Ms. Alia El-Yassir (Canada) has been working with UN Women since 2011.  Prior to assuming her role as Regional Director, she worked with UN Women as Deputy Regional Director and as Representative at country level. In these roles, she has supported normative processes and UN coordination efforts, as well as complex programmes and projects for tackling gender equality and women’s empowerment.

Before taking on these roles within UN Women, she worked with UNIFEM and UNDP. She also has experience in the science education field. Alia is a strong believer in volunteerism and has supported a number of women and human rights NGOs in a volunteer capacity.  She holds a BSc degree in Biology from McGill University and an MSc degree in Desert Studies from Ben Gurion University of the Negev.