Kuwait appointed its first female cabinet member yesterday, naming veteran women’s rights activist Massouma al-Mubarak as planning minister, official sources and activists said.

Mubarak, a columnist and political science professor at Kuwait University, replaces Sheikh Ahmad al-Abdullah al-Sabah as planning minister and minister of state for administrative development affairs, one source told Reuters.

There was no official announcement. The cabinet was holding its weekly session yesterday. Kuwait would be the third country in the conservative Gulf Arab region to have a woman cabinet member.

Rola Dashti, a leading women’s rights activist and close friend of Mubarak, told Reuters: “Dr. Massouma al-Mubarak has been informed that she has been appointed as planning minister and minister of state for administrative development affairs.”

Sheikh Ahmad retained his post as communications minister and was also given the Health Ministry portfolio, the official sources said. Energy Minister Sheikh Ahmad al-Fahd al-Sabah has been interim health minister since Mohammad al-Jarallah resigned after he was grilled by members of parliament.

He submitted his resignation April 5 after 10 parliament members tabled a no-confidence vote accusing him of squandering public funds, mismanagement and being responsible for what the MPs said was deterioration of health services in Kuwait.

Earlier this month, the US allied country appointed two women to its municipal council for the first time, in another historic move after it granted women suffrage last month.