Laura Elhayek is currently serving as a Women, Peace, and Security and Humanitarian Action Programme Associate at UN Women Regional Office for the Arab States, where she supports gender-responsive peacebuilding and youth initiatives across conflict-affected contexts. She previously worked with the UN Women Palestine Country Office, contributing to programmes addressing the needs of women in complex humanitarian settings, and has over six years of experience in advocacy, communication, programme coordination, and research within international human rights organisations, including the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor, ImpACT International for Human Rights Policies, and ALQST for Human Rights.Laura holds an MA in Human Rights from the University of Sussex, United Kingdom, and a BA in English Language and Literature from Al-Azhar University of Gaza, Palestine. She is originally from Palestine, where she was raised and worked under conditions of prolonged occupation, blockade, and most recently genocide. Laura brings both professional and lived experience to her engagement with issues of conflict, displacement, and mass atrocity. Deeply committed to human rights and philanthropy, she focuses on supporting marginalised communities in conflict zones to realise their rights, reclaim their voices, and lead transformative change. This perspective informs her commitment to inclusive peacebuilding and to advancing the rights and agency of women and girls in crisis and post-conflict environments.