Doreen Khoury

Area of Expertise:

• Monitoring, Evaluation, Policy, Research, Analysis

Professional Experience:

Coordinated several projects and activities in the Arab world following the 2011 uprisings, and established contacts with emerging civil society groups and individuals in Tunisia and Syria. Organised during the past two years, two major Arab bloggers meetings which brought together many of the main Arab digital activists, and participated in workshops and conferences aimed at discussing the impact of social media on the Arab Spring. Coordinated electoral monitoring project in Tunisia, as well as the Civil Campaign for Electoral Reform in Lebanon. Other specialist areas include combatting censorship and safeguarding freedom of speech. Considerable experience in project management and evaluation, and counselling non-governmental organizations on setting strategies.

Main Achievements/Tasks at Heinrich Boell Foundation (2009-):
- Conceptualized and coordinated projects in the MENA region which resulted in reviewing strategies, pinpointing new target groups on emerging concerns following the 2011 Arab uprisings.
- Organized with Global Voices Online two hugely successful Arab Bloggers Meetings in 2009 (Beirut) and 2011 (Tunis) which brought together many of the key digital activists in the MENA region. (http://arabloggers.com/blog/) and maintained relationships with dozens of key MENA digital activists.
- Co-edited Perspectives, an online magazine: “People’s Power: The Arab World in Revolt” in May 2011 (http://www.boell-meo.org/web/index-579.html) and contributed the article: “ Social Media and the Revolutions: How the Internet revived the Arab Public Sphere and Digitalized Activism. (http://www.boell-meo.org/downloads/Perspectives_02-12_Doreen_Khoury.pdf).
- Advised civil society partners on their capacity-building needs which strengthened their internal structures and outreach. Worked with partners to set indicators in order to ensure program goals remained relevant by gathering feedback from key stakeholders and community groups. This improved project outputs and created tangible results, such as better media and public outreach for specific reform campaigns.

Main Achievements/Tasks at The Lebanese Centre for Policy Studies(2006-2008):
- Managed the Civil Campaign for Electoral Reform (http://www.ccerlebanon.org) a coalition of 58 Lebanese NGOs advocating for electoral reform in Lebanon.
- Led periodic reviews of project strategies which kept objectives relevant and the structure flexible and responsive to the volatile political situation, maintained focus on target goals and produced campaign successes such as adoption of key reforms and pledges from political decision-makers.
- Organised and participated in lobbying meetings with MPs, political parties and political decision-makers on electoral reform. Devising lobbying strategies for target groups, including preparation of material for political events and developing possible talking points and messages.

Main Achievements at The Lebanese Association for Democratic Elections (