Mona Chemali Khalaf: A staunch women’s rights advocate and a distinguished economist

Not only was Mona Chemali Khalaf (1939-2018) an academic, but she was also a long-time activist and advocate of women’s rights in Lebanon. Her research and advocacy focused on gender and development issues, making her one of the few people who specialised in the field in Lebanon. From 1997 to 2005, she was appointed as the Director of the Institute for Women’s Studies in the Arab World at the Lebanese American University. She joined numerous committees and organisations with the aim of advancing women’s rights, including the Lebanese National Commission for Women Affairs, and helped in preparing for milestone conferences, such as the 1995 Beijing World Conference on Women.