As a social science researcher with a background in social anthropology and contemporary history, I have lived and worked mostly in the MENA region for the past 30 years. I specialise in policy, protection, social and political aspects of mixed and forced migration; religious and tribal dynamics in social cohesion and conflict; cultural diversity and resources for development and in emergencies; the socioeconomic and governance aspects of cultural heritage and protected areas; and all possible intersections between those.
My professional experience straddles applied, policy and scholarly research, project design and management, monitoring and evaluation, training and capacity-building together with facilitation and team leadership. I combine an in-depth knowledge of the polities, societies and cultures of the Middle East with a thorough understanding of humanitarian and development policies, requirements and operational environments. People-centred and community-based approaches are priorities I take seriously.
On migration, refugees and internal displacement, I have expertise on drivers of migration, mixed and forced migration flows, diasporas and transnational relations; the situation of refugees and IDPs in countries/areas of origin and transit, particularly in urban areas; governmental and humanitarian policies and assistance, protection, livelihood, social capital, and social cohesion with host communities. I have led or collaborated to policy analyses, surveys, needs and gap assessments and project or performance evaluations for international organisations and think tanks (EU, UN Office of Internal Oversight Services, NGOs, Brookings Institution, Middle East Institute, etc.). My most recent assignment is an evaluation of the protection environment for Syrian refugees in Turkey in the context of EU support to the country. On displacement in Iraq and Iraqi refugees, I have led or been involved in several research programmes, am a published author, a regular speaker at international conferences, and a country-of-origin expert for the European Asylum Support Office.
I have researched and published on the interaction of religion with other factors (social and political identification and participation, tribal and national identities, access to resources, conflict, forced displacement, culture and heritage) in the Jordanian and Iraqi contexts, and have performed conflict sensitivity analyses for educational and development projects in complex and/or tense multi-confessional environments.
On the socioeconomic, governance and management aspects of protected areas and cultural heritage, I have held consultancy assignments for UNDP in Syria (Abu Qubais, Fronloq and Jebel Abdel Aziz), USAID in Jordan (Petra and Wadi Rum), and UNESCO, IUCN and the NGO Nature Iraq in the marshlands of southern Iraq and major Sumerian archaeological sites (Ur, Uruk and Eridu). I provide regular advisory services to the Iraqi Ministries of Culture and Water Resources to plan and implement participatory management for World Heritage cultural and natural sites.
I also consult on cultural resources and diversity, particularly intangible cultural heritage, for national institutions (to date in Iraq, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi, Algeria and Palestine) more specifically on culture/heritage and development, participatory planning and management, and training and capacity-building. I am involved with UNESCO in efforts to understand how disasters affect the intangible cultural heritage of communities, and how their cultural resources help individuals and groups recover and rebuild social cohesion and livelihoods in emergency situations. In this context, I have authored a report on the impact of conflict and displacement on cultural diversity in Northern Iraq under ISIS; I have also designed and coordinated community-based needs identifications among Syrian refugees in Lebanon and Jordan and internally displaced persons in North-Kivu (DRC).
Between 2011 and 2014, I was Culture Programme Specialist/Project Manager at the UNESCO Office for Iraq and oversaw and/or provided technical input into a large and diverse portfolio of projects including capacity development to combat the illicit traffic of cultural property, the drafting of a national tourism strategy with a focus on cultural and religious tourism, the institutional and physical modernisation of the Sulaymaniyah Museum, studies for the conservation and restoration of historic buildings in Baghdad and Mosul, trainings in manuscript and book conservation, and the creation of a UNESCO Chair for inter-religious dialogue studies.
Under various statuses, I have long been a researcher with the French Institute in the Near East (Ifpo). This has included conducting field research mainly in Jordan, Iraq and Syria, and designing and coordinating international research projects on Iraqi refugees and on development as a domain of public action across the MENA region. My scholarly work is informed by social and political anthropology. I have also been a Jean Monnet then Marie Curie Post-Doctoral Fellow at the European University Institute, Florence, and an Adjunct Professor at the Graduate Institute of Development Studies, University of Geneva, where I lectured on conflict, emergency and development.
I have degrees in English, Arabic and sociology, and a doctorate in History and Civilisation from the School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences (EHESS) in Paris. I am based between southwestern France and Amman, Jordan.
My professional experience straddles applied, policy and scholarly research, project design and management, monitoring and evaluation, training and capacity-building together with facilitation and team leadership. I combine an in-depth knowledge of the polities, societies and cultures of the Middle East with a thorough understanding of humanitarian and development policies, requirements and operational environments. People-centred and community-based approaches are priorities I take seriously.
On migration, refugees and internal displacement, I have expertise on drivers of migration, mixed and forced migration flows, diasporas and transnational relations; the situation of refugees and IDPs in countries/areas of origin and transit, particularly in urban areas; governmental and humanitarian policies and assistance, protection, livelihood, social capital, and social cohesion with host communities. I have led or collaborated to policy analyses, surveys, needs and gap assessments and project or performance evaluations for international organisations and think tanks (EU, UN Office of Internal Oversight Services, NGOs, Brookings Institution, Middle East Institute, etc.). My most recent assignment is an evaluation of the protection environment for Syrian refugees in Turkey in the context of EU support to the country. On displacement in Iraq and Iraqi refugees, I have led or been involved in several research programmes, am a published author, a regular speaker at international conferences, and a country-of-origin expert for the European Asylum Support Office.
I have researched and published on the interaction of religion with other factors (social and political identification and participation, tribal and national identities, access to resources, conflict, forced displacement, culture and heritage) in the Jordanian and Iraqi contexts, and have performed conflict sensitivity analyses for educational and development projects in complex and/or tense multi-confessional environments.
On the socioeconomic, governance and management aspects of protected areas and cultural heritage, I have held consultancy assignments for UNDP in Syria (Abu Qubais, Fronloq and Jebel Abdel Aziz), USAID in Jordan (Petra and Wadi Rum), and UNESCO, IUCN and the NGO Nature Iraq in the marshlands of southern Iraq and major Sumerian archaeological sites (Ur, Uruk and Eridu). I provide regular advisory services to the Iraqi Ministries of Culture and Water Resources to plan and implement participatory management for World Heritage cultural and natural sites.
I also consult on cultural resources and diversity, particularly intangible cultural heritage, for national institutions (to date in Iraq, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi, Algeria and Palestine) more specifically on culture/heritage and development, participatory planning and management, and training and capacity-building. I am involved with UNESCO in efforts to understand how disasters affect the intangible cultural heritage of communities, and how their cultural resources help individuals and groups recover and rebuild social cohesion and livelihoods in emergency situations. In this context, I have authored a report on the impact of conflict and displacement on cultural diversity in Northern Iraq under ISIS; I have also designed and coordinated community-based needs identifications among Syrian refugees in Lebanon and Jordan and internally displaced persons in North-Kivu (DRC).
Between 2011 and 2014, I was Culture Programme Specialist/Project Manager at the UNESCO Office for Iraq and oversaw and/or provided technical input into a large and diverse portfolio of projects including capacity development to combat the illicit traffic of cultural property, the drafting of a national tourism strategy with a focus on cultural and religious tourism, the institutional and physical modernisation of the Sulaymaniyah Museum, studies for the conservation and restoration of historic buildings in Baghdad and Mosul, trainings in manuscript and book conservation, and the creation of a UNESCO Chair for inter-religious dialogue studies.
Under various statuses, I have long been a researcher with the French Institute in the Near East (Ifpo). This has included conducting field research mainly in Jordan, Iraq and Syria, and designing and coordinating international research projects on Iraqi refugees and on development as a domain of public action across the MENA region. My scholarly work is informed by social and political anthropology. I have also been a Jean Monnet then Marie Curie Post-Doctoral Fellow at the European University Institute, Florence, and an Adjunct Professor at the Graduate Institute of Development Studies, University of Geneva, where I lectured on conflict, emergency and development.
I have degrees in English, Arabic and sociology, and a doctorate in History and Civilisation from the School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences (EHESS) in Paris. I am based between southwestern France and Amman, Jordan.
