Dr Sandra Pertek
Project Lead
Dr Sandra Pertek is UKRI Future Leaders Fellow at the School of Government and School of Social Policy, and Associate Professor at the International Development Department (IDD) and the Institute for Research into International Migration and Superdiversity (IRiS) at the University of Birmingham. She is also a Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Conflict and Humanitarian Studies (CHS), Doha Institute. She was previously Lecturer at the Institute for Global Health and Development, Queen Margaret University, and Teaching Fellow (POLSIS) and ESRC Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Birmingham.
Sandra specialises in the intersection of gender, violence, religion, forced migration and humanitarianism. Her research integrates the intersectional and ecological approaches to improve outcomes for displaced populations. She has led a number of studies across the Middle East, Africa and Europe, including the "Ukrainian Refugees at Risk" and "Protecting Forcibly Displaced Women and Girls in the Muslim World"projects. She currently leads an interdisciplinary and policy-oriented, £1.3m UKRI-funded research initiative, "Making Aid Work for Displaced Women", which focuses on integrating Islamic philanthropy into the international humanitarian system and developing innovative solutions to global forced displacement.
She is an interdisciplinary researcher and social development specialist with over a decade of experience in humanitarian, development, and migration settings. Bridging research, policy, and practice, she has consulted for international and governmental organisations, including the European Commission, GIZ, the Home Office, and Islamic Development Bank. She has also collaborated with various organisations, such as the UNHCR, OIC and IFRC. Before joining the University of Birmingham, Sandra was a Senior Policy Adviser on Gender at a leading humanitarian agency.
She has published articles on gender, religion and forced migration in leading journals and co- authored the monograph, 'On the Significance of Religion in Violence Against Women and Girls' (Routledge). Her new monograph, 'Violence against Women, Religion and Forced Displacement: Experiences and Humanitarian Responses', is underway.
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Sandra specialises in the intersection of gender, violence, religion, forced migration and humanitarianism. Her research integrates the intersectional and ecological approaches to improve outcomes for displaced populations. She has led a number of studies across the Middle East, Africa and Europe, including the "Ukrainian Refugees at Risk" and "Protecting Forcibly Displaced Women and Girls in the Muslim World"projects. She currently leads an interdisciplinary and policy-oriented, £1.3m UKRI-funded research initiative, "Making Aid Work for Displaced Women", which focuses on integrating Islamic philanthropy into the international humanitarian system and developing innovative solutions to global forced displacement.
She is an interdisciplinary researcher and social development specialist with over a decade of experience in humanitarian, development, and migration settings. Bridging research, policy, and practice, she has consulted for international and governmental organisations, including the European Commission, GIZ, the Home Office, and Islamic Development Bank. She has also collaborated with various organisations, such as the UNHCR, OIC and IFRC. Before joining the University of Birmingham, Sandra was a Senior Policy Adviser on Gender at a leading humanitarian agency.
She has published articles on gender, religion and forced migration in leading journals and co- authored the monograph, 'On the Significance of Religion in Violence Against Women and Girls' (Routledge). Her new monograph, 'Violence against Women, Religion and Forced Displacement: Experiences and Humanitarian Responses', is underway.
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Dr Natalia Paszkiewicz
Dr Natalia Paszkiewicz is a Research Fellow working on ‘Making Aid Work for Displaced Women’ project. She has joined the team following twenty years of work with migrants and refugees in different capacities, including as a researcher and as a practitioner in NGO and humanitarian sectors. Natalia is committed to applied anthropology and interdisciplinary research aimed at transforming structures which govern forced migration, with a focus on women seeking protection. In her previous role as Project Manager, she worked on the UKRI-funded research and innovation project ‘Bridging religious studies, gender & development and public health to address domestic violence: A novel approach for Ethiopia, Eritrea and the UK’ at SOAS University of London. The project was dedicated to the development and strengthening of religio-culturally sensitive domestic violence alleviation systems.
Dr Paszkiewicz completed her PhD in Social Policy at the University of Brighton, and her thesis explored the intersection between UK asylum policy and statutory social services responses to asylum seekers and refugees in the theoretical framework of ethics of care. For her postdoctoral research on the project entitled ‘Healthy Housing for the Displaced’ at the University of Bath, she conducted fieldwork in displacement settings in Jordan, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Bangladesh, Turkey, Nepal and Peru.
Dr Paszkiewicz has provided consultancy and research support on topics related to forced migration, specifically around issues of economic inclusion of refugees and livelihoods in the humanitarian sector. She has also published journalistic pieces discussing refugee protection and political violence, with a focus on the Horn of Africa and Eritrean forced migration.
Dr Paszkiewicz completed her PhD in Social Policy at the University of Brighton, and her thesis explored the intersection between UK asylum policy and statutory social services responses to asylum seekers and refugees in the theoretical framework of ethics of care. For her postdoctoral research on the project entitled ‘Healthy Housing for the Displaced’ at the University of Bath, she conducted fieldwork in displacement settings in Jordan, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Bangladesh, Turkey, Nepal and Peru.
Dr Paszkiewicz has provided consultancy and research support on topics related to forced migration, specifically around issues of economic inclusion of refugees and livelihoods in the humanitarian sector. She has also published journalistic pieces discussing refugee protection and political violence, with a focus on the Horn of Africa and Eritrean forced migration.
Collaborators
Dr. Ghassan Elkahlout
Dr. Ghassan Elkahlout is the Director of the Center for Conflict and Humanitarian Studies and an Associate Professor at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies. With over 30 years of experience in humanitarian response and post-war recovery, he earned his PhD in post-war reconstruction from the University of York. Before joining the Doha Institute in 2016, Dr. Elkahlout worked with organizations like the UN, IFRC and Islamic Relief Worldwide, participating in emergency response teams in conflict- affected regions, including Palestine, Iraq, and Yemen. In 2015, he became Director of the Humanitarian Forum, focusing on training and knowledge sharing in the sector. His research has been published in various international journals, addressing humanitarian action and recovery. He is also the author of "Humanitarian Action: Reality and Challenges," a leading Arabic text on the subject, contributing significantly to the field of humanitarian studies.
Dr Ahmed Al-Dawoody
Dr Ahmed Al-Dawoody is the legal adviser for Islamic law and jurisprudence at the ICRC in Geneva. He also teaches at the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights in Geneva, Switzerland. Prior to joining the ICRC, he was an Assistant Professor in Islamic Studies and Islamic law and jurisprudence at Al-Azhar University in Cairo. He was the Assistant Director of Graduate Studies for the Institute for Islamic World Studies and the coordinator of the MA program in Contemporary Islamic Studies at Zayed University in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. He taught in Egypt, the USA, the UK, the UAE and Switzerland. He earned his PhD from the University of Birmingham, UK; his MA from Leiden University, the Netherlands; and BA from Al-Azhar University, Egypt. He has published more than two dozen articles and book chapters on Islamic Law and is the author of The Islamic Law of War: Justifications and Regulations (Palgrave Macmillan, 2011).
Dr Amjad Saleem
Dr Amjed Saleem is the manager for Strategic Engagement on Youth, Peace and Fundamental Principles. He leads the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies' work on Peace building and promotion of the Fundamental Principles. He is also tasked with the coordination of the Big Six Alliance (an alliance of the world’s oldest and largest youth networks) and its flagship initiative, the Global Youth Mobilization. He previously incubated the Volunteering, Youth and Education Team and the Protection, Gender and Inclusion teams at the IFRC growing them from a small program to network wide programs. He has worked from different perspectives on humanitarian work, interfaith engagement, inclusion, and peace building. He is a board member of the Geneva Peacebuilding Platform and Muslim Aid UK. His publications include blogs, journal articles, several book chapters, a book on "Lessons from Aceh" and the recently published "Routledge Handbook on Contemporary Sri Lanka". Amjad is an alumnus of the US State Dept’s International Visitors Leadership Program and the Geneva Centre for Security Policy and has an M.Eng from Imperial College, London, an MBA from Manipal Global Nxt Malaysia and a PhD from Exeter University. He is a Research Fellow of the Faculty of Education, Universiti Malaya, Malaysia, a Non-Resident Fellow at the Centre for Conflict and Humanitarian Studies, Doha and a Fellow at the Sunway University Centre for Planetary Health.
Dr Iffat Idris
Dr Iffat Idris has extensive experience of working in the international development sector, notably with the UN System and World Bank. Her areas of focus include governance, conflict analysis, disaster management, capacity development and social protection. She moved back to the UK after 13 years based in Pakistan, and since January 2016 has been a Research Fellow at the Governance and Social Development Resource Centre, University of Birmingham.
Kristonia Lockhart
Kristonia Lockhart is the Lead Women's Empowerment Specialist at the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), providing strategic oversight and technical guidance to advance women’s empowerment through the Bank’s policies, programs, and initiatives. She plays a key role in designing and implementing programs that enhance women’s access to health, economic opportunities, and financial inclusion.
Ms. Lockhart leads efforts to shape and execute the first IsDB’s Women’s Empowerment Policy, ensuring gender-responsive development across Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. Her passion is initiating new programs that help to improve women’s access to finance, entrepreneurship, and STEM fields and driving high-impact solutions for women-led enterprises, including managing the Banks engagement in the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We-Fi) .
Ms. Lockhart leads efforts to shape and execute the first IsDB’s Women’s Empowerment Policy, ensuring gender-responsive development across Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. Her passion is initiating new programs that help to improve women’s access to finance, entrepreneurship, and STEM fields and driving high-impact solutions for women-led enterprises, including managing the Banks engagement in the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We-Fi) .
Project Support
Mohamed Ait Eljaouadi
Mohamed Ait Eljaouadi is a skilled full-stack web developer and freelancer, specialising in designing and developing web applications. As part of the Making Aid Work for Displaced Women project, he is responsible for building and maintaining the website, ensuring it effectively communicates the project's mission and activities to its audience.
Tom Lingard
Tom Lingard joins the team in a freelance capacity where he provides Project Officer support, assisting Principal Investigator, Dr Perterk and the team in the day to day running of the project.