Jailan Zayan

Editorial and Narrative Consultant

I’m an editorial and narrative consultant with over 20 years of experience in international journalism and mission-driven communications. I work with foundations, multilateral bodies, and international organisations to turn complex material into clear, compelling reports, donor communications, senior leadership writing, and public-facing articles. My work spans human rights, feminist activism, climate, education, and development.

Clients have included UN-Habitat, UNICEF, the World Bank, Mama Cash, Ignite Philanthropy, Safe to Learn, EMpower, and the Stars Foundation. Earlier in my career, I worked as a journalist for Agence France-Presse and the Los Angeles Times.

I’m currently pursuing an MA in Creative Writing at the University of Hull and run in-person workshops for professionals and creative writers focused on practical writing skills.

Portfolio
Culturesmartbooks
Culture Smart Egypt

For thousands of years the fertile banks of the Nile have been home to human settlement, and throughout its history Egypt has exchanged influences with the many different cultures it has encountered: Greek, Roman, Persian and Arab. At first sight, modern-day Egypt is an unruly and chaotic place, a cacophony of sounds, an overload of smells, and a visual theater.

Mama Cash and FRIDA |The Young Feminist Fund
2018
Girls to the Front

A snapshot of girl-led organising

Archive
Egypt, Algeria go to war

A crunch World Cup qualifier between Egypt and Algeria in Cairo on Saturday has seen unprecedented tensions between the North

Mada Masr
A nation against the intimate realities of a family: On Hisham Matar's The Return

My father had a strange habit of turning the car radio down anytime a police car drove past. Throughout my childhood in London, I noticed other idiosyncrasies - never mention our surname in public, always whisper when standing in a queue. He never claimed any state benefits and wouldn't get us treated on the National Health Service.

The Globe and Mail
10/19/2012
Lights out as Egypt considers pulling plug on all night shopping

Buying a pair of trousers at one in the morning has never been a problem in Cairo, but a new government proposal to slash trading hours could effectively pull the plug on the city that never sleeps. Minister of Local Development Ahmed Zaki has warned that the government is considering legislation that would see shops close at 10 p.m.

Asymptotejournal
Sunshine Most Always - Asymptote

Diab pulled out a newspaper from the plastic bag on the floor by his desk. He pushed his chair back and opened the paper wide, arms outstretched. He whipped each page from left to right, skimming headlines, eyes darting around the sheets.

Wasafiri Magazine
Vecchia Bambina by Jailan Zayan - Wasafiri Magazine

Wasafiri is pleased to publish the pieces shortlisted for the 2022 Queen Mary Wasafiri New Writing Prize. The poems, essays and short stories in this series showcase the best new writing from the best new writers across the globe - in all their diversity and complexity.

Yahoo
04/17/2012
Defendants plead not guilty in Egypt football case

Defendants pleaded not guilty on Tuesday in the trial of 75 people over Egypt's worst football disaster, which left more than 70 people dead in Port Said in February. The violence was one of the deadliest incidents in football history, and came amid charges from witnesses that security forces did little to prevent the rioting, prompting more deadly clashes in the days that followed.

Hdhod - English
04/11/2010
Long-shot female candidate tells Sudan women 'yes they can'

OMDURMAN, Jailan Zayan- Sudan's first female presidential candidate knows she stands no chance against President Omar al-Beshir, but says her ambitious bid will allow future generations of women to strive for the country's top job. Fatima Abdel Mahmud, a 66-year-old Soviet-educated professor of...

Telegraph.co.uk
02/25/2010
Egypt wrangles over whether women should be judges

The decision to bar women from sitting on the state council is "unconstitutional," said Judge Noha al-Zeini of the administrative prosecution authority, one of only 42 women judges out of the country's 12,000 in total. She said she was "shocked" by the ban on women sitting on the bench, but conceded that it was a reflection of society's unease with women holding positions of power.

The Sydney Morning Herald
11/18/2009
Internet still under US grip: forum delegates

"Big decisions should not be unilateral but in consultation with the Internet community at large," the participant said. "The power and the veto is still in US hands. However, ICANN members insist that no country has ever been refused registration.

The Sydney Morning Herald
12/29/2009
Hunger strikers press Egypt on Gaza march

CAIRO: An 85-year-old Holocaust survivor is among a group of grandmothers on a hunger strike to protest against Egypt's refusal to allow a Gaza solidarity march to proceed. Hedy Epstein, an American activist, and other grandmothers participating in the Gaza Freedom March began their hunger strike on Monday.

BusinessLIVE
Bloody showdown feared in Egypt

Fear of bloody showdown between supporters and opponents of Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi grows after one activist killed

Los Angeles Times
12/31/2005
23 Reported Killed as Riot Police Storm Refugees' Tent City in Cairo

Egyptian riot police armed with clubs and water cannons stormed a downtown square packed with Sudanese refugees before dawn Friday in an attack that a human rights group said left 23 people dead. About 2,000 Sudanese had been living for months in a dilapidated tent city near the offices of the U.N.