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Farida Deif

Farida Deif

Canada Director Follow @FaridaDeif

Farida Deif is the Canada Director at Human Rights Watch. Based in Toronto, she monitors human rights abuses in Canada and advocates for a rights-respecting Canadian foreign policy. Prior to joining Human Rights Watch, Deif worked at the United Nations with UNICEF, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, and UN Women where she recently served as the Deputy Manager of the UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women.  She is a gender-based violence expert with over 13 years of experience in both documenting violence against women and girls as a researcher and in developing and supporting targeted programs to address these abuses as a development practitioner.  From 2003-2008, she was the Middle East and North Africa Researcher in the Women’s Rights Division of Human Rights Watch, where she researched and wrote on a range of issues from the arbitrary detention of women and girls to gender-related killings. She participated in Human Rights Watch’s first fact-finding missions to Libya and Saudi Arabia and has published extensively on human rights abuses across the region. She holds a graduate degree from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs and l’Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris and obtained an undergraduate degree from Carleton University in Ottawa.  She speaks Arabic, English, and French. 

Articles Authored

  • April 1, 2019 Dispatches

    Two 'Snowden refugees' are safe. Now, what about the rest?

    Published in Ottawa Citizen
  • March 21, 2019 Commentary

    A Missed Opportunity to Protect Muslims in China

    Published in The New Arab
  • February 25, 2019 Commentary

    China’s Treatment of Muslims a Defining Moment for the Organization of Islamic Cooperation

    Published in Al-Quds
  • January 8, 2019 World Report Chapter

    Caught in the Middle

  • December 20, 2018 Commentary

    Caught in the Middle: Convincing “Middle Powers” to Fight Autocrats Despite High Costs

  • September 20, 2018 Dispatches

    Harnessing the Power of Women Foreign Ministers

  • August 8, 2018 Dispatches

    Saudi Arabia Punishes Canada for Criticizing Human Rights Defenders’ Arrests

  • June 25, 2018 Commentary

    Why Canada Should Take in Snowden-Linked Asylum-Seeker

    Published in Ottawa Citizen
  • May 24, 2018 Dispatches

    Canada Promotes Justice for Myanmar’s Rohingya

  • January 19, 2018 Commentary

    Mr. Trudeau, Strong Words and Money Will Not Save the Rohingya – It’s Time for Canada to Act

    Published in The Globe and Mail

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