Nahla Abdel-Tawab

Senior Associate and Egypt Country Director

Population Council, Egypt's Office

Nahla Abdel-Tawab is the director of the Population Council's Egypt office. She works closely with government agencies and leading NGOs to identify research priorities and interventions that address pressing needs and reproductive health issues, including postpartum and post-abortion family planning, female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C), and youth sexual and reproductive health. She provides technical and managerial leadership to design and implement research and interventions to enhance young people's healthy and successful transitions to adulthood. She also plays a crucial role in facilitating the scale-up of interventions and the use of research results by policymakers and program managers.

Abdel-Tawab first joined the Council in 1995 as a research fellow. In 2000 she left the Council to work as an independent consultant and a behavior change communication specialist for the Catalyst Project. This USAID-funded consortium improved the quality and availability of sustainable reproductive health and family planning services in 15 countries in the developing world.

Abdel-Tawab returned to the Council in 2003. Before becoming country director, she was the director of the Council's regional reproductive health program for West Asia and North Africa.

Abdel-Tawab is a member of several local and international societies and committees. She holds a medical degree from Cairo University, a BA in social anthropology from the American University in Cairo, a master's in public health from Tulane University, and a doctorate of public health from Johns Hopkins University.