This year, DFL welcomes three new scholars at Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), one of our longest standing academic partners in Europe. Meet them and get to know their stories: Meet Hala Elhassan Hala Elhassan is DFL’s first Sudanese scholar who just began a Master’s in Economic Science in Brussels. Born and originally raised in South Africa, Hala’s family moved back to Sudan when she was 13 years old, which [...]
The University of Antwerp is DFL’s first academic partner from Belgium, reflecting the foundation’s most enduring partnership in the region. This year, DFL has awarded three students with full scholarships to pursue their graduate studies at the university. Each student brings a distinct story, academic interests shaped by their lived experiences and professional goals rooted in community building, leadership and positive change. We are honoured to introduce them: Meet Afaf [...]
As the 2026/27 academic year begins, the Daughters for Life Foundation (DFL) is proud to welcome Wesal Aljabr, one of our newest scholars beginning her studies in Canada this fall. Her journey reflects determination, resilience and a deep commitment to using education to create opportunities for herself and others. Meet Wesal Aljabr Wesal is an 18-year-old scholar from Syria who will begin a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology at York [...]
A Journey From Egypt to Belgium: Reflections From a DFL Graduate We are excited to share that one of our Scholars, Nancy Khaled, has graduated with a Masters in Rehabilitation Sciences and Physiotherapy (MSc) from Belgium’s University of Antwerp, one of DFL’s first academic partners in Europe. This month, we caught up with Nancy to celebrate her graduation and listen to her reflections on her academic journey and experience as [...]
A DFL Scholar’s Path to Success in Computer Science The Daughters for Life Foundation (DFL) is proud to celebrate a new milestone of one of our DFL scholars, Grace Hanna from Syria, who has recently graduated with a Master’s degree in Computer Science from Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB) in Belgium. From adjusting to a new educational system to overcoming academic challenges, Grace’s experience is an example of how determination [...]
Futures in the Making: Hajer and Maram Arrive in Canada and Belgium With the 2025/26 academic year underway, DFL is proud to spotlight two of our outstanding scholarship winners now studying in Belgium and Canada: Hajer Radwan and Maram Al-Tamimi. This fall, we reconnected to learn more about their interests, the impact of their scholarships, and their future goals. As they embark on their respective paths, we invite you to [...]
Announcing the 2025 DFL Awards Program: Supporting 100 Female Palestinian Students With Financial Bursaries The Daughters for Life Foundation (DFL) is proud to announce the renewal of its impactful Awards Program, designed to ease the financial burdens faced by young Middle Eastern women as they complete their post-secondary education. Through this initiative, DFL provides one-time financial support to female undergraduate students nearing graduation at partner institutions in the Middle East. [...]
Hope and Perseverance: The Journey of a DFL Graduate A member of DFL’s 2024 cohort celebrated her graduation this past fall, and the foundation was present to mark the exciting occasion with an interview. Join us as we spotlight Amna Hmeedat of Palestine, who recently completed her Master’s in Nonprofit and Leadership at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJ). The program is a joint project developed and operated by the [...]
Growth In Action: Insights from a DFL Graduate Part of the Class of 2024, Katia Paraskiva is a professional who leveled up her toolkit by graduating from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJ)’s Master’s program in Nonprofit Management and Leadership. To celebrate her achievement, DFL conducted an interview with Katia near the end of 2024, catching up on her period of evolution and gaining insights on her unique experience as [...]
A Journey of Discovery: Past Reflections and Hopes for the Future One of our 2024 Graduates, Nouhaila Bensghir of Morocco, has paved the way for herself over the course of her time at the Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB). This past autumn, the DFL team caught up with Nouhaila to celebrate her graduation from the 2-year Master's in Political Sciences, International Relations program offered by the university’s Faculty of Philosophy [...]
The Daughters for Life Foundation (DFL) is honored to unveil Vrije Universiteit Brussel as a new academic partner, joining as a formal participant in the 2025/2026 Scholarship Program. A formal Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was penned and signed during a signing ceremony on Thursday, February 6th, 2025, attended by signees Rector of VUB Jan Danckaert and Founder and President of DFL Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish. Rector Jan Danckaert and Dr. [...]
During trying times, remaining hopeful, determined and passionate is vital. These qualities define the spirit of the Daughters for Life Foundation (DFL)’s advocacy for Middle Eastern women, especially those displaced and impacted by conflict. Through the support of our academic partners, including the Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB), we are able to extend life-changing educational opportunities to our scholarship recipients. Join us as we welcome Lina Shehada, a Palestinian scholar [...]
Resilience in Practice: DFL Scholar Raghad Zughayer Graduates with Her Master's Among the five exceptional DFL scholars graduating in 2024 is Raghad Zughayer from Palestine. She earned her Master's degree in Linguistics and English Literary Studies from the prestigious University of Antwerp (UAntwerp), marking a significant milestone in her academic journey. This program choice reflects both her personal lifelong fascination with language and her belief in it as a propelling [...]
Synergy for Opportunity: Full Scholarships for Master’s Programs, Enrollment to Start Fall 2025 The Daughters for Life Foundation (DFL) is excited to announce a groundbreaking partnership with Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (KU Leuven) in Belgium. This comes following an initiative sparked by our founder and president, Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish, after he was invited by the university in May 2024. This collaboration represents a significant step forward in DFL’s mission to empower [...]
Empowering Dreams Amidst Turmoil: DFL Welcomes Two Gazan Palestinian Scholars In the face of adversity, the Daughters for Life Foundation (DFL) continues to shine a light on the power of education and opportunity for Palestinian women. As part of our unwavering commitment to empowering women in conflict zones, we proudly introduce the second instalment of our two-part scholar spotlight series, showcasing the incredible achievements of our 2024/25 Scholarship Winners hailing [...]
Collaborating to Empower Future Leaders: Up to Three Fully-Funded Scholarships to be Awarded Annually Starting Fall 2025 We are thrilled to announce the Daughters for Life Foundation's (DFL) latest partnership with the University of Southern Maine (USM), which now joins our expanding global network of academic partners. This collaboration was solidified with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in July 2024. The foundation's connection with USM began during [...]
Two Inspiring Journeys Just Begun: Welcoming Farah and Alaa to Canada It’s that exciting time of year when the Daughters for Life Foundation proudly welcomes the recipients of our Scholarship Program for the 2024/25 academic cycle. We are thrilled to introduce the first batch of inspiring scholarship winners who have just arrived in Canada to embark on their educational journeys. Stay tuned for more exciting announcements about additional scholars coming [...]
Reflections of a DFL Graduate: Dania Mahadin Our first graduate of 2024, Dania Mahadin, has achieved remarkable success as a young Jordanian scholar graduating from York University’s Specialized Honors Civil Engineering program. This prestigious program is part of the Lassonde School of Engineering, renowned for its excellence in STEM education. Dania's journey with the Daughters for Life Foundation (DFL) is particularly special, as she was the only scholar selected from [...]
Shining Bright: Introducing the 5 DFL Scholarship Winners of 2023! The Daughters for Life Foundation is delighted to officially welcome our new cycle of 2023/24 scholarship recipients! Attending partner institutions across three continents, we are giving our warmest welcome to a total of five new scholars joining the ever-growing network of young women whose lives have been touched by our program. Though it’s a busy time for them as they [...]
Celebrating 58 winners of the 2023 Cycle Summer of 2023 marked the return of the Daughters For Life Foundation’s (DFL) Awards Program for the first time since 2016. The well received program is one that aims to alleviate the financial burden from Middle Eastern students in their junior years of undergraduate study by bestowing a financial award in recognition of resilience against hardship, financial need, a dedication to academic excellence [...]
Embracing Accomplishments: Interviews with DFL's 5 New Alumni of Spring 2023 As our new scholars have new beginnings, our outgoing DFL graduates mark the end of their respective academic journeys with pride and celebration. We are congratulating 5 DFL scholars on their respective graduations this spring, each one serving as an unforgettable milestone. Yousra Benradi, Liyan Alkawafhah, Saja Saymeh, Sara Saad and Rasha Aljbour Almajali are DFL’s Class [...]
Esraa’s Journey with Daughters for Life Daughters for Life Foundation is proud to celebrate another successful and brilliant scholar, Esraa Hassan. In June 2022, Esraa graduated from Western University’s Brescia University College with a Bachelor's in Food and Nutrition. Coming from a humble background with three siblings, and limited financial resources, a scholarship would allow Esraa to go beyond the city where they lived. She was in a [...]
Eight Scholars, Eight Lives Changed for The Better The Daughters for Life Foundation is thrilled to welcome the new scholars joining us in 2022! We have a total of eight brilliant new scholars from all over the Middle East, pursuing their studies across a wide variety of disciplines and academic levels, spread between Canada, Belgium and Israel, to mark a new chapter in DFL’s history. In late [...]
Eva’s Journey with Daughters for Life Daughters for Life Foundation is proud to celebrate another successful and brilliant scholar, Eva Shenoda. In June 2021, Eva graduated from York University with a specialized Honors BSc in Biology. Currently, she is pursuing a master’s in gastrointestinal sciences with a specialization in immunology at the University of Calgary’s Cumming School of Medicine in Canada. Following in our founder’s footsteps, Eva has [...]
Rozana Jaber is another Daughters for Life scholar who recently graduated from the New College of Florida with a Bachelor's degree in International Relations and Affairs. After returning to Palestine, Rozana is focusing her energy on exploring the job market. She reflects on her experience as a DFL scholar and appreciates how that experience prepared her to face life post-graduation. “My experience going into a 4-year degree program abroad, and [...]
One of our impressive scholars, Merehan Mostafa, recently graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Business (with a specialized concentration in Marketing), and a Bachelor of Arts with dual majors in Political Science and International Relations, the only graduating triple major of her class, from the University of Rochester. During her senior year, Merehan was recognized as an exceptional student as she was elected into Phi Beta Kappa, America’s oldest [...]
Maha Mehanna, one of our inspiring Daughters for Life alumni, graduated from Eastern Mennonite University (EMU) last year with a Master’s in Conflict Transformation and a Graduate Certificate in Non-Profit Leadership and Social Entrepreneurship. As a Palestinian woman, selecting such majors reflects her willingness and aspiration to work towards helping her community, which is afflicted with political turmoil. Currently, Maha is a full-time student at EMU in Harrisonburg, Virginia, pursuing [...]
Fighting against all odds, 17-year-old Alaa El Hajjar is building a future for herself and her home country of Lebanon. Decades of civil war, bloodshed, and political turmoil in Lebanon have exposed Alaa very early on to the vulnerabilities of humanity. The hardship endured living in such a volatile environment sparked in Alaa’s sense of purpose. Alaa wants to make a difference to her community. With the encouragement of her [...]
From a modest home in Cairo, Egypt came a young girl with an extraordinary gift for science. Marwa Soliman has always been the sharpest mind in her class, scoring top grades, and sometimes even a score of 100%l. At age 14, she was chosen to speak on Egypt’s national television to advise students on ways to balance time and studies. This shy whiz kid was soon scouted by Egypt’s top [...]
When Waed first became a Daughters for Life Scholar, she was a passionate young woman who started giving back to her community at a young age. As a young girl, Waed dedicated her time after school to work in Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon. She taught English and poetry to young girls, providing an outlet to express their thoughts and emotions. This experience assisted Waed in discovering her passion and [...]