Melad Elias holds a Bachelor’s Degree in International Relations from the Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences and is currently pursuing a Master’s in Political Science at the University of Bonn. From Bethlehem, Palestine, Melad has gained diverse experience in international development and climate risk management.

Before joining UNU-EHS as a student assistant, Melad worked with the G7/V20 Global Shield against Climate Risks (GS) initiative (formerly the InsuResilience Global Partnership). He began as an intern and later became a temporary Junior Advisor, sharing a personal goal with the initiative to enhance financial protection and resilience for vulnerable countries and populations. At GS, Melad assisted the implementation and analytics team with various tasks, including supporting the Gap Analysis for CDRFI solutions in Ghana, facilitating the annual data collection for Monitoring and Evaluation, and contributing to the drafting of a framework for prioritization of country support.

Additionally, Melad has practical experience in local and municipal development cooperation from his internship at the Association of German Cities, Department of European and International Affairs. In his free time, he enjoys early morning swimming, running, and playing chess.

Melad is supporting the Global Shield Secretariat, the V20 Support Programme, and the MCII Policy Team