Nadya Khalife
Functional Title:
Regional Advisor for Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment
Institution:
ESCWA - Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia
Email Address:
nadya.khalife@un.org
Phone Number:
+1 813406 9494
Bio
Nadya Khalife serves as the regional gender equality advisor at the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (UN ESCWA) where she technically supports and advises national gender machineries and other national institutions on efforts to advance gender equality and women’s empowerment.
Prior to joining ESCWA, she served as a Women, Peace and Security Specialist at UN Women Lebanon, providing technical support and assistance to the Government of Lebanon on the development and implementation of Lebanon’s National Action Plan on UNSCR 1325. She developed the organization’s women, peace and security (WPS) program and led UN coordination efforts on WPS.
Nadya has extensive expertise in the Middle East and North Africa region and has undertaken research in numerous countries on violence against women, harmful traditional practices, and personal status laws. Her work on female genital mutilation contributed to the passage of a law on family violence in Iraqi Kurdistan and was featured in a 2013 documentary produced by The Guardian and BBC Arabic. She is also a contributing author to The Unfinished Revolution: Voices from the Global Fight for Women’s Rights.
Nadya holds an M.A. in Gender and Cultural Studies from Simmons College in Boston, Massachusetts and B.A. in International Studies from Virginia Wesleyan College in Norfolk, Virginia.
Nadya Khalife serves as the regional gender equality advisor at the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (UN ESCWA) where she technically supports and advises national gender machineries and other national institutions on efforts to advance gender equality and women’s empowerment.
Prior to joining ESCWA, she served as a Women, Peace and Security Specialist at UN Women Lebanon, providing technical support and assistance to the Government of Lebanon on the development and implementation of Lebanon’s National Action Plan on UNSCR 1325. She developed the organization’s women, peace and security (WPS) program and led UN coordination efforts on WPS.
Nadya has extensive expertise in the Middle East and North Africa region and has undertaken research in numerous countries on violence against women, harmful traditional practices, and personal status laws. Her work on female genital mutilation contributed to the passage of a law on family violence in Iraqi Kurdistan and was featured in a 2013 documentary produced by The Guardian and BBC Arabic. She is also a contributing author to The Unfinished Revolution: Voices from the Global Fight for Women’s Rights.
Nadya holds an M.A. in Gender and Cultural Studies from Simmons College in Boston, Massachusetts and B.A. in International Studies from Virginia Wesleyan College in Norfolk, Virginia.
Social
Years of experience 11-15 Years
Additional fields of expertise:
Gender equality Governance and Institutional
Years of experience 11-15 Years
Governance and Institutional field:
Human Rights, Institutional Development, Risk Assessment & Conflict Prevention
SDGs Expertise:
Countries of Expertise:
- Capacity building
- Communication
- Data analysis
- Programming
- Project management
- Resource mobilization
- Strategic planning
- Team management
| Degree Title | University | Graduation Date |
|---|---|---|
| M.A. in Gender and Cultural Studies | Simmons University | 1999-05-28 |
| B.A. in International Relations and minor in French | Virginia Wesleyan College | 1997-05-30 |
| Title | Completion Date |
|---|---|
| Certified Mediator | 2022-10-28 |
| Certificate in UN SWAP Gender Scorecard | 2018-12-14 |
| Title | URL | Author/Co-Author |
|---|---|---|
| Women’s Engagement in Security in the Arab World: Reconstructing Security from a Gender Perspective, unpublished, April 2020 | Author | |
| How Come You Allow Little Girls to Be Married: Child Marriage in Yemen | https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/yemen1211ForUpload_0.pdf | Author |
| They Took Me and Told Me Nothing: Female Genital Mutilation in Iraqi Kurdistan | https://www.hrw.org/report/2010/06/16/they-took-me-and-told-me-nothing/female-genital-mutilation-iraqi-kurdistan | Author |
| Gender Justice and the Law Reports (national reports and index; 2018) | https://www.undp.org/arab-states/publications/gender-justice-and-law-study | Co-Author |
