Chiara Ayad

Thematic expertise: Conflict Resolution, Security Policy, Gender, and Inclusion

Geographic expertise: Middle East and North Africa region, Syria, Palestine, Yemen

Languages: English, Arabic, Norwegian, French, Hebrew, Spanish

Chiara Ayad is an adviser at the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (NMFA). She previously worked on conflict resolution at NOREF and coordinated Norwegian support to the Syrian Civil Society Support Room (CSSR) under the guidance of the UN Office of the Special Envoy to Syria (UN-OSE). The project’s mandate was the facilitation of civil society engagement to ensure an inclusive political process lead by the UN-OSE-Syria. She has also broad experience working on Track II initiatives in Iraq and Palestine. Prior to joining NOREF, Chiara worked as a Researcher at the Arab Reform Initiative where she led programming on decentralization of governance and youth political engagement in the MENA. Her previous work experience also includes Women, Peace and Security (WPS) consultancies. Chiara holds a master’s degree in international security from the Paris School of International Affairs (PSIA) at Sciences Po Paris and a BA from Sciences Po in Middle Eastern studies. She also has a background in arts and culture and is interested in the role of culture and cultural expression in conflict contexts.