Canada’s former Special Representative on Combatting Islamophobia launches new global Muslim research hub

The Muslim Communities Research Observatory (MCRO), led by human rights advocate Amira Elghawaby, collects academic research from credible institutions and turns it into simplified summaries and decision-ready policy briefs, making them more accessible to community leaders, decision-makers, journalists, and everyday people.

“Throughout my career working in journalism, human rights advocacy, and from within government, I’ve watched our communities working hard to ensure that our lived realities were understood by decision-makers,” said Elghawaby, founder and Executive Director of MCRO.

“What became clear to me is that the data and research was too often dispersed and advocates were too often responding to crises. MCRO exists to bring the research and recommendations together, and support anyone interested in advocating for better, more inclusive policies that are informed by the work of academics and experts.”

A key feature of MCRO’s website includes a searchable library of journal papers, civil society reports, and government studies from around the world, organized by theme, region, and type.

MCRO will:

• Catalogue credible research: Relevant academic papers, NGO reports, and government consultations will all be available in one searchable database, for journalists, policy advisers, community advocates, and everyday citizens to easily locate them.
• Summarize key findings and recommendations: Through infographics and policy briefs, making data more accessible and easy to use.
• Identify research gaps: MCRO will collaborate with partners to support the commissioning of new research on timely issues.

Elghawaby’s inaugural team will include former broadcast journalist and media expert Ginella Massa.

“For too long, conversations about Muslim communities have been driven by stereotypes, misinformation, and assumptions,” said Ginella Massa, MCRO’s strategic communications advisor. “All too often, we are discussed in headlines, on social media, in policy debates, in classrooms and boardrooms without actually being at the table. We want to ensure conversations about us are based on facts. The research exists, and MCRO will use it to shift public discourse so that it is based on data, not disinformation.”

“Knowledge mobilization is a key aspect of publishing research,” said Nadia Hasan, director at York University’s Islamophobia Research Hub. “MCRO will help ensure that the findings and recommendations we spend time developing reaches the communities most impacted. With AI potentially making it more challenging to find reports and journal articles if one doesn’t know where to look, a central hub will make it easier for students, faculty, and the wider public to see what exists.”