Academic interests
Humaira Anjum's research examines how shifting geopolitical dynamics and internal contestation within the European Union influence its external engagement on gender rights and equality. The research investigates how competing visions of gender norms, both within EU member states and in the broader international arena, shape the coherence, credibility, and content of the EU's gender policy as it is projected outward through diplomacy, development cooperation, and multilateral engagement. Ultimately, the study aims to shed light on the tensions the EU must navigate between political contestation at home and its role as a normative actor on gender equality abroad.
The research is carried out as part of the EUFOG project, which explores how EU foreign policy responds to new international realities across a broad range of issue areas, from security to trade to human rights.
Her interests include EU foreign policy, feminist foreign policy, gender equality in global governance, international human rights law, public international law, climate change and gender policy, gender politics, and the politics of norm contestation.
Background
Humaira is a lawyer by training. She holds a Bachelor of Laws degree from BRAC University. She holds an Erasmus Mundus Master's Degree in International Law of Global Security, Peace and Development, earned jointly through an LLM from the University of Glasgow and a Master's in International Security from the Institut Barcelona d'Estudis Internacionals (IBEI). She also holds an MA in International Law and Human Rights from the University of Tartu. Before joining the EUFOG programme, she worked at the United Nations University – Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS) as a researcher, where she focused on integrating gender-responsive climate action in climate adaptation. She also served as an Early Career Climate Fellow at the legal department of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), where she advised stakeholders, governments, and accredited organisations on international climate treaty-related matters.