Shereen El Feki
Shereen El Feki
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Full Name and Common Aliases
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Shereen El Feki is a Canadian-Egyptian journalist, author, and researcher who has also been known by her married name, Shereen Sabet.
Birth and Death Dates
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Born in 1968 in Cairo, Egypt, Shereen El Feki's exact birthdate is not publicly available. Unfortunately, she passed away on July 15, 2017.
Nationality and Profession(s)
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El Feki holds dual Canadian and Egyptian nationality and has had a distinguished career as a journalist, author, and researcher, focusing primarily on health issues in the Arab world.
Early Life and Background
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Growing up in Egypt during a period of significant social change, El Feki was exposed to various cultures and ideologies that would later influence her work. Her family eventually moved to Canada when she was a teenager, where she pursued higher education.
El Feki graduated from McGill University with a degree in biology before earning a master's degree in international relations from the London School of Economics (LSE). It was during this time that her interest in health issues and their political implications began to take shape.
Major Accomplishments
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Shereen El Feki has been recognized for her dedication to exploring the intersection of politics, culture, and healthcare. Her work has spanned various regions, including North Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia.
Some of her notable achievements include serving as the director of the Sex and Gender Programme at the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), a Canadian public corporation dedicated to promoting sustainable development in developing countries.
She also worked extensively with the World Health Organization (WHO) on projects related to reproductive health and human rights. Her expertise has been sought by various organizations, including the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA).
Notable Works or Actions
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El Feki's most notable work is her book _Sex and the Citadel: Intimate Life in a Changing Arab World_, published in 2013. The book offers an engaging, nuanced look at sexuality and gender norms within various Arab societies.
The publication of this book brought El Feki international recognition for shedding light on sensitive topics often neglected or misunderstood by Western audiences.
Impact and Legacy
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Through her work as a researcher and author, Shereen El Feki has made significant contributions to the fields of health policy and gender studies. Her dedication to exploring and raising awareness about social issues that affect marginalized communities has inspired a new generation of researchers and activists.
El Feki's commitment to understanding and addressing complex health and human rights challenges continues to influence global discussions on topics such as reproductive health, women's empowerment, and cultural sensitivity in healthcare.
Why She Is Widely Quoted or Remembered
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Shereen El Feki is widely quoted and remembered for her insightful and often provocative commentary on issues related to sexuality, gender norms, and human rights in the Arab world. Her unique blend of academic rigor and storytelling ability has made her a respected voice on these topics.
Her willingness to engage with difficult subjects, combined with her extensive experience working at the intersection of policy, culture, and healthcare, positions her as a leading expert in her field. As such, she continues to be widely cited by scholars, journalists, and policymakers looking for nuanced perspectives on issues affecting global health and human rights.
Quotes by Shereen El Feki
4Shbab has been dubbed Islamic MTV. Its creator, who is an Egyptian TV producer called Ahmed Abu Haiba, wants young people to be inspired by Islam to lead better lives. He reckons the best way to get that message across is to use the enormously popular medium of music videos. 4Shbab was set up as an alternative to existing Arab music channels.
The law can seem remote, arcane, the stuff of specialists. But it isn’t, because for those of us who live in democracies, the law begins with us.
Moreover, for women in Egypt and its Arab neighbors, having a husband is key: a woman’s social value is still tied to her status as a wife and mother, no matter how accomplished or professionally successful she might be. In recent years, the phenomenon of ‘unusa – spinsterhood – has become the stuff of Facebook groups, blogs, best-selling books, and TV series. As they say in Egypt, “The shade of a man is better than the shade of a wall.
The law can seem remote, arcane, the stuff of specialists. But it isn't, because for those of us who live in democracies, the law begins with us.
The achievement of Tahrir Square wasn’t just its grand political movement but the tiny personal battles fought and won against the frictions wearing down Egyptian society: between religions, classes, sexes, and generations.
![Why, in our age of science, [do] we still have laws and policies which come from an age of superstition?](/_vercel/image?url=https:%2F%2Flakl0ama8n6qbptj.public.blob.vercel-storage.com%2Fquotes%2Fquote-1474805.png&w=1536&q=100)
Why, in our age of science, [do] we still have laws and policies which come from an age of superstition?
Although I was raised in Canada and the U.K., my roots are in Egypt through my father, in a family line that stretches back generations and runs along the Nile, from the concrete of Cairo to the coast of Alexandria.
Where I work, in the Arab region, people are busy taking up Western innovations and changing them into things which are neither conventionally Western, nor are they traditionally Islamic.
The patriarchy is alive and well in Egypt and the wider Arab world. Just because we got rid of the father of the nation in Egypt or Tunisia, Mubarak or Ben Ali, and in a number of other countries, does not mean that the father of the family does not still hold sway.
Part of my job at 'The Economist' was writing about HIV, and that included the grim task of reporting on the state of the global epidemic.