Loubna Freih

Loubna Freih was HRW’s first Geneva-based Director advocating to the United Nations on human rights and refugee issue. She worked actively to create the UN Human Rights Council in 2005, working with Kofi Annan, NGO partners and governments.  Loubna has worked on many conflict zones, including on Sudan, Iraq, Lebanon and Sri Lanka.  She has campaigned for women’s rights and the right to sports in Saudi Arabia and Iran and for children’s rights, to be upheld in the gold extractive industry from Mali and Ghana.  A member of the Geneva community, she launched the HRW Geneva Committee in 2001, the first non-English speaking city. In 2005 she helped launch the Zurich committee.

Loubna has taught human rights at Harvard University’s Kennedy School and has published articles in the International Herald Tribune and Le Temps.  Since 2019 she sits on the Board of Human Rights Watch where she co-chairs the Council Steering Committee and is a member of HRW’s MENA and children rights advisory councils. She also sits on Harvard’s Carr Center for Human Rights Policy advisory council.

In addition to her human rights work, Loubna works as a mental and performance coach for professional and elite athletes including for Swiss Sailing, Swiss Ski, Monaco triathlon and several private companies. She teaches at the University of Lausanne and EPFL, at the University of Geneva and several higher education institutions on mediation & negotiation, and on developing mental skills for performance.

Loubna holds a Masters degree in Public Administration from Harvard University, an MA in Journalism from New York University and a MA in Creative Writing from Queens University of North Carolina.  Loubna enjoys creative problem-solving, writing and extreme Alpine sports. An avid athlete, she has also qualified four times for the Ironman World Championships usually held in Kona, Hawaii. A Swiss national, Loubna was born in Iraq, of Saudi origin, and spends part of her time in Verbier in the Swiss Alps. She has two grown sons.