Women of the Middle East

About the guest: Diana Moukalled is a Lebanese journalist, feminist, and documentary producer/director with almost 30 years of experience in the media industry and writing and producing stories in the Middle East. As one of the leading female war correspondents in the Arab world, her war coverages included Lebanon, Afghanistan (2001), Iraq (2003), and Yemen (2015). Diana is also a co-founder and Managing Editor of Daraj. She is considered a prominent voice for the defense of human and women’s rights, with her extensive experience in both traditional and digital media, and is also a columnist, and a media and gender trainer. Social Media Handles: Twitter: @dianamoukalled Instagram: @diana_moukalled

About the guest: Her Highness Sheikha Intisar Al Sabah is a Kuwaiti philanthropist, author, columnist, social entrepreneur, film producer, founder & CEO, and princess of the House of Al-Sabah, the ruling family of Kuwait. She is committed to philanthropic excellence with respect to her vision of fostering Peace in the Arab world and beyond. Social Media Handles: Twitter: @intisaralsabah Instagram: @intisaralsabah@intisarfoundation@theglobaldiwan@al_nowair LinkedIn: HH Sheikha Intisar AlSabah Website: Intisarfoundation.org

About the guest: Honey is co-founder of women’s football in Palestine, the first captain of the Palestinian national football team, the first woman in the Middle East to obtain a FIFA Master’s and to be employed by FIFA (Fédération International de Football Association). Honey is a role model to women and girls throughout the Arab world and an inspiration to all who dream to live life abundantly. Social media handles: Instagram: @honeythaljieh LinkedIn: Honey ThaljiehThe Generation Amazing Foundation (GA) is a human and social legacy focused organisation that launched in 2010 during Qatar’s successful bid for the 2022 FIFA World Cup™. GA operates its sport for development programmes in alignment with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and Qatar's National Vision 2030, to promote sustainability, inclusion, and gender equality. GA’s unique methodology utilises the power of football to impart crucial life skills including communication, leadership, teamwork and compassion to youth and communities in need across the globe. Since its launch, GA , in collaboration with key partners, has reached and positively impacted over 1 million lives in 41 countries and counting.  For more information, visit www.generationamazing.qa or follow us @GA4good on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. 

Our Guest Info: HH AlSayyida Basma Al Said, born to a mother from the UK and an Omani father, is a well-established Mental Health Clinical Counselor & hypnotherapist, and PTSD trainer with over 21 years of experience seeing and treating patients with a wide array of disorders. She is the founder of “Whispers of Serenity”; Oman’s first-of-its-kind mental health clinic & holistic well-being center since 2011. Guest's Social media handles: Instagram: basmaalsaidofficial Linkedin: AlSayyida Basma Al Said

Born to a Welsh mother and an Egyptian father, Dr. Shereen is a British, Egyptian, and Canadian intimate-rights advocate, author, and activist working on issues related to health and social welfare in the Arab region -- including intimate attitudes toward sexual (and political) freedoms Social media handles are: Twitter and Insta: @shereenelfeki TikTok: ShereenElFeki Facebook: Shereen El Feki LinkedIn: Shereen El Feki

Kuwaiti- Palestinian author of her latest book “Head Above Water: Reflections on Illness”, academic scholar, and Assistant Professor of English Literature at the Gulf University for Science and Technology, Kuwait. Guest Socials: @DrShahdals

The first episode of: Dr. Amal’s conversation with Feature MEP Hannah Neumann. More about our guest: Hannah Neumann is the peace and human rights spokesperson of "The Greens/European Free Alliance (EFA)", Vice-Chair of the Human Rights Committee (DROI), member of the Committee on Security and Defence Policy (SEDE) and substitute in the Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET) as well as head of the delegation for relations with the Arabian Peninsula. At the German Green party, she is also a member of the motions committee. Hannah Neumann studied media sciences and peace and conflict studies, which is also the subject she chose for her Ph.D. Her academic career brought her to Ilmenau, Berlin, Manila, and Monrovia. Before joining the European Parliament, she was a self-employed expert and consultant for peace projects, i.a. in projects for the United Nations, the Society for International Cooperation, the European Commission, the DGAP, GPPi, and aid organizations. She advised ministries and non-governmental organizations on campaigns on anti-discrimination, the promotion of democracy, climate protection on the local level, and human rights. From 2013 until 2016, she worked as a policy advisor in the German Bundestag. Our guest’s website: https://hannahneumann.eu/en/#UeberMich EU Website: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/meps/e... Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hannah_...

Today’s episode is featuring Ola Shahba! Get to know more about our guest: A social activist who contributed in founding more than one political group, including a left-wing party that emerged after the January revolution. She was also an organizing member of other formations and youth movements. A Trainer from the Informal Education Authority, forms and objects of origin from the organization. University of London, College of Oriental and African Studies, and on the Fellowship of the University of British Columbia School of International Studies. She worked with the Council of Europe, several international, local and community agencies, including various agencies of the United Nations, Europe and the Arab world. And was part of many projects produced by the Participation. Our guest’s socials: Instagram: @OlaShahba Twitter: @OlaShahba https://twitter.com/OlaShahba Facebook: @OlaShahba https://www.facebook.com/olashahbam

Aisha is one of Qatar’s most popular singers and songwriters, with her talent, drive, and passion have led to headlining performances around the world, including at the United Nations General Assembly in New York and at the grand opening of Doha Festival City. Check out our guest’s socials: Instagram: @aishaofcl Twitter: @aishaofcl Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aishaofcl Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGsA...

Banan Abu Zain Eddin is a feminist activist, co-founder, and executive director of Takatoat feminist collective and advocacy and gender trainer. She is a holder of a Diploma degree in Management of Non-Profit institutions and is currently pursuing a second Bachelor in Law. Banan have more than eight years of experience working in the civil society and humanitarian field. She is the co-founder of the “Feminist Sessions” initiative aiming to spread feminist and women’s rights knowledge and contribute to strengthening the young feminist movement in Jordan. Banan worked as a Youth civic engagement Coordinator at Mercy Corps- Jordan and a Field Coordinator with Save the Children international- Jordan. As part of her activism on women’s rights, Banan is a member of the Youth Gender Innovation Agora (GIA), a consultative forum established by the UN Women Regional Office for the Arab States, and a member of the Arab Women network which promotes the role of women in society and works towards ending gender-based violence. Our guest socials: Facebook: Banan Abo Zain Aldeen Twitter: @abuzaineddin Instagram: abuzaineddin

Banan Abu Zain Eddin is a feminist activist, co-founder, and executive director of Takatoat feminist collective and advocacy and gender trainer. She is a holder of a Diploma degree in Management of Non-Profit institutions and is currently pursuing a second Bachelor in Law. Banan have more than eight years of experience working in the civil society and humanitarian field. She is the co-founder of the “Feminist Sessions” initiative aiming to spread feminist and women’s rights knowledge and contribute to strengthening the young feminist movement in Jordan. Banan worked as a Youth civic engagement Coordinator at Mercy Corps- Jordan and a Field Coordinator with Save the Children international- Jordan. As part of her activism on women’s rights, Banan is a member of the Youth Gender Innovation Agora (GIA), a consultative forum established by the UN Women Regional Office for the Arab States, and a member of the Arab Women network which promotes the role of women in society and works towards ending gender-based violence. Our guest socials: Facebook: Banan Abo Zain Aldeen Twitter: @abuzaineddin Instagram: abuzaineddin

Nourah Al-Sulaiman is the Student Outreach Manager for the Ensaniyat Project, a Migrant-Rights.Org initiative. Nourah was able to identify injustices around her from a young age. Acknowledging the privilege she had being a Kuwaiti in the Gulf, she made it her mission to make sure injustices faced by marginalized groups in the region are addressed. Using the power of dialogue in shaping societies, she focuses on getting the conversation going as a bottom-up approach to achieving change in attitudes towards migrant workers. Having completed her Bachelors in International Relations with a minor in History, she plans to pursue her postgrad in International Human Rights Law. With an LLM in Law, she aspires to address societal factors allowing for poor treatment of migrant workers from a legal, historical and political aspect. Our guest’s socials: Instagram: @nalsulaiman_ @ensaniyatproject Twitter: Ensaniyat_ Brief about Nourah Al-Sulaiman’s mentor: Vani Saraswathi is the Editor-at-Large and Director of Projects, Migrant-Rights.org, and the author of Stories of Origin: The Invisible Lives of Migrants in the Gulf. The book is an anthology of reporting from seven origin countries over a period of three years. Vani moved to Qatar in 1999, working with several local and regional publications, and launching some of Qatar’s leading periodicals during her 17-year stint there. During her stay in Qatar she, along with like-minded people, mobilized a grassroots community to help migrants in distress. She writes extensively on human rights issues. Since 2014, in her role with Migrant-Rights.org she reports from the Gulf states and countries of origin. She also organizes advocacy projects and human rights training targeting individual employers, embassies, recruitment agents, and businesses in Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and UAE, working with nationals and long-term residents in these countries. A special emphasis is on female migrants, including domestic workers. Much of her advocacy effort is geared towards mainstreaming issues facing female migrant workers. She is a member of the Migration Advisory Group (previous Policy Advisory Committee) of ILO ROAS, the Policy Advisory Group of Freedom Fund’s Ethiopia hotspot, and Humanity United’s Advisory Group on Forced Labour and Human Trafficking. She has worked with ILO Addis Ababa on training modules for labor at

Randa Siniora is the General Director of the Women's Center for Legal Aid and Counselling (WCLAC). She is a human rights and women’s rights activists with a professional experience in the field of International Human Rights and Humanitarian Law for over 35 years. Earlier, she was the Senior Executive Director of the Palestinian Independent Commission for Human Rights (ICHR) from 2007 to 2015 and the General Director of Al- Haq, Law in the Service of Man (2001-2005). Previously she also headed the Networking and Advocacy at the WCLAC and worked as a Legal Researcher and Coordinator of the Women's Rights Program at Al-Haq. (1987-1997). Randa Siniora was the first Palestinian woman ever to brief the UN Security Council on Women Peace and Security (WPS) in 2018. In 2019, she was selected among the 100 most influential people in gender policy around the world, one of the largest and most prominent global lists that was drawn from over 9,000 nominations to recognize and celebrate the hard work being done on gender policy by many around the world. Randa has an LLM in International Human Rights Law from the University of Essex/UK and an MA Degree in Sociology-Anthropology from the American University in Cairo. Brief about our guest: Randa Siniora is the General Director of the Women's Center for Legal Aid and Counselling (WCLAC). She is a human rights and women’s rights activists with a professional experience in the field of International Human Rights and Humanitarian Law for over 35 years. Randa Siniora was the first Palestinian woman ever to brief the UN Security Council on Women Peace and Security (WPS) in 2018. In 2019, she was selected among the 100 most influential people in gender policy around the world. Randa has an LLM in International Human Rights Law from the University of Essex/UK and an MA Degree in Sociology-Anthropology from the American University in Cairo. Podcast topics & References: Sophie Richter-Devroe, “Women’s Political Activism in Palestine: Peace building, Resistance, and Survival (2018) Ishraq Othman @othmanishraq Humood Alkhudher @humoodalkhudher #Podcast #Qatarpodcast #WME_Podcast #Womenofthemiddleeast #Qatar #Middleeast #activism #Feminism #equality #wmepodcast #womeninpalestine

An episode created to celebrate women everywhere! Happy international women’s day to you all! Get to know all the feminists featured in our podcast episode: Banan AbuZainEddin CO-FOUNDER & Executive Director Takatoat | Amman | Jordan Socials: Facebook| Banan Abo Zain Aldeen Twitter| @abuzaineddin Instagram| abuzaineddin Samia Malki President of Kadirat. Member of the Board of ESCWA's Arab World Report 2025 Vice coordinator of Tha’era network for equality and solidarity. expert strategy Socials: Twitter: @SoumayaMelki Shaima Alblooshi www.inequalityexposed.com Socials: Insta: @Inequality.e Insta: @sheywarma Twitter: @inequalityXposed Twitter: @sheywarma Shaima Al-Sultan Writer, Social And Women rights activist. Socials: Twitter: @ShaimaJS Insta: @shaimajs www.Shaimajs.com Dr. Al-Anoud Al-Sharekh Founder of Ibtkar Socials: Instagram: @aalsharekh Instagram: @ibtkar_consult Website: http://alanoudalsharekh.com Azza Soliman. She is an Egyptian lawyer, woman human rights defender and feminist. In 1995 she founded the Center for Egyptian Women’s Legal Assistance (CEWLA), to offer legal support to victims of abuse and domestic violence. Socials: Instagram: @azza.amna

Our guests:Dr Al-Sharekh is the Director of Ibtkar Strategic Consultancy leading political, leadership and diversity training programs in Kuwait and the GCC region, and has held senior consultative and teaching positions in academic, governmental and non-governmental institutions in the Arabian Gulf and abroad, and is a board member of several academic and non-governmental organisations. She is chairperson of the Chaillot award winning Abolish 153 campaign to end honor killing legislations, and a cofounder of Mudhawi’s List, a platform to support women running for political office.Asma KhaderA lawyer and advocate for human rights and women empowerment who served as her knowledge and career over the last 50 years in Jordan and the region has made her a sought-after expert in the advocacy, campaigning for women issues, legal analysis, drafting laws, and policy reform in the region and Jordan.Former minister of culture and former Senate, spokesperson for the government, and now the CEO & Consultant of Solidarity Is Global Institute (SIGI—JO).

Get to know our Episode guest: Zeina is a feminist and human rights advocate with a BS in Biology (2002) and Masters in Public Health (2004) from The American University of Beirut. Zeina is a certified gender trainer from KIT University- Amsterdam and have been working with International Organizations for the past 10 years as a development and gender expert. She has extensive experience in programming, policy work, research and organizational development in critical areas related to gender mainstreaming and promoting women’s participation in the decision-making spheres. Persons/entities in the episode: https://kafa.org.lb/en https://tii.qa/en/ma-audiovisual-translation-maat https://www.e-ir.info/2014/11/07/four-waves-of-lebanese-feminism/

About our guest: Rawaa Augé is the Presenter and producer of “women voices” or “bekasretta” at Al Jazeera Arabic Channel. Rawaa joined Al Jazeera as a news presenter in 2014, covering a series of reports from the Central African republic, Bosnia, and Lebanon. She covers numerous events for Al Jazeera, including coverage of the United Nations General Assembly meetings. Rawaa has also conducted a number of high profile interviews for the Channel, including an interview with Nobel Prize winner Nadia Murad during the Doha forum 2018. She previously worked for France24 in Paris. She holds a masters degree in mass communication and a second masters in geopolitics. Check our guest’s socials: Instagram: @rawaak https://www.instagram.com/rawaak/ Check our socials: Twitter: @women_middle https://twitter.com/women_middle Instagram: @wme_podcast https://www.instagram.com/wme_podcast/

Intisar Al-Amyal is a leading figure in the Iraqi women’s rights organisation “Iraqi Women’s League,” where she works to combat discrimination, increase equality between the sexes, and safeguard the right of education for all Iraqi children and youths. She also educates women and young people on the importance of participating in political life. She is also the winner of Swedish Per Anger Prize of 2020, for her 20 years of dedication to fighting for equality and the rights of women in Iraq. The Per Anger Prize is an international prize which the Swedish government has distributed since 2004. Check our socials: Twitter: @women_middle https://twitter.com/women_middle Instagram: @wme_podcast https://www.instagram.com/wme_podcast/

About our guest: Sama'a Al-Hamdani is an independent analyst focusing on Yemeni political dynamics, focusing on the role of regional actors in Yemen's war and the obstacles in the path of transitional justice post-conflict. Previously, she was a non-resident fellow at the Middle East Institute (MEI), a visiting fellow at the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies (CCAS) at Georgetown University, and a fellow at the Sana'a Center for Strategic Studies (SCSS). She is also the director of the Yemen Cultural Institute for Heritage and the Arts (YCIHA), a non-profit in Washington, DC, dedicated to Yemeni arts and heritage. From 2011 to 2015, she wrote the blog Yemeniaty.com, with the slogan of "Yemen Simplified," which helped explain Yemen's socio-political developments during the Arab Spring and the subsequent civil and regional wars. She has been published both in Arab and Western think tanks. Al-Hamdani has spoken at many events and forums, including at Brown University, the Carnegie Middle East Center, the World Bank, the United Nations, and Chatham House. She has also made appearances on France24, BBC World Service, CNN, Aljazeera, Al-Araby Television, and C-SPAN, among other outlets. Sama'a holds a BA with a major in Religion and Peace Studies and a minor in Women's studies from George Washington University. Check Sama'a socials: http://instagram.com/samaa.alhamdani/ Check our socials:Twitter: @women_middlehttps://twitter.com/women_middleInstagram: @wme_podcasthttps://www.instagram.com/wme_podcast/

Our new episode is a conversation with Dr Hadeel Qazzaz , Oxfam International Regional Gender Coordinator. On Arab Women Beyond Stereotypes. About Our Guest:Dr. Hadeel Qazzaz, Program Director-Pro-Poor Integrity in Integrity Action. She was born in Gaza Shati refugee camp in the Gaza Strip, a specialist in gender and development. She received her Ed.D. from Leeds University. Qazzaz has contributed to the first Palestinian human development report, the Palestine national poverty report, the Palestine time-use survey, and reports on the right to education. She was involved in the adaptation of the Transparency International Source Book into Arabic.

Conversation with Evelyn AlSultany. Evelyn Alsultany is a leading expert on the history of representations of Arabs and Muslims in the U.S. media and on forms of anti-Arab and anti-Muslim racism. Alsultany is an Associate Professor in the Department of American Studies and Ethnicity at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. Alsultany is the author of Arabs and Muslims in the Media: Race and Representation after 9/11 (New York University Press, 2012) and co-editor of Arab and Arab American Feminisms: Gender, Violence, and Belonging (Syracuse University Press, 2011) and Between the Middle East and the Americas: The Cultural Politics of Diaspora (University of Michigan Press, 2013). Check Evelyn AlSultany's website: https://evelynalsultany.com Check our socials: Twitter:@wme_podcast https://twitter.com/wme_podcast/ Instagram: @wme_podcast https://www.instagram.com/wme_podcast/