Azita Berar Awad

Ms. Azita Berar Awad is the Director of the Employment Policy Department (EMPLOYMENT) of the ILO which leads ILO’s action for promoting full and productive employment by developing integrated employment, development and skills policies.

Ms. Berar has been leading the advisory work, research and technical cooperation in the relevant fields of pro-employment macro-economic policies, poverty reduction strategies, innovative employment creation schemes, youth employment, employment-intensive approaches and transitions to formality.

Before her current position, Ms. Berar was the Director of the National Policy Group in the Policy Integration Department, promoting coherence of economic and social policies in pursuance of the organization’s Decent Work goals in the national and international policy agendas. From 1999 to 2002, Ms. Berar Awad was the Director of the Arab States Multidisciplinary Advisory Team and the Deputy Director of the ILO’s Regional Office for Arab States based in Beirut. Prior to that Ms. Berar Awad has led several technical units and programmes in the ILO responsible for research, policy analysis and technical cooperation in the areas of employment policies, poverty reduction, gender equality and targeted labour market policies.

She has led numerous inter-disciplinary missions and is the author of numerous publications in the areas of employment policy, youth employment, informal economy, poverty reduction, gender in development and social development funds. She holds post graduate degrees in Development Economics and Political Science from the Graduate Institute of International Studies, Geneva.