Hourie Tafech (28) is completing Doctorate studies in Global Affairs at Rutgers University. She hopes to graduate in 2021.
Hourie's experiences of being Palestinian born and raised in a refugee camp in southern Lebanon, have driven her to achieve academic success, both as a woman and as a refugee. She has gained international recognition for her work. She was selected as one of 40 young leaders to represent young refugees in the UNHCR annual consultation in Geneva. She was also invited by the European Parliament in Malta to speak about her journey as a refugee woman. Up to date, she has created and implemented successful interventions such as Spark 15, an organization that supports refugee students' access to higher education. She was also a member of the Migrant Women association Malta in which she worked on different empowering projects, such as raising funds to build a school in Darfur.
Hourie' dissertation aims to focus on refugee entrepreneurship in camps, giving distinctive attention to refugee woman entrepreneurs.
Hourie's ultimate objective is to create a startup that would give support to female entrepreneurs in refugee camps in the Middle East. In the first instance, the objective of these small businesses is "just to survive," but Hourie dreams of helping these women expand their businesses for a life outside the camps. Not only does she aim to focus on the economic factors of entrepreneurship, but Hourie plans on: offering workshops and skills training to women and girls; finding ways of supporting childcare for female entrepreneurs (including raising funds for schools in camps), and addressing cultural perceptions of the role of the woman. Hourie is committed to the female refugee community at large. In her own words, it's about "supporting more than just one person; it's not just about me, but I try to pass it on to others.
