Rouba Mhaissen

Dr. Rouba Mhaissen is a Syrian-Lebanese economist, community mobiliser, and development practitioner who works on development issues particularly forced migration and the Syrian refugee crisis. She is an activist, public speaker and is engaged in workshops trainings and facilitating. Mhaissen received her BA in Economics from the American University of Beirut, her MSc in International Development from the London School of Economics, and an MPhil/PhD in Gender and Economic Development from the School of Oriental and African Studies. She holds two degrees in Exponential technologies from Singularity University (Silicon Valley). She has taught at SOAS, University of London and at the American University of Beirut. She is the Founder and Director of Sawa for Development and Aid (a Civil Society Organisation that supports Syrian refugees in Lebanon, and the internally displaced in Syria, focusing on protection, education, capacity building, skills and advocacy; and Sawa Foundation UK (founded in 2016), that supports forced migrants in Europe and the Middle East. Mhaissen is the recipient of numerous awards relating to her work; of which Queen Elizabeth Award (2011), the FCO Marsh Award for Peacemaking and Peacekeeping (2016), The Agha Khan Pluralism Honorable Mention (2017), The AUB Most Distinguished Alumni Award (2017), the Forbes 30Under30 list for Policy and Law (2017), the Vital Voices Global leadership Award for Human Rights (2019), and the Rafto Award for Human Rights (2019)