Mervat Rishmawi

Mervat Rishmawi is a Palestinian human rights independent consultant residing in the UK. She has particular interest and expertise in women's rights, including the Women Peace and Security Agenda; economic and social rights; rights of older persons; and the human rights standards and mechanisms of the League of Arab States. She previously worked for 12 years at the International Secretariat of Amnesty International, most of which as the Legal Advisor to the Middle East and North Africa. She was also a consultant and then a Senior Policy Analyst for the Open Society Foundations, with a focus on the Arab region.

Mervat produces human rights-based policy-oriented research studies, manuals, and handbooks. She teaches human rights and conducts specialised training for participants from various backgrounds. She works in both Arabic and English

Mervat holds an LLM in International Human Rights Law from the University of Essex. She is a human rights Fellow at the University of Essex and the University of Nottingham, UK. She sits on the boards of the following national and international human rights organisations:

• Member of the Board of Commissioners, the Palestine Independent Commission for Human Rights (ICHR)
• Member of the Advisory Board, ARTICLE 19 MENA Regional Office
• Member of the Council, the International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI)
• Board Member, Association for Prevention of Torture (APT)
• Member of Editorial Board, International Journal for Human Rights Practice, Oxford University Press (IJHRP)