Wasel Elgayar first studied engineering and architecture in from 1998 to 2002 at Garyounis University in Benghazi, Libya. He concluded his professional training with a Masters degree and qualified as an architect and urban planner in Central Europe at the Slovak University of Technology, Bratislava. While there, he did an internship in building management in the Slovak Ministry of Foreign Affairs. After working in an architectural practice for one year in 2006, in Geneva, he undertook a volunteer role in an urban development project in Karak and Tafila, Jordan with UN-Habitat to improve facilities and habitat in several rural settlements. He was then recruited to work in a multilateral agency in UNDP Amman where he was responsible for designing the safety and security features of the UN compound, and also held the position of Special Assistant to the UN Resident Coordinator. He then returned to work as an architect in Geneva. His most recent position was Deputy Head of the Swiss Development Cooperation Office in Benghazi at the height of the crisis in Libya. The work included bringing through a medical convoy, setting up a bilateral humanitarian aid mission and organizing facilities for refugees and internally displaced persons. Wasel’s understanding of the importance of intercultural dialogue and understanding has been nurtured by a long-standing membership of the Scout Movement and by human rights training opportunities with the Euro-Mediterranean programme of the Council of Europe and Beirut Arab University. He is now a doctoral student at the Graduate Institute of the University of Liechtenstein. His PhD focuses on sustainable urban development in new Arab cities.
