Rana Jawad is senior lecturer in social policy at the University of Bath. She is the co-founder and convener of the MENA social policy network www.menasp.com, the world’s only dedicated knowledge exchange platform for social policy issues in the Middle East region. She has 20 years’ experience in research on social policy in MENA countries and is recognized internationally as a leading scholar in her field. As well as authoring key academic publications on the institutional and political development of social policy in the MENA region, she is regularly consulted by international agencies and governments. She has extensive experience of managing large academic and consultancy projects as well as commissioning research for UKRI as part of the current GCRF-funded project examining the relationship between social policy and conflict prevention in the MENA region. She has various research advisory roles including as a member of the peer review college of the UK’s Economic and Social Research Council and as an advisory board member of the International Labour Organization’s International Social Security Review journal.