Dr. Azza Karam is the President and CEO of the Women’s Learning Partnership; Principal of PLAZZA LLC, and a member of the United Nations’ Secretary General High Level Advisory Board on Multilateralism.
She served as Secretary General of the World Conference of Religions for Peace (WCRP) from 2019-2023, and as Director of it’s Women’s Programmes from 2000-2004. Prior to returning to WCRP, she worked at the United Nations for two decades, where she Coordinated the Arab Human Development Reports, co-founded and Chaired the United Nations Inter-Agency Task Force on Religion – with over 20 UN System bodies – and founded and convened its Multi Faith Advisory Council, as part of the 750 global NGO database she coordinated. During her tenure at the United Nations, Azza was a Lead Facilitator for UN system wide peer to peer “Strategic Learning Exchanges” on ‘Religion, Development and Diplomacy’.
She has worked with several intergovernmental and international organisations (the OSCE, the EU, and International IDEA) in sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, Europe, and East and Central Asia, where she created and managed global programmes on Women and Politics, as well as Democratisation in the Middle East.
She has taught in various universities, including West Point Military Academy and is widely published, and translated, into several languages. She has received multiple awards, including for her work on/in the United Nations, as well as in/on Interfaith work and Culture. In 2022, she was awarded a Doctorate in Humane Letters honoris causa, by John Cabot University, in Rome, Italy.
Born in Egypt, Azza is also a citizen of the Netherlands.
photo credit; rfp.org 2019