PRESIDENTIAL SPEAKER SERIES: And Justice for All: Religion, Gender & Peace

The Office of the President hosted a Fireside Chat on Wednesday, March 29, 2023 with President Jebb and Dr. Azza Karam.

For more information on Religions for Peace, click here.

Click here to view Dr. Karam’s article for the UN Chronicle on “Education as the Pathway towards Gender Equality.”

Professor Azza Karam
Secretary General of Religions for Peace

Dr. Karam currently is a member of the United Nations Secretary General’s ‘High Level Advisory Board on Effective Multilateralism’.

Prior to joining Religions for Peace, she served for nearly two decades in the United Nations (UNDP and UNFPA), including as a Coordinator of the Arab Human Development Reports, a Senior Advisor on Culture, and Lead Facilitator/Trainer for the UN Strategic Learning Exchanges on Religion, Development and Diplomacy. During her time in the UN, she founded and was Convenor of the United Nations Inter-Agency Task Force on Religion and Development as well as the Multi-Faith Advisory Council of that Task Force.

She has worked internationally since 1980s, including with the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IIDEA), the OECD and the EU, and has taught and lectured in various academic institutions in Europe, North America (including the United States Military Academy/West Point), and in the Arab region.

Her Ph.D. (in 1996), focused on Political Islam, and became her first book in Arabic and English. She has since published widely, in several languages, on international political dynamics, including democratization, human rights, peace and security, gender, religious engagement, and sustainable development.

Dr. Karam received many awards over the years, including an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from John Cabot University (Rome, Italy).

She was born in Egypt, lived and worked in many continents, and now resides in the United States.