Doris Awwad is a gender, human rights, and development specialist with over 17 years of experience working across conflict and post-conflict settings in the MENA region, with deep expertise in Syria, Palestine, and Lebanon. Her work focuses on gender equality, development, the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda, peacebuilding, and inclusive governance, with a strong record of supporting civil society organizations, initiatives, and movements operating in complex political environments. She combines extensive field experience with strategic insight, conducting contextualized gender, political, and rights-based research and designing gender-responsive strategies, peacebuilding frameworks, and inclusive programs for international stakeholders. She has also strategized and led regional and international advocacy efforts on women’s rights and participation.

Beyond her core focus, Doris contributes to research and policy development in other MENA contexts by leveraging strong regional collaborators, researchers, and activists to ensure context-specific, culturally relevant, and inclusive perspectives. She provides political dynamics analysis, policy briefs, and timely updates to inform programming, advocacy, and legal interventions. Her peacebuilding work includes integrating women’s voices in transitional justice, facilitating dialogue processes, and promoting inclusive policy frameworks.

Doris has completed her Master’s degree in Gender & Global Politics with SOAS (School of Oriental and African Studies) at the University of London. Her MA thesis explored the gendered consequences of international sanctions on Syrian women, applying multi-layered feminist theories to highlight the intersection of global politics and local realities. She transforms knowledge to the MENA region in a contextualized and culturally sensitive approach in both English and Arabic through training, workshops, and research. She also holds a BA degree in Business Administration from Bethlehem University. She has contributed as a key speaker at high-level advocacy events such as the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) in New York.