Senior Specialist on Gender Equality and Non-Discrimination, ILO
Aya Matsuura is the Senior Specialist on Gender Equality and Non-Discrimination at the ILO Regional Office for Arab States and Decent Work Technical Support Team (DWT) in Beirut, joining in March 2024. She provides technical support, training, and advisory services across Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, the occupied Palestinian territory, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, the UAE, and Yemen.
Her work focuses on promoting equality, non-discrimination, and workplaces free from violence and harassment, including gender-based violence. She also supports women’s economic and social empowerment, entrepreneurship, decent work in the care economy, and inclusion of persons with disabilities.
Aya previously served as Gender Specialist in South Asia and Chief Technical Advisor for the ILO “Way out of Informality” project in Bangladesh, India, and Nepal. She has also worked in Indonesia, Bangladesh, Vietnam, and Thailand, contributing to materials and initiatives on women’s rights, entrepreneurship, and preventing workplace violence.