Malika was born and raised in Uzbekistan and currently lives in Toronto, Canada, working with Embrace a Street Child, a Kenyan organization that aims to rehabilitate and reintegrate street children in Nairobi. At Embrace, Malika deployed technological strategies aimed at bolstering the effectiveness of rehabilitation and social work programs for boys at the center. Simultaneously, she manages the organization's digital presence and contributes to the organization’s broader communication strategy.

Before her role at Embrace, Malika worked with national-level strategies at the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. As part of the gender equality department, her role involved coordinating initiatives aimed at preventing gender-based violence and promoting cervical cancer screening programs to rural areas. Furthermore, she took an active part in the organization of Uzbekistan's first pilot census which gathered international experts in assessing the project’s alignment with international standards.

Malika is eager to develop her expertise in Quantitative Analysis and Evaluation while at GHD. This next academic journey aligns with her dedication to addressing the economic implications of gender-based violence in Sub-Saharan Africa and Central Asia, a cause she passionately wishes to pursue throughout her career.

Summer Internship

This summer I had the privilege of working with the International Organization for Migration's (IOM) Regional Office in Dakar, Senegal. As part of the Regional Data Hub (RDH) team, I supported regional migration and displacement data collection and analysis across 23 countries. My main responsibility in the Dakar office was to co-author RDH’s flagship report “A Region on the Move 2022-2023”, which examines two years of key migration and displacement trends throughout the region. This work required in-depth bilingual research, data visualization, and collaboration with experts to produce a comprehensive overview of main mobility patterns. Policymakers, donors and humanitarian organizations utilize the annual report to inform migration-related decision-making.

In addition to supporting the flagship report, I contributed to the creation of informational products for the Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) which paint a portrait of regular migration flows, corridors and labour movements. A highlight of my internship was collaborating with my RDH colleagues and learning how the unit harmonizes diverse data sources to create informational products that play a crucial role in facilitating timely and informed humanitarian decisions across West and Central Africa. This experience allowed me to refine my research and data analysis skills while gaining valuable insights into the intersection of data-driven policy, migration management, and humanitarian assistance.