United Nations Alliance Of Civilizations Fellowship Program 2015-2015 MENA Cohort Final Collective Report Migration, Integration and Intercultural Collaboration The UNAOC Fellowship Program is made possible by grants from the Federal Foreign Office of Germany 2015 MENA Cohort Alumni Mentors 1
Alumni Mentors Lala Arabian (2010 MENA) studied Law at the Lebanese University and then continued her education by completing a Masters Degree in Human Rights and Democratization at the University of Malta. She started her professional career in 2000, working with range of Human Rights organizations on both national and international levels. Since 2000, she was an active member and then became the national campaigns coordinator of Amnesty International in Lebanon. She is the Executive Manager of Insan Association in addition to being a board member. Through the years she participated in several trainings, seminars, workshops and meetings on national, regional and international levels on a range of human rights issues; most notably, refugee rights, migrant workers rights, children rights and general human rights. Ruba Jayyousi Ibrahim Fouda Syrian Refugees Integration in the German Society: A view on the longterm implications on both refugees and the host community 2015 MENA Cohort Alumni Mentors 2
Rasha Fityan-Saleem (2011 MENA) holds B.A in Business Administration, and doing my Master on Peace & conflict studies. Since 2002, has been working as trainer and project manager on conflict resolution, conflict sensitivity & prevention, Mediation, Peace & dialogue projects in the Arab region and mainly in Palestine and Jordan, focusing on youth development and NGOs capacity building in this field. in 2008, has been selected to be member in the youth advisory committee in the league of Arab states youth department, and attended 5 Euro Arab youth forums were implemented in each of Egypt, Morocco, Italy, Jordan and Qatar, as facilitator and reporter. She had joined the UNAOC - MENA fellowship program in fall 2011. Souad Ahmadoune Zein Tayyeb Migration, Refugees and Intercultural Challenges 2015 MENA Cohort Alumni Mentors 3
Carolina Sheinfeld (2011 EUNA) has been with the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles (LAFLA) s Torture Survivors Project for the past 12 years. With a team of four attorneys and one social worker her program provides legal assistance and case management to asylum seekers, asylees, refugees, lawful permanent residents and naturalized US citizens and facilitates the integration process of immigrant survivors. She coordinates inter-agency relations and program development for LAFLA's Torture Survivors Project, conducting advocacy with the US Citizenship and Immigration Services, the Department of State, the Office of Refugee Resettlement and others. She has developed a network called the Los Angeles Asylum Collaborative for NGOs working with asylees in the Greater Los Angeles area. She is the Vice-Chair of the Refugee Forum of Los Angeles and until February 2015, served as the Chair of the California State Advisory Council on Refugee Assistance and Services. She holds a MA of Public Diplomacy from USC s Annenberg School for Communications and Journalism and is a Fellow for the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations Programme. In 2014, she completed a Professional Certificate on Peace and Conflict Resolution in Chulalongkorn University, Thailand, as a Rotary World Peace Fellow and in 2015, joined the Responsible Leaders Network of BMW Foundation. Issam Cherrat Sarwat Dalal Bashi Integration of MENA immigrants and New Refugees to the EUNA 2015 MENA Cohort Alumni Mentors 4
Vania Nedeltcheva (2011 EUNA) is a Bulgarian-born first generation immigrant living in Greece. She is currently working as a Migrant counselor and Head of the Migrant Department of the Athens Labour Unions Organization. Prior to joining the Greek Trade Unions, she completed her Master s Degree in Sociology from the Faculty of Philosophy at University of Sofia and Psychology at University of Athens. In addition to her work in the field of intercultural counseling, she is also pursuing a Master in Gender, Society and Policies at Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences, Athens. Vania s professional and research interests include migration, refugee crisis, integration and decent labour mobility of migrant workers. She has been actively involved in national and international projects and campaigns for active citizenship and strengthening of Immigrants and Refugees in the Labor Market and has experience as a guest speaker and participant in several workshops, trainings and network groups in the areas of human and labor rights, migration and discrimination. As part of her social commitment, Vania has been volunteering for local NGOs, the Greek Police and the Ombudsman in cases of human trafficking and mental health issues. Currently she is involved in various local initiatives to welcome and support refugees and their families in Greece. Markrid Antossian Rezhiar Fakhrir Integration of MENA immigrants and New Refugees to the EUNA 2015 MENA Cohort Alumni Mentors 5
Kholoud Mansour (Spring 2012 MENA) was an Academy Senior Fellow at the International Security Department in Chatham House. Her current research focuses on the foreign aid and its impact on Syrian individuals and organizations in Syria and the neighboring countries. Prior to joining Chatham House in February 2015, she was a researcher at the Center for Middle Eastern Studies (CMES) at Lund University. She has been a senior consultant for a Local to Global Protection study that examined Syrian refugee communities protection concerns, their own risk mitigating strategies, and their perceptions of external assistance. Her research interests also include examining the understanding of Syrian religious leaders of the Syrian uprising and their prospective role in confidence building. Kholoud is a member of the Syrian Women Initiative for Peace and Democracy and has has a BA in Economics and postgraduate diploma in International Economic Relations from Damascus University and MA in Middle Eastern Studies from Lund University. In Syria, she has worked with refugees, resettlement programs, human trafficking and humanitarian assistance. Rouba Mhaissen Nayef Al Khawaldeh Migration and integration: the challenges of radicalization and xenophobia 2015 MENA Cohort Alumni Mentors 6
Maja Nenadovic (2014 EUNA) is an experienced debate coach, public speaker, political consultant, researcher, human rights and advocacy trainer and identity de/construction educator. She holds a special affinity for challenging and transforming societal stereotypes through applied debate, radical empathy and dialogue as means of resolving miscommunication and conflicts particularly amongst vulnerable and marginalized groups in society. As a global trainer and consultant with 16 years experience, she has taught in more than 30 countries worldwide. Her recent work throughout Europe focuses on dealing with the rise of populism and extremism. Maja is one of the initiators of the Model International Criminal Court Western Balkans (MICC WeB), the project that brings together high school students and teachers from all over Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia and Serbia to simulate war crime trials and learn about human rights and their violations, throughout history as well as in the 1990s breakup of Yugoslavia. She is currently also working as the Anne Frank House coordinator of the EU-funded project 'Historija, Istorija, Povijest Lessons for Today.' She holds a PhD in Political Science from the University of Amsterdam. Sally Ashour Dhia Otay 2015 MENA Cohort Alumni Mentors 7