Zeinab Elnour Abdelkarim is the Chief of Party for the Engagement with Voters for Equitable Representation (EVER) Activity in Libya. As a senior legal expert with over 20 years of experience in elections and constitutional law, she is dedicated to advancing democracy, good governance, and political reform. Her work focuses on protecting citizens’ political and human rights, with an emphasis on minority rights, gender equality, and freedoms of expression, assembly, and religion. Ms. Elnour Abdelkarim brings extensive expertise in operational and program management, including project design, strategic planning, risk analysis, personnel and financial management, and partner development. She has also led initiatives on organizational restructuring, grant management, and program evaluation.

Throughout her career, she has held varios roles across organizations. At Democracy International, she worked as the Senior Technical Specialist and Strategy & Design Technical Advisor, overseeing the USAID/Libya-supported EVER Activity. At International IDEA, she worked as an Electoral Legal Advisor, conducting legal analyses and producing key papers on Sudan’s electoral legal framework. During her tenure at the International Foundation for Electoral Systems, she held multiple roles, including Regional Director, where she led democracy and electoral reform programs across the Middle East and North Africa.

Ms. Elnour Abdelkarim began her career as an attorney and legal counselor in Sudan, offering legal representation and advice to various entities. She has authored and contributed to numerous publications on electoral legal frameworks, including “Advancing the Voting Rights of Internally Displaced Communities in Sudan” (International IDEA, April 2023). She has also provided testimony before the Helsinki Commission and the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee on democracy and governance issues in the Middle East and North Africa.

She holds a Master of Laws from Wayne State University Law School and an Honors Bachelor of Laws from the University of Khartoum. Additionally, she is fluent in English and Arabic.