The Board of the Arab International Women’s Forum congratulates Dr Alanoud Alsharekh, valued AIWF Board Member, Director & Consulting Partner at Ibtkar Strategic Consultancy, and Founding Member of the Abolish 153 campaign, on her recognition in the BBC’s 100 Women of 2019 list of inspiring and influential women from around the world. Dr Alsharekh was recognised by the BBC in October 2019 for her work with institutions to advance gender equality in the MENA Region and for her defence of women’s rights as a researcher, academic and activist focused on youth and gender demographics, GCC security, and bicultural trends and a specialist in Arab feminist theory. Dr Alsharekh is also a Research Associate at Chatham House and the Arab Gulf Institute in Washington.
An outspoken advocate for women and minority rights in Kuwait, she is a deeply engaged member of Kuwait’s thriving civil society and a leading academic who facilitates public discussion and engagement on pivotal issues facing Arab society. She lectures at institutions in the region and abroad and has published numerous books and articles focusing on political identity, cultural politics, gender and kinship policies in the Arabian Gulf. Dr Alsharekh also serves as an advisor to a number of local and international governmental bodies and NGOs, offering her insights on various cultural and sociopolitical issues in the region. She has worked as a gender politics consultant for UNIFEM, Freedom House, and the UNDP on academic and social outreach projects in Kuwait and the GCC, and at SOAS, London. Her previous posts include Senior Fellow for Regional Politics at the International Institute of Strategic Studies and Senior Political Analyst at the Kuwait National Security Bureau and Consultant Researcher at the Supreme Council for Development and Planning in Kuwait.
Dr Alsharekh is actively involved with a number of non-profit organisations and civic society groups, including the Arab International Women’s Forum and the Abolish 153 campaign to fight honour killing legislation which she founded and currently serves as Chairperson of, as well as being the acting director of the Friends who Care Campaign that seeks to help at-risk young women within Kuwait’s social care system. Dr Alsharekh was awarded a knighthood by the French Government in 2016, the National Order of Merit, for her work promoting women’s rights in the region, has received the Arab Prize for best publication in a foreign journal (2013-2014) by the Doha Institute in 2014, and won the Voices of Success Kuwait award in 2012.
AIWF is proud to have Dr Alsharekh as a valued Member of the Board of AIWF and reiterates its warmest congratulations on this richly deserved recognition of her commitment and advocacy for women in Kuwait and the broader Arab world.
