About
Saba Gul is the Founder and Principal Researcher of the U.S. Nonprofit Safeguarding Crosswalk Project, an independent, open-access research program that maps international safeguarding standards against United States law and translates the findings into practical tools for domestic nonprofit organizations. A legal and policy professional, she holds a Master of Laws (LL.M.) in Corporate Law and a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) from the International Islamic University Islamabad, with coursework in organizational governance, institutional compliance, and risk management.
Her professional experience spans protection roles in humanitarian refugee operations, with previous positions including Senior Project Assistant for the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP), Protection Associate with the UN International Organization for Migration (IOM), and PSEA Focal Person on a UNHCR-funded project, alongside work with GIZ.
She is the author of Safeguarding Without a Baseline (2026), a thirteen-element mapping of the IASC Six Core Principles against U.S. legal anchors, and of a companion implementation toolkit for small and mid-sized nonprofits, published open access under CC BY 4.0. She also serves as the volunteer Area Coordinator for Washington State at Amnesty International USA. Her research examines the structural drivers of PSEAH implementation failure and the development of a common protection baseline for the U.S. nonprofit sector.
Selected professional experience
Her career has run through the operational heart of the international protection system: UNHCR-funded implementing-partner operations, IOM programs including the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP), GIZ consultancies, and ICMC protection services.
Inside those organizations she drafted a comprehensive organizational PSEA manual and served as a designated PSEA Focal Person under the UN safeguarding framework; built a legal unit’s operational architecture — intake, referral, training, and reporting systems — from the ground up; managed case integrity inside the U.S. State Department’s START system in support of USCIS adjudications; and led a community campaign, formally commended by UNHCR, that enrolled 52 systematically excluded children in public schools.
Credentials
Master of Laws (LL.M.), Corporate Law — International Islamic University Islamabad (organizational governance, institutional compliance, risk management, policy drafting) · Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) — International Islamic University Islamabad · IOM professional training including PSEA Micro-Modules, Children and Migration, and Data Protection Principles.
Views on this site are my own. Published materials are open-access research and do not constitute legal advice.