Solafa is an Egyptian Journalist and Woman Human Rights Defender. She was imprisoned almost two years in the jail in Egypt for her Journalistic work and Defending Human Rights. Currently she based in Paris, France. In 2020, She won the Prestigious Courage in Journalism Award from the International Women’s Media Foundation (IWMF). On April 27, 2020, the Washington Post Press Freedom Partnership spotlighted Sallam, She facing murder threats, detention and lifetime prison sentences simply for doing her jobs-reporting the truth and holding the powerful to account. On December 2020, The Mayor of Paris granted her the French honorary citizenship, honoring her for her work. She earned a degree in law, from Ain Shams University in 2009 in Cairo, Egypt. Since then she has been working for many national and international outlets. Her area of expertise is TV and online TV, as she focuses on shooting/producing her own mobile based reports for the web. Her work has appeared in Al-Araby TV, Deutsche Welle, TRT World, MadaMasr, and BBC, DAWN, Al-Araby Al-Jadeed Newspaper, Host and Researcher for Podcast 11. Her news reports and features have covered the political transition and social unrest in Egypt, sexual harassment in Egyptian society, minority rights, women’s rights, education, human rights, and refugees. Solafa has been to The United Nations, and other esteemed entities both in Egypt & the U.S. Belgium, London and Lebanon, to address local, regional and global challenges and discuss potential proposals and initiatives, building strong relations and cooperation between youth and community initiatives between these countries. At the United Nations, Solafa is keen to follow discussions of human rights – particularly, freedom of speech and protections for journalists – as well as initiatives to eradicate poverty and reduce plastic waste. She managed and supervised her own newsroom with other journalists and cameramen. Preparing pitches, digging up for stories and shooting/producing. She can leading TV crew for international media, and supervise production teams on the ground as well as do her own production. In addition to the qualifications of writing short stories and producing TV documentaries. She has launched a press initiative focusing on the use of social media tools in creating small press platforms to be alternative verification media channel, and covering through direct broadcast technology on Facebook. She has founded of Everyday Footage ”Non-Profit’’, a school that trains young women journalists and researchers in mobile reporting, in order to be able to work as one woman/man crew. On September 2019 she was selected among 15 journalists around the world to participate in a UN fellowship and to cover the UN General Assembly, she was the only fellow from the Arab World. Additionally she has got a grant from the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the Global Investigative Journalism Conference in Germany.
Host Organization: Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy
Role at Host Organization: As a Bassem Sabry Democracy Fellow, Solafa will have the opportunity to develop key research and analysis skills; gain exposure to the policy world; and develop a network that will help further their career and empower them to be an effective advocate for change. The Fellow will also select a topic of focus for the entire fellowship period and produce programming and analysis around this topic. Through the Bassem Sabry Democracy Fellowship, the Fellow will produce and publish research, receive training on public speaking at events and meetings, and develop a network of stakeholders.