Dr Alanoud Alsharekh

Dr Alsharekh is an associate fellow in the Chatham House MENA Program, and director of Ibtkar Strategic Consultancy which leads the “Empowering Kuwaiti Women in Politics” training program.

She has held senior consultative and teaching positions in academic, governmental and non-governmental institutions in the Gulf and abroad, and is a board member of several academic and non-governmental organisations, as well as directing the Abolish153 campaign to end honour-killing legislations.

Her research won the Arab Prize for best publication in a foreign journal in 2014, and includes books such as The Gulf Family, and Popular and Political Cultures of the Arabian Gulf States, examining the persistent importance of family and tribe in modern Gulf politics and society.

She was awarded the knighthood of the National Order of Merit by the French government in 2016 for her dedication to improving women’s rights in the region.