El Rafei, Shahira

Shahira El Rafei is senior editor of Al Ahram newspaper in Cairo, Egypt. From 2007 to2010 she was director of the Civil Society Media Project at the American University in Cairo. She also created and was editor of Mogtamana, an internet portal for the civil society in Egypt. Prior to this, El Rafei was managing editor of the Egyptian business magazine Al Ahram Al Iktisadi. Since 1995 she has been a frequent commentator on Egyptian TV and radio on economic, social and media issues. In her capacity as a founding member of the Euromed & Media Task Force and the European Neighbourhood Journalism Network, she is involved in many initiatives and activities dealing with media issues in the European and Mediterranean region. El Rafei is secretary general of the Austrian Egyptian Association, member of the Egyptian European Business Council and member of the Journalists Syndicate and the Association of Economic Editors. Throughout her journalism career El Rafei has lectured and taken part in national and international conferences in Egypt and major European countries.