Aala El-Khani

Humanitarian psychologist
Aala El-Khani explores the needs of families affected by war and displacement and develops resources that support the mental health of children and their caregivers to promote current and future wellbeing.

Why you should listen

Dr. Aala El-Khani researches and develops innovative ways to reach families that have experienced conflict and displacement with parenting support and training. She has conducted field research with families in refugee contexts and conflict zones, exploring their parenting challenges and the positive impact parenting support can provide. Her work has significantly contributed to an agenda of producing materials for families affected by conflict, displacement and residing in low resource contexts.

El-Khani is a developer of numerous family skills resources as well as a global trainer of family skills programs and research methods, having conducted training in more than 20 countries. She is a humanitarian psychologist and works as a consultant for several international organisations including the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. She is also a research associate at the University of Manchester at the Division of Psychology and Mental Health. Her current work collaborates the efforts of the UNODC and The University of Manchester in developing and evaluating family skills programs in countries such as Afghanistan, Palestine, Serbia, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Indonesia and Lebanon. She is passionate about highlighting the significant role that caregivers play in protecting their children during conflict and displacement.

Aala El-Khani’s TED talk