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Lina AbiRafeh

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Lina AbiRafeh
Occupation(s)Feminist activist and author
AwardsApolitical's Gender Equality Top 100 (2018/2019)
Academic work
Notable worksYalla Feminists: Arab Rights & Resistance
Websitehttps://www.linaabirafeh.com/

Lina AbiRafeh is recognised as one of the world's most influential women's rights experts.[1] An Arab-American feminist activist and author, she works on gender issues in developing and humanitarian contexts around the world. She has worked for various United Nations agencies and international non-governmental organisations and was the executive director of the Arab Institute for Women at the Lebanese American University; she now acts as a senior advisor. Since 2022, she has acted in an independent capacity as a self-described “thought leader, opinion-shaper, and fearless changemaker for global women’s rights.”[2]

She is the author of three books and over 100 articles on Medium. She has also spoken to TedX and to international media outlets such as CNN, Al Jazeera, and Good Morning America.[3]

Early life and education

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AbiRafeh was born to a Palestinian pharmacist mother and a Lebanese engineer father and spent her early years in Saudi Arabia while growing up before moving to northern Virginia at age 10.[4][5]

AbiRafeh attended Boston College for her undergraduate degree and has a master's degree in international relations from the Johns Hopkins University.[6]

She completed her PhD in development studies at the London School of Economics and Political Science in 2008, her thesis focusing on gender-focused aid in Afghanistan in the aftermath of the Bonn Agreement.[6][7]

Career

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AbiRafeh has worked as a gender-based violence in emergencies specialist with various United Nations and humanitarian organisations in countries such as Afghanistan, Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Haiti, Lebanon, Nepal, and Papua New Guinea.[6] She was the executive director of the Arab Institute for Women at the Lebanese American University from 2015 to 2022.[8][9]

She also regularly acts in an advisory capacity for a multitude of public and private organisations including a range of United Nations agencies and the Arab Institute for Women on issues relating to gender-based violence and gender equality. She serves on the international advisory board of many organizations including Global Institute for Women’s Leadership, Forced Migration Review, Society of Gender Professionals, and the Global Women’s Institute.[2]

Awards

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In 2018 and 2019, AbiRafeh was identified by Apolitical Group as one of the top most influential people in gender equity policy.[1] In 2021, she received a Vital Voices fellowship for outstanding women leaders.[10] She was also recognized by the Women’s Media Center as one of their Progressive Women’s Voices for 2021, and she is featured in their database of experts.[11] AbiRafeh was awarded a Women in Power fellowship for 2022, and Council on Foreign Relations and British-American Project fellowships in 2023. [12][13]

Selected publications

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  • Lina Abirafeh & Rebecca O'Keefe, Yalla Feminists: Arab Rights and Resistance, 2023. ISBN 978-1476691152
  • Lina AbiRafeh, Gender and International Aid in Afghanistan: The Politics and Effects of Intervention, 2009. ISBN 978-0786445196[14][15][16]
  • Lina AbiRafeh, Freedom on the Frontlines: Afghan Women and the Fallacy of Liberation, 2022, ISBN 978-1476689425

References

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  1. ^ a b "The World's 100 Most Influential People in Gender Policy". Apolitical. Retrieved 2022-01-14.
  2. ^ a b "Lina AbiRafeh". Lina AbiRafeh. Retrieved 2024-12-18.
  3. ^ "Lina AbiRafeh". Medium. Retrieved 2024-12-18.
  4. ^ Anneau, Manon (2019-09-26). "Shape Your Future with Lina Abirafeh, Executive Director of the Arab Institute for Women". Impakter. Retrieved 2023-01-11.
  5. ^ "NAYA| Lina Abirafeh: An influential researcher in gender policy". annahar.com. Retrieved 2023-01-11.
  6. ^ a b c "Lina Abirafeh". The Conversation. Retrieved 2022-01-14.
  7. ^ Abirafeh, Lina (2008). Afghanistan gozargah: Discourses on gender-focused aid in the aftermath of conflict (phd thesis). London School of Economics and Political Science.
  8. ^ "Lina AbiRafeh". Middle East Institute. Retrieved 2022-12-31.
  9. ^ "Lina AbiRafeh, PhD - SheSource Expert - Women's Media Center". womensmediacenter.com. Retrieved 2022-12-31.
  10. ^ "Lina AbiRafeh". Vital Voices. Retrieved 2024-12-18.
  11. ^ "Women's Media Center". womensmediacenter.com. Retrieved 2024-12-18.
  12. ^ Moreno, Alexandra. "Lina AbiRafeh". Women in Power. Retrieved 2024-12-18.
  13. ^ "Who's attending | BAP | British American Project | Our Fellows | A leadership". britishamericanproject.org. Retrieved 2024-12-18.
  14. ^ Walter, B. (2017). Gendering Human Security in Afghanistan: In a Time of Western Intervention. United Kingdom: Taylor & Francis.
  15. ^ Muslim Women in War and Crisis: Representation and Reality. (2010). United States: University of Texas Press.
  16. ^ Smith, Julia H. (Dec 2012). "BOOK REVIEW Gender and International Aid in Afghanistan: The Politics and Effects of Intervention" (PDF). Journal of Peace, Conflict & Development. 19.
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