Fellowship Program

Since 2005, The Protection Project’s International Human Rights Fellowship program has provided a rigorous academic and professional experience in the field of human rights for outstanding non-US professionals working for non-governmental organizations or governmental agencies and who exhibit a concerned interest in and commitment to furthering a respect for human rights in their home countries. The purpose of the fellowship is to foster both grassroots and government level leadership and support for the promotion of human rights values in targeted countries throughout the world. Fellowship recipients have the opportunity to conduct research on international human rights and to organize a seminar or conference on an issue related to their research topics. The fellowship is made possible through a generous contribution from Dr. Aria Mehrabi, a Johns Hopkins University-SAIS alumni and Principal of Pacific Star Capital in Los Angeles, CA.

2012 International Human Rights Fellowship Program Requirements

Past International Human Rights Fellows

• The first International Human Rights Fellow, Ms. Anil Gurtuna from Turkey, conducted extensive research on the issue of Secular Islam in Turkey, and presented her research at a seminar she organized on this topic at The Protection Project in May 2005.
• The second International Human Rights Fellow, Ms. Nazek El-Wakeel from Egypt, completed her fellowship in the Spring 2007 semester. Ms. El-Wakeel focused on conducting research relating to reform aimed at greater compliance with international human rights standards in the Middle East, and organized a conference on “Middle East Agenda for Reform: Challenges and Opportunities,” in April 2007.
• The third International Human Rights Fellow, Ms. Esraa Adlan from Egypt, spent the Fall 2008 semester with The Protection Project and focused her research on a variety of human rights issues of particular concern to the Middle East and North Africa.
• The fourth fellow, Ms. Jocelyne Issa from Lebanon, spent the Summer 2010 semester with The Protection Project and conducted extensive research on the forms of trafficking in persons in Lebanon. Ms. Issa subsequently included the results of her research in her dissertation presented at Notre Dame University in Beirut, Lebanon.