Leila Jalbot was born in Minsk, Belarus. She studied at University of Liverpool, UK, where she obtained a LLB Hons degree in common law. A recent LLM Master of Law graduate at Katholieke Universiteit of Leuven, Leila specialized in international refugee law and management of the 2015 migration crises in the context of human rights and international cooperation. She started her career at IOM, International Organization for Migration. During almost three years in the organization Leila worked in the project on combatting human trafficking. Throughout this time Leila organized and attended various trainings on topics of identification of victims of human trafficking, gender equality, capacity building and project management. In addition, in the past, she had a chance to practice advocacy and be part of EMMA –European Media Magazine Association team, a non-profit organization based in Brussels. Its mission is to promote and protect the interests of European magazine publishers vis-a-vis the Institutions of the European Union: the European Commission, the European Parliament and the Council.

At the moment, Leila Jalbot works at the position of International Projects Specialist at the Department of International Cooperation at Belarus Red Cross Society. She is responsible for writing project proposals, communication with donors and international cooperation.  She also manages a project on combatting human trafficking, mainly focused on preventive activities. Leila is also a trainer on identification of human trafficking for specialists working in the sphere. Areas of Leila’s professional interest include promotion and respect for human rights, migration, asylum and refugee law, humanitarian assistance, combating human trafficking, empowerment of women and girls, project management, work towards reduction of suffering and poverty, freedom of speech and independence of press, protection of animal rights.