Cecilia Polizzi is an Associate Research Fellow at the Middle East Research Institute (MERI), a human rights lawyer, C-suite executive, and scholar with fourteen years of experience in human rights, criminal and juvenile justice, and other spheres of law, including specific issues connected to matters of international security, counterterrorism, and PCVE. Polizzi is an international expert in the modus operandi of Salafi-jihadist actors and the foremost industry leader on the recruitment, use, and radicalization of children and gender dynamics. The breadth of her expertise in conducting research includes human rights, CT and P/CVE policy, regulations, and strategies in both domestic and international frameworks. Her work informed the drafting of the 2020 Annual Report on Terrorism and Human Rights of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (A/HRC/45/27). Along the course of her career, Polizzi has also been involved in a SME, partner, and coordinator capacity in a variety of research projects on the MENA region, with a particular focus on Syria and Iraq, informing policymaking as well as the work of the United Nations and the Council of Europe.
