Biography

Sema Merve Is is a migration specialist from Turkey who is passionate about strengthening the protection mechanisms and resilience of displaced populations worldwide. As an NGO practitioner with 9+ years of expertise in designing and implementing development and humanitarian projects, she has worked for the refugee support programs overseeing projects co-funded by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (DG ECHO), the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and other international development agencies. She is a former Professional Fellow of the U.S. Department of State that she also worked for Massachusetts Organization for Refugees and Immigrants.

She holds two Master's degrees in Cultural Studies from the Sabancı University, Turkey and Public Policy with a specialization in Governance from the Central European University (CEU), Austria. Her research interests focus on the intersections of refugee policies, transnational cooperation between the EU and Turkey, and the socio-economic impact of COVID-19 on refugees. During her fellowship, she will produce a policy report titled "Rethinking Refugee Policies for the post-COVID-19 Era".

Fields of expertise