Alaa Murabit advances global health, peace, and gender equality through policy reform, investment, and strategic leadership.
Before turning twenty-five, Alaa Murabit had already helped shape United Nations resolutions, advised the Security Council, and influenced the design of the Sustainable Development Goals that now guide policies in 193 countries.
However, her story began in the chaos of Libya’s civil war.
In 2011, at just twenty-one, Alaa Murabit was a medical student in Benghazi when the war broke out. While many sought safety, she founded The Voice of Libyan Women – a movement that dared to question the religious interpretations used to silence women.
Through her groundbreaking Noor Campaign, she rallied imams, women faith leaders, and entire communities to reclaim faith as a force for equality, not oppression. Her approach disrupted global narratives about women and religion – with Human Rights Watch calling it “a turning point in women’s rights globally.”
Her strong belief propelled her from local activism to global diplomacy. In her mid-twenties, she successfully negotiated and passed United Nations Security Council and General Assembly resolutions, including 2122 (2013), 2242 (2015), 2467 (2019), and 2493 (2019), all of which underscored the importance of women’s involvement in peacebuilding.
She also helped architect the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, ensuring the creation of Goal 16 – Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions. That framework now shapes the global allocation of trillions of dollars in government and private-sector funding.
Her growing influence was soon recognised at the highest levels. Alaa was appointed a UN Sustainable Development Goals Advocate by Secretaries-General Ban Ki-moon and António Guterres, and later became a UN High-Level Commissioner on Health, Employment and Economic Growth. In those roles, she guided international strategies linking health equity, economic opportunity, and women’s leadership in fragile settings.
Impact on the health sector
A physician by training, Alaa Murabit brings diagnostic precision to systems change. At the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, she directed a $350 million annual portfolio focused on maternal and child health, gender equity, and resilience in conflict zones. She led the Foundation’s first Fragile, Conflict and Violence assessment and built its global community of practice, ensuring health investments reached the world’s most vulnerable women and children.
Today, she is Managing Partner for Sustainable Growth at 500 Global, where she mobilises private-sector capital for inclusive and sustainable development. Her leadership has helped channel more than $40 billion toward global health, peacebuilding, and sustainability initiatives.
She also founded For Mama (now Every Pregnancy) — the first Muslim-led global coalition for maternal and newborn health, which raised $13 million in its first year and conceived The Beginnings Fund, a $600 million collaborative fund designed to save 300,000 lives and reach 34 million mothers and babies across Africa by 2030.
Alaa Murabit also serves as Chair of Girls Not Brides, and sits on the boards of Women for Women International, Malala Fund, and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. She has advised over forty countries at head-of-state and ministerial levels, designing gender-sensitive health and peace frameworks that directly affect billions of people.
Her impact has earned her over 100 global honours – from TIME100 and Forbes 30 Under 30 to the Nelson Mandela Changemaker Award, Canadian Meritorious Service Cross, and fellowships at Harvard Radcliffe and the MIT Media Lab.
Alaa Murabit has been profiled by The New York Times, CNN, BBC, and Bloomberg, nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, and recognised by the Canadian government as one of the 100 Most Influential Women in History.
