Who we are

President

The Baroness Morris of Bolton OBE DL - Baroness Morris became a life peer in 2004 and has served as the Shadow Minister for Education, Children, Families & Women and as a Shadow Work and Pensions Spokesperson. Since 2007 she has also been a member of the Board of Trustees of UNICEF UK and in 2009 she became the President of World Travel Market. Baroness Morris is the Prime Minister's Trade Envoy to Jordan, Kuwait and the Palestinian Territories and was Chair of the Conservative Middle East Council.

Honorary Patrons

Dr Swee Chai Ang FRCS - A founding Trustee of MAP, she is an orthopaedic consultant surgeon at the London and St Bartholomew's Hospital Trust. Working in Beirut during the 1982 invasion, she also witnessed and survived the massacre at Sabra and Shatila, writing "From Beirut to Jerusalem" about her experiences. She returned to London to help form MAP and, as the first chair of the projects committee, helped launch the volunteer programme in 1985. She has also co-authored the "Manual of War Surgery" and received the coveted 'Star of Palestine' award from the late President, Yasser Arafat.

Baroness Helena Kennedy - Helena Kennedy is a barrister, broadcaster and Labour member of the House of Lords. She is an expert in human rights law, civil liberties and constitutional issues and chair of Justice - the British arm of the International Commission of Jurists.

Sir Terence English - A Former President of the Royal College of Surgeons, and the surgeon who carried out the first successful heart transplant in the United Kingdom.

Board of Trustees

Chair

Richard Burden - Richard was the Member of Parliament for Birmingham Northfield for more than 25 years (1992-2019), during which time he Chaired the Britain-Palestine All Party Parliamentary Group (2001-2019) and visited the occupied Palestinian territory a number of times with MAP and the Council for Arab-British Understanding (Caabu). He was a member of the House of Commons International Development Committee (2005-2013, 2017-2019), working on key humanitarian and human rights issues such as the Rohingya refugee crisis and the war in Yemen, and was a driving force behind the House of Commons’ 2014 resolution to recognise the State of Palestine.

Since leaving parliament, Richard has been a trustee of Birmingham Citizens Advice and the Balfour Project, and Chair of Healthwatch Birmingham and Healthwatch Solihull, helping scrutinise health and social care provision, working to reduce health inequalities, and advocating for patients and the public. Formerly, Richard attained a BA (Hons) in Politics from the University of York, and an MA in Industrial Relations from Warwick University, and worked as a trade union officer with NALGO (now UNISON). 

Vice chairs

Sarah Eldon - Sarah has 20 years' experience in the charity and NGO sector having worked in fundraising, communications and programme management. Having worked overseas in North Africa, the Middle East and Sub Saharan Africa, Sarah is passionate about international development, advocating for those who need a voice and ensuring that all have the necessary support to be able to empower themselves. During her tenure in the Middle East she worked in Lebanon, the West Bank and Gaza, seeing first-hand the impact of living under occupation has on the dignity and health of Palestinians and she wanted to ensure she could continue to advocate for their basic rights.

Shireen Jayyusi - Shireen began her career in investment banking.  She then transitioned to the startup world, and has been involved with a number of consumer and technology startups, in commercial and operational roles, and has also launched and run her own startup business.  She is currently working as an independent business consultant, offering strategy, business and start-up consulting support, and is also involved in a new startup project.  Shireen is of Palestinian heritage, and has campaigned for Palestinian rights and dignity for many years.

Treasurer

Hilary Wild - Hilary has extensive international experience in the fields of finance, organisational management, governance, and risk management. She has a portfolio of non-executive roles; including as a member of the CGIAR System Board, all the constituent Centers of One CGIAR, and is a member of the CGIAR Audit, Finance and Risk Committee. She is Trustee and Audit Committee Chair of WaterAid UK, Chair of the Church Commissioners Audit and Risk Committee, a member of the Oversight Advisory Committee of the Food and Agriculture Organisation, a member of the Advanced Agriculture and Food Advisory Panel of CSIR, South Africa.

She was previously Chief Financial Officer of the World Health Organisation (WHO), with overall responsibility for financial management of a US$2billion organisation operating in 140 countries, and Director Business Change. Before joining the WHO, she held various positions in the international financial sector, including as a director in investment banking as well as asset management in the Kleinwort Benson Group. She also worked for UNICEF in New York as Chief of Finance, and for a major USA commercial bank in London and as its representative in Greece. She has chaired oversight committees for the United Nations Development Programme, International Labour Organisation, and United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation. She is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.

Trustees

Dr Ghassan S. Abu-Sittah, MBchB, FRCS(Plast) - Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah is a British-Palestinian Professor of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. He completed his medical education at University of Glasgow in the U.K. He went on to do his postgraduate residency training in London. After completing his Specialist Registrar training in London he underwent three fellowships. He did a Fellowship in Pediatric Craniofacial Surgery and a Fellowship in Cleft Surgery at Great Ormond Street Hospital for Sick Kids and a further fellowship in Trauma Reconstruction at the Royal London Hospital. In 2011 he was recruited by the American University of Beirut Medical Center. In 2012 he became Head of the Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at the AUBMC and in 2015 co-founded and became director of the Conflict Medicine Program at Global Health Institute at the American University of Beirut. He continues be a Senior Clinical Lecturer at Queen Mary University of London. He serves as a reviewer at the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR-UK) and is on the Board of Advisors at its Global Research Group on Burn Trauma. He has published extensively on war injuries including a medical text book, “Reconstructing the War Injured Patient,” and a forthcoming book, “Treating The War Injured Child.” He has worked as a war surgeon in Iraq, Syria, South Lebanon and during the 3 wars in the Gaza Strip. His work was featured by numerous newspapers and media outlets notably La Monde, The Independent, Telegraph, BBC and CNN.

Najwa Al Abdallah - Najwa has more than 20 years of experience working for international NGOs around the world, overseeing finance, fundraising, HR, IT and compliance and risk management. She is Executive Director of Corporate Services at Money Advice Trust and a Trustee for the International Rescue Committee UK, serving as Vice Chair of the Audit and Governance Committee and a member of the Safeguarding Committee.

Kathy Al Ju’beh -Kathy has over 30 years of experience managing complex, multi-disciplinary projects in the fields of disability, health and education. She is an accomplished technical advisor working in the fields of inclusive development and humanitarian action with a wide range of actors from UN agencies, governments, donors, INGOs and national and community based organisations. As a deeply committed humanitarian the principles of humanity, impartiality, neutrality and independence guide her approach to decision making and accountability. She believes in rights-based participatory programming and advocacy; promoting participation, equality and non-discrimination underpinned by a commitment to evidenced based practice. Kathy has developed a range of resources and tools to promote self-reflection, capacity development and policy analysis to support organisations take on a more inter-sectional approach to address inclusive practice at all levels – and especially prioritise the voice and agency of groups traditional excluded.

Ade Bamigboye - Ade is the Chief Technology Office at the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. He has also a Trustee of Parents 1st UK, a position held since January 2020. Ade has spent thirty years in information technology and has a wealth of experience across multiple sectors including legal, non-profit, healthcare, automotive, retail, publishing, energy and utilities. His primary focus has been on using new and emerging technology to enable innovation and business transformation. He is passionate about the use of technology to enhance health and well-being through initiatives such as tele-care and remote monitoring. Ade is also a certified Information Privacy and Cloud Security Professional.

Jacob Burns - Jacob is currently a Director of Studies at the internal reflection centre of Doctors Without Borders / Médecins sans frontières (MSF), and previously worked for MSF in Palestine and across the Middle East in communications. He has also worked in and on Palestine as a journalist, with Amnesty International, and Forensic Architecture. 

Mike Egan - Mike is an experienced charity trustee. His current appointments include Homeless Link, a membership body for the homelessness and supported housing sector in England, and Rainbow Migration who support people through the UK asylum and immigration process who are applying for reasons of sexual orientation or gender identity. He has also recently been a trustee at War on Want and a governor of Heythrop College, where he is an Honorary Fellow. Mike was previously Head of Audit at UHY Hacker Young, a multi-national firm of Chartered Accountants. After taking early retirement from professional practice, he completed a Masters degree in Voluntary Sector Management at Bayes (formerly Cass) Business School.

Richard Makepeace - Richard joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 1976 after completing a degree in modern languages at Oxford University. After studying Arabic in Lebanon he spent around 20 years working as a diplomat in the Middle East, including as Ambassador in Khartoum and Abu Dhabi and as Consul General in Jerusalem (from 2006-2010). He also worked in central Europe and in the then Delegation to the EU in Brussels. When in Jerusalem he was a Trustee of the St John Eye Hospital and also had the opportunity to see the work of MAP on the ground. Since 2011 he has been Registrar of the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies, an independent, multi-disciplinary research institute, and also a Fellow of St Cross College, Oxford.

Ramzi Nasir - Dr Ramzi Nasir is a Developmental-Behavioural Paediatrician whose practice focuses on children with developmental differences and disabilities. He currently practices in London as a paediatrician in the National Health Service and in private practice.  Ramzi was born in Palestine and pursued his medical education in the United States, completing his specialisation at Boston Children’s Hospital and the Harvard School of Public Health. While at Boston Children’s Hospital, he served as principal investigator in clinical trials and collaborated on research projects studying the genetics of developmental disabilities. In London, he has several leadership roles developing autism services at the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust and the Portland Hospital for Women and Children. Ramzi is active in efforts to improve care for children with developmental differences and disabilities in humanitarian settings.  He serves as a clinical consultant and advisor to humanitarian organisations such as Doctors without Borders and MAP and has developed training programs for parents and professionals. He has co-authored two book chapters on the topic and is active in several global advocacy efforts.

Mary O’Shea - Mary has worked in HR for her entire career and has held director posts in both the public and private sectors. This has included some roles with an international remit. She is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) and holds an MA in Industrial Relations from Keele. She has been a member of the CIPD's National Council and professional advisor to Kingston University's HR research programme. Mary's most recent role has been as Director of HR at the Institute of Cancer Research in London and before that  leading the HR function in a number of NHS organisations. She believes the people agenda should seek to provide an environment where staff can do their best work through staff engagement, diversity and inclusion. She is passionate about healthcare as a fundamental human right.

Prof. Graham Watt MD FRCGP FRSE FMedSci CBE - Emeritus Professor, General Practice and Primary Care, University of Glasgow. Professor Watt is an elected Fellow of the UK Academy of Medical Sciences and the Royal Society of Edinburgh. He has longstanding links with Palestinian academic colleagues at Birzeit University and the University of Hebron and currently chairs the steering group of the Lancet Palestinian Health Alliance. In the UK he initiated the General Practitioners at the Deep End movement, comprising collective alliances of general practitioners serving very deprived populations. This is his second term as a MAP Trustee, having served previously from 2006-15.

Senior management team 

Melanie Ward – Chief Executive

Fikr Shalltoot – Gaza Director

Ali Dakwar – Lebanon Director

Aisha Mansour – West Bank Director

Iain McSeveny – Director of Finance and Operations 

Rohan Talbot – Director of Advocacy and Campaigns

Sameer Sah – Director of Programmes, UK