UN Global Champion on Conflict-Related Sexual Violence, First-ever African Union Special Envoy on Youth [Tunisia]

Aya Chebbi is a Pan-African feminist and diplomat committed to the liberation of African women and girls. She rose to prominence as a voice for democracy during the 2010/2011 Tunisia Revolution, which toppled a 23-year dictatorship. She then served as the first-ever African Union Special Envoy on Youth and the youngest diplomat at the Chairperson’s Cabinet (2018 – 2021) where she impacted over one million youth. In 2024, she was appointed United Nations Global Champion on Conflict-Related Sexual Violence and Youth Liaison to the Office of Special Representative and Under Secretary General.

Previously, she served on the World Refugee Council, Oxfam Independent Commission on Sexual Misconduct, WHO Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response, and Council of the Africa Public Health Foundation among others which produced trailblazing reports in the humanitarian, health, gender and development fields. She currently serves as a Member of the Advisory Board of ten23 Health, a Swiss company that develops, manufactures and tests tomorrow’s sterile medicines for the pharmaceutical industry. Chebbi is also the Founder & President of Nalafem, a feminist collective advancing African women’s political leadership.

She holds a BA in International Relations from the University of Tunis El Manar and an MA in African Politics from SOAS, University of London. She was a Fulbright Scholar at Georgia Southern University and a Mo Ibrahim Scholar. She received the Bill and Melinda Gates Campaign Award and was named in Forbes Africa’s 50 Most Powerful Women.