Rima Salah, PhD is Palestinian Catholic and served as a Member of the United Nations High-Level Independent Panel on Peace Operations and as the Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General, U.N. Mission in the Central African Republic and Chad (MINURCAT). In addition, Dr. Salah has had a distinguished career with UNICEF. Her service includes: Deputy Executive Director for UNICEF (2004-2007, 2011-2012), Regional Director for West and Central Africa (1999-2004). As a highly effective advocate for the rights of children and women in armed conflict and post-conflict situations, she contributed to Security Council (SC) Resolution 1612 on child rights violations and Security Council (SC) resolution 1325 Women, Peace, and Security.

Eman Abdelhadi, PhD is Palestinian Muslim and Asst. Professor in the Dept. of Comparative Human Development at the University of Chicago. Her research interests investigate the possible ways in which religion influences everyday life, including political and economic outcomes. She investigates this question from multiple angles using mixed methods. One set of projects examines when, where and how religion matters for women’s participation in the public sphere through paid employment. Another set focuses on the relationship between religious orthodoxy and political conservatism in the United States. Dr. Abdelhadi’s research has been published in Social Forces, Socius, and other social science publications.