New EAPPI Communication and Advocacy Officer

From February 1, Ms Irene Akra-Atallah from Beit Hanina, East Jerusalem will join the Jerusalem Office staff as Communication and Advocacy Officer.

Having been born in Jerusalem (to a family with Palestinian, Egyptian and Lebanese origins) and schooled at the Rosary Sisters' High School, Ms Akra-Atallah was considering her University future just at the time of the introduction of the Oslo Agreement and decided to study at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

She graduated with a double major in Sociology/ Anthropology and English Literature in the year 2000. She got a first job in Communication and Public Relations, a field which, she says, she "became passionate about".

After three years working in Jerusalem, Irene moved to London to pursue her graduate studies, earning a Masters Degree in Public Communication and Public Relations from the University of Westminster in 2005. After 4 years in London, studying and working simultaneously, she and her husband returned to Jerusalem in 2007.

Irene has been a member of the YWCA for many years, promoting cultural activities in addition to having participated in several international conventions regarding the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, and is interested in issues of human rights in general and specifically women's rights.

Irene is married and has a one year old son.

She is warmly welcomed to this position on the EAPPI staff in Jerusalem.