Shaden Khallaf has received the 2026 Women of MENA Award in recognition of her work in technology, public policy and humanitarian leadership.
Announced in October, the award recognises her career spanning the private sector, international organisations and academia, with a focus on cooperation between governments, businesses and multilateral institutions.
The Women of MENA initiative recognises women whose work contributes to governance, innovation and institutional development across the Middle East and North Africa.
According to the award announcement, Khallaf was selected for her contributions to public policy, digital transformation and humanitarian affairs, alongside her leadership in addressing challenges across these fields.
Khallaf previously served as senior director of public policy, government affairs, social impact and communications at Careem, an Uber company.
Her responsibilities covered digital regulation, artificial intelligence, sustainability, economic development and public-private cooperation.
Before joining Careem, she served as Meta’s head of public policy and global lead for tourism policy and sustainability, working on emerging technologies, digital transformation and regulatory policy across the MENA region.
The announcement highlighted her involvement in youth online safety initiatives that reached tens of millions of people and tourism technology projects viewed by hundreds of millions. It also cited her work in advancing discussions on data protection and responsible artificial intelligence.
Khallaf spent more than 20 years with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), concluding her tenure as senior policy adviser and head of the regional policy unit.
Her work across 17 countries during major humanitarian crises focused on displacement, socioeconomic inclusion, resilience to climate change, and mobilising private-sector resources for humanitarian programmes.
The award also recognised Khallaf’s academic contributions. She has held teaching and fellowship roles at the University of Pennsylvania, the Geneva Graduate Institute, the University of Jordan and the American University in Cairo.
She has also undertaken executive education in climate change policy and economics at Harvard University.
source/content: english.ahram.org.eg (headline edited)
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EGYPT