Our Team

Ibrahim is the founder of SLDP. Ibrahim passed the Bar exams in the United Kingdom and he joined Guernica 37, International justice Chambers in November 2018 as a Pupil Barrister.

Within his role at SLDP, in addition to managing and growing the organization, Ibrahim has provided legal expertise to Syrian NGOs, including training that Ibrahim delivered to more than 550 trainees on a range of complex legal matters surrounding forced displacement, torture, UN mechanisms, facilitation of humanitarian aid and other matters. He has trained both inside Syria, near the front lines, and in neighboring countries.

Ibrahim spent almost the entire summer of 2013 in Aleppo, Syria providing SLDP`s training seminars near the frontlines. He continued to visit the war zone to conduct human rights work, with him being there during the April 2017 chemical attack.

Ibrahim has also advocated in Geneva, Brussels, Washington and London on human rights issues relevant to Syria. He received personal invitations from the Heads of States such as Germany and The United Kingdom, and from the UN Secretary General.

Ibrahim has spoken and chaired panels in forums such as Chatham House and Amnesty International, and delivered presentations at UK universities such as UCL, SOAS, Nottingham and Manchester amongst others. He also spoke on TV channels such as CNN and the BBC.

Outside of SLDP, Ibrahim worked as a legal consultant on Syria related matters for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, The International Bar Association and The Open Society Justice Initiative.

Ibrahim has completed his LLB and LLM (Security and International Law) at the University of Manchester, where he was awarded both the Undergraduate and the Postgraduate Student of the Year. During University, he was the President of the Arab Society and was further elected as National Union of Students Delegate to represent his University.

Ibrahim is fluent in both Arabic and English, with intermediate German.

Zahra Albarazi holds a PhD and LLM in International Law. She specialises in international human rights law, refugee law and specifically on the nexus between forced displacement and citizenship issues, as well as the interlink between discrimination and statelessness.

She has been on the Board of Directors of SLDP since its founding and is currently serving as Head of Research. She specialises in international human rights law, refugee law and specifically on the nexus between forced displacement and citizenship issues, as well as the interlink between discrimination and statelessness.

Zahra has published work in various journals and books such as Challenging the Disunity of Statelessness in the Middle East and North Africa, and the Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies.. She has also led, researched and authored various reports on human rights issues in the region including Understanding Statelessness in the Syrian Refugee Context and the Challenges of Statelessness in Exile. Moreover, she has worked closely with media outlets to raise awareness on human rights challenges including Aljazeera English, BBC and Syria Direct.

Since 2010, Zahra has been involved in conducting research studies and providing training for various organisations such as UNHCR, WRC, IRC, Boston University, NRC the Open Society Justice Initiative, and Amel House of Human Rights. She is also a fellow at the Social Change Initiative, a programme that selects individuals to aid them challenge inequality through their work.

Zahra is fluent in Arabic, French and English.

Nadim Houry joined SLDP Board of Directors in 2024 and he is the Executive Director of the Arab Reform Initiative (ARI). Prior to ARI, Nadim was at Human Rights Watch (HRW) for 13 years where he started and ran HRW’s Beirut office for a decade before taking on the role of director of HRW’s Terrorism and Counter-terrorism Program. During his time at HRW, he worked across the MENA region, particularly on Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, Iraq, and Jordan on a range of human rights issues ranging from freedom of expression to abuses by security forces to labour rights. He has conducted extensive research in conflict zones and his writing often focuses on the themes of governance and accountability. A passionate advocate for change in the region, he has addressed the Security Council and the European Parliament on challenges in the Arab world. A lawyer by training, Nadim worked in the UN as Deputy Counsel for the Volcker Commission which conducted investigations into allegations of corruption into the Oil-for-Food Program in Iraq and was previously a lawyer.

Sama is a Syrian activist, a third sector professional, and a founder of several initiatives in Syria and the UK including voluntary humanitarian groups, microfinance services to internally displaced persons and diaspora dialogue initiatives.

Before joining SLDP, Sama worked in other Syrian civil societies leading various programmes on youth, gender sensitive justice and oral history. Sama has also worked as a consultant for different not-for-profit organisations.

Sama published several articles, handbook chapters and training materials on various topics including humanitarian work in Syria, activism and security, youth entrepreneurship, participatory approaches to evaluation and women economic empowerment.

Sama did her MSc. in global project management at University of Essex, after receiving a full scholarship. During her masters, Sama co-founded Essex Entrepreneurship Society which received the New Society of the Year prize. Additionally, she was awarded the International Center for Entrepreneurship Research Postgraduate Prize. She was also selected as a core representative member at the International Society and student union representative.

Sama is fluent in both Arabic and English.

Veronica graduated with an LLM, with distinction, in International Human Rights Law and Transitional Justice from the Transitional Justice Institute of the Ulster University, Belfast in 2018. She also holds a BA in Intercultural Communication focused on international law from the University of Milano-Bicocca, Italy.

Veronica joined SLDP in August 2019 as a Legal Researcher in the International Law Support Unit. Within her capacity, Veronica helped in providing Syrian non-governmental organizations with capacity building and technical assistance on issues pertaining to international law and the Syrian conflict, including but not limited to the right to truth, enforced disappearance, international refugee law and more. She has identified opportunities for interventions and engagement of Syrian NGOs with States supportive of transitional justice and accountability in the Syrian context and has provided advocacy, legal support and strategic engagement support to Syrian NGOs within this context. Given her expertise in Transitional Justice, Veronica focuses on ensuring that transitional justice is strategically included in capacity building, legal support and advocacy assistance provided to Syrian NGOs.

Prior to joining SLDP, Veronica interned with the Human Rights and Business Unit of SLDP and the War Reparations Center of the University of Amsterdam. She also served as the main transitional justice researcher for “All Survivors Project”, an NGO focusing on SGBV against men in conflict contexts. Veronica has also served as a pro-bono transitional justice consultant to Syrian NGOs and INGOs working on Syria, conducting transitional justice research and supporting them in devising strategic transitional justice policies on issues of enforced disappearance, death certificates in the context of enforced disappearance, right to truth, forced displacement and more.

Veronica is fluent in English and Italian, with intermediate Arabic.

Mouhanad Sharabati is a Syrian lawyer specialising in international law with an LLM in International Human Rights Law from Lund University and the Raoul Wallenberg Institute for Human Rights and Humanitarian Law. He also holds a Bachelor of Law from Damascus University. He practised law in Syria and Lebanon and was a member of the Syrian Bar Association, Damascus branch.

He is currently a Senior Legal Officer with the International Law Support Unit at the Syrian Legal Development Programme (SLDP). He is responsible for building and implementing SLDP’s strategies for fighting impunity and engaging with UN Human Rights Mechanisms. Moreover, he provides legal support and capacity-building to Syrian NGOs on issues related to international law.

Before joining SLDP, Mouhanad worked as a Researcher at the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre in London. His work involved researching human rights issues in Jordan, Lebanon, and the six Gulf Cooperation Countries, particularly issues related to business and human rights and corporate accountability.

Between 2018 and 2020, Mouhanad worked as a legal researcher with SLDP. His work included conducting legal research, developing reports and papers, providing ad hoc legal consultations and designing and delivering training on international legal issues that arise in the context of the Syrian conflict.

Mouhanad is fluent in Arabic, English and Swedish with a good command of French.

Adrian holds an LLM with distinction in International law and Social Justice from the University of Brighton, United Kingdom. He graduated with an LLB with a focus on public international law from the University of Aix-Marseille, France.

Adrian joined SLDP in December 2022 as Junior Legal Researcher in the International Law Support Unit. He supported complaints and UN submissions on international law related to extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearance, arbitrary detention, and torture. He worked on state engagement, providing outreach support and building advocacy strategies, especially with Latin American countries.

Before joining SLDP, Adrian worked on social justice issues linked to business and human rights and as legal counsel on children’s international rights. He co-led a case of strategic litigation against business enterprises in France at Transparency International and performed research on the banking sector in authoritarian regimes at BankTrack. Adrian has been involved in environmental justice projects in Europe, first as a legal clinician in the United Kingdom and then as a jurist in France.

Adrian speaks fluent English, French and Spanish. He is also learning Arabic.

Eyad is PhD in History candidate at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London (2024). He also holds a DDS from the Faculty of Dental Medicine, Damascus University (2008).

During his time at SOAS, Eyad was very active in mobilising students’ support for Syria through SOAS Syria Society. Through the society, he organised events including seminars, talks, exhibitions and protests in support of human rights in Syria. During his exchange year (2014-2015) in Turkey, he volunteered with Syrian communities in Istanbul, focusing on education.

He joined the Human Rights and Business Unit (HRBU) at SLDP in May 2020. His role includes researching and monitoring the Syrian business scene for human rights violations and promoting accountability. His expertise includes extensive work and research on Syria sanctions regulations and how to use them as an accountability tool for human rights abuses. He also worked on advocating for the adoption of Human Rights Due diligence in humanitarian operations in Syria, especially with the UN. Eyad is also engaged in promoting human rights-compliant practices among businesses operating in Syria, especially in the field of Housing, Land, and Property (HLP) rights.

Before joining SLDP, Eyad worked as a politics journalist for Al-Araby Al-Jadeed newspaper between 2017-2020.

Eyad is fluent in Arabic and English and intermediate in Turkish and French.

Alaa Younes is a Syrian Lawyer,  obtained her Master’s degree in Gender Studies and Law from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in London, after receiving a full scholarship from the British government. She also holds a Bachelor’s degree in Law from the University of Damascus. She practiced law in Syria and was a member of the Syrian Bar Association.

Alaa joined SLDP as a junior legal researcher in the Human Rights and Business Unit, focusing on studying and monitoring the role of businesses in Northern Syria, with the aim of improving their practices and documenting the violations they commit.

Alaa is a feminist rights activist who is a co-founder of several civil society organizations. Before joining SLDP, she worked with several organizations as a project manager and contributed to building the capacities of several organizations working on Syrian women’s issues by participating in designing training materials and in training groups of activists on the Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) agenda, and on international laws. She has published research in the field of gender studies. She also collaborated with a group of Syrian legal experts in launching the Innovation for Justice initiative, which focused on urgent justice goals in Syria.

Alaa is fluent in both Arabic and English.