arif Alvi during a special ceremony at the Aiwan-i-Sadr on November 7, 2019.

The gender dimensions of energy policy" (July 2015) Opinion Piece by Androulla Kaminara in South East European Studies at Oxford (SEESOX)

Kaminara has held a number of high-level positions at the European Commission including five years as Director for Africa, Asia, Latin America, Caribbean and Pacific in the Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO), and Principal Adviser and Head of the Task Force "Knowledge, Performance and Results" in the Directorate-General for International Cooperation and Development from 2014 to 2016. She has served as a member of Cabinet in the offices of two European Commissioners with portfolios in development cooperation and energy and small and medium-sized enterprises policy respectively. As a result of her interest in research and education, she has served for two years as EU fellow/visiting academic at St. Antony's College, Oxford University, and as research associate of King's College London, specializing in EU policies and in geopolitics of energy. Before joining the European Commission, Kaminara was a special adviser to two cabinet ministers in Greece and managing director of a private consultancy firm.

In past few years Kaminara also highlighted the importance of Generalized Scheme of Preferences (GSP+). She actively engaged with Pakistani lawmakers, the business community as well as journalists and the wider public to underline GSP+ being a central pillar of the EU-Pakistan relations. Highlighting the benefits Pakistan has drawn from the GSP+ system since Pakistan obtained the trade preference in 2014, she underlined the huge untapped potential for Pakistan.

Energy and  security  in the East Mediterranean: How  energy  will  play  an  increasingly  important role  in  the security of the East Mediterranean (March 2014) Opinion Piece by Androulla Kaminara in South East European Studies at Oxford (SEESOX)

Now there is a window of opportunity for decisions leading to the optimization of the benefits from East Mediterranean natural gas discoveries (March 2014) Article by Androulla Kaminara

Androulla Kaminara (born 29 April 1957) is a European civil servant from Cyprus who as of February 2022 is serving as the Ambassador and Head of Delegation of the European Union to the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. As such, she is the first women ambassador of the European Union to Pakistan. Before her appointment in the European External Action Service, she joined the European Commission in 1991, where she has served in various Directorates General, including those dealing with technology, communications, development cooperation, international relations, and humanitarian aid.

Androulla Kaminara was born in Cyprus in 1957. Cypriot by birth, Kaminara also holds British and Greek citizenship. She is married. She takes a keen interest in arts and culture. Her hobbies include swimming and scuba diving and holds a captain's license for sailing. She can speak Greek, English, French, Spanish and Turkish.