Afaf Mahfouz is a psychoanalytic psychotherapist serving patients of diverse social, cultural, and linguistic backgrounds and Chair of the Committee of the UN International Psychoanalytical Association. Afaf Mahfouz is Past President of the Conference of Nongovernmental Organizations in Consultative Relationship with the UN and previously taught law at Helwan University in Cairo. She was a member of the facilitating committee of the NGO forum at the Fourth International Conference on Women in Beijing, and a key organizer of other regional and international NGO forums including the Millennium NGO Forum in New York in 2000.