
Farah Al Shami
Arab Reform Initiative Team
Farah Al Shami is a policy and development economist. She is currently a Senior Fellow at the Arab Reform Initiative (ARI), leading ARI’s social protection program. She has more than eight years of experience, working with CSOs, academic institutes, and UN entities on advancing public policy reforms in the Arab region from a human rights-based perspective.
Her areas of expertise include conducting, managing and editing research, coordinating advocacy efforts at national, regional and international platforms, facilitating professional consortia/communities, and leading capacity-building programs.
Her research spans the disciplines of economic development, political economy and political sociology. It covers topics like social policy, tax justice, informality, inequality, gender justice, international financial institutions, youth trajectories (for livelihoods, political participation, civic engagement, and peacebuilding) in conflict settings, public-private partnerships, the 2030 development agenda, transnational social movements, and governance and civil society.
Prior to working at ARI, Ms. Al Shami was a Program Officer and Researcher at the Arab NGO Network for Development (ANND), the United Nations-Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (UN-ESCWA), and the Asfari Institute for Civil Society and Citizenship at the American University of Beirut (AUB).
She is Fulbright alumna, holding a Master’s degree in Policy Economics and Economic Development from Williams College (MA-USA). She also holds a Master’s Degree in Economics from AUB and a Bachelor of Science in Economics from the Lebanese American University (LAU).
Publications

Financing Universal Social Protection Systems in the Arab Region: What Alternatives to Debt and Austerity?

Lebanon's Social Protection System Suffers Amidst the Current War: Urgent Action Needed!

Recent Social Security Reforms and New Pension System in Lebanon: Interview with ILO’s Rania Eghnatios and Luca Pellerano

“The Road to Marrakech” Ended on a Rolling Hill: What About the Spring Meetings and Beyond?

Arab Region Social Protection Systems: Research and Policy Design Challenges

Navigating Turbulent Waters: The Compounding Effects of a Pandemic and a War on the Mediterranean Basin

From Tangential Livelihood Programming to Integrated Social Protection: Conceiving a Long-Term Approach to Youth Economic and Social Policy in Iraq

IFIs and Social Protection: Gender Equality in Limbo

The COVID-19 Crisis and Health Inequality: A Reciprocal Magnification Effect in the Arab Region

Perceptions and Trajectories of Youth in Baghdad, Al-Basra, and Mosul after the 2014 Conflict with ISIS
