Expertise: Public Policy and Advocacy, Monitoring and Evolution, Humanitarian Projects, Gender, Development.

Languages: Arabic, English, and French.

Bio: Sawsan Al Refai (@Souz99Al) is an expert in Public Policy and Advocacy. She managed large scale programs and provided technical support to governments, civil society organizations, United Nations Organizations, and other international NGOs in the Middle East and East Europe. She focused on areas of gender, human rights-based approaches to development, results-based policy, and advocacy. She has extensive experience developing midterm and long-term strategies, designing M&E frameworks, and third-party monitoring, using both qualitative and quantitative techniques.

She has considerable experience working in humanitarian settings and emergencies. She designed, managed, and evaluated a wide spectrum of large scope humanitarian interventions in areas of health & nutrition, water & sanitation, livelihood & protection with specific expertise on interventions targeting women, girls, and other equity-seeking populations.

Al-Refaei is a researcher and an author in areas of social policy, with a special focus on women, peace, security, the effectiveness of foreign aid, and education. She is a founding member of the Arab Network for Civic Education (ANHRE) and the founder of the Arab Campaign for Education (ACEA). She is a member of the Yemen Pact for Peace and Security and a member of the Yemeni Women Movement, working on women & security issues. She is also the founder of the Musnad Education Fund, a non-profit fund dedicated to education in Yemen.

Sawsan is a medical doctor by training and holds a Master’s Degree in health policy, planning, and financing, from the London School of Economics and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. She also has a diploma in Population and Gender Studies from the University of Costa Rica. She is an accredited trainer in International Human Rights Mechanisms, Gender Mainstreaming, and GBV Response.

Dr. Al-Refaie serves as the Women and Gender Equity Specialist in the Municipality of Ottawa since June 2019.