Farida Aboudan

Farida Aboudan brings more than 20 years of experience in the field of education and international development. Since 2021, she has led the Education Department of the UNESCO Regional Office for the Gulf Countries and Yemen, where she provides strategic guidance and technical support for the implementation of education programmes in alignment with the objectives of Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4) on education. She covers areas related to education in emergencies, the nexus between development and humanitarian programming, as well as education for sustainable development and greening education.

Prior to joining UNESCO, Farida worked with the Education Above All (EAA) Foundation in the State of Qatar (2019–2021), managing projects that provide learning opportunities for the most vulnerable children in the Middle East, Asia, and Africa. Between 2012 and 2019, Farida worked with the UNICEF Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Regional Office, leading Education in Emergencies (EiE) programmes during some of the most critical crises and providing strategic guidance to the Syria crisis education response and the No Lost Generation (NLG) initiative, aimed at providing access to quality education for refugee children and impacted host communities in Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, Egypt, and Türkiye.

In her earlier career, Farida worked extensively with international and regional organizations to provide learning opportunities for the most vulnerable communities, including in refugee camps in Syria, Lebanon, Yemen, Turkey, Jordan, Iraq, and Libya. She has worked with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and research institutions in the Middle East and North Africa on topics such as inclusive education, community-based rehabilitation, and education and social justice.