Shaza Alrihawi is a co-founder of the European Coalition. She is also a co-founder of Global Independent Refugee Women Leaders (GIRWL), and a human rights activist and policy consultant. Shaza is a Syrian refugee based in Germany.

Shaza has been member of the Gender audit team for UNHCR since 2017. She is also the Chairwoman for the Global Refugee-led Network (GRN) and the Co-founder of Network for Refugee Voices (NRV). She is an advisory board member of the New Women Connectors (NWC), and a former member of the European Migrant Advisory Board (EMAB), an initiative of the Partnership on Inclusion of Migrants and Refugees for the EU Urban Agenda. Shaza is also a co-author of By Refugees, for Refugees: Refugee Leadership during COVID-19 and beyond, published in the International Journal of Refugee Law. Currently, she is working as a research assistant for the LIfBi Institute on a ReGES project (Refugees in the German Educational System).

Shaza is deeply involved in human rights issues, and has first-hand experience dealing with refugees and women's crises from when she worked on SGBV cases in UNHCR Syria. Previously, she worked with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) and the Centre for Strategic Studies in Syria. She strongly believes in the role of advocacy in changing the narrative regarding refugees and migrants. She is working to insure the meaningful participation of them in the policy making to bridge the gaps between the stakeholders and the refugees. Shaza is delighted to support the women and the girls by awareness and training to insure the social inclusion and leaving no one behind.
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Shaza holds a B.A. and M.A. in psychosocial work and political science from from the Maxwell school at Syracuse University.

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