Joke Buringa is a gender specialist and a former employee at the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs. She further specializes in international relations, with a focus on the Arabian Peninsula, Iraq, and Iran, looking at regional security, energy security, and bilateral economic relations.

Her practical experience in Yemen includes working with the Hudaydah municipality in the former Yemen Arab Republic (YAR) from 1985, followed by a period of research and training concerning women’s role in development for Dutch-funded projects. The resulting bibliography was published by the American Institute for Yemeni Studies in 1992. She later returned to Sana’a to work as a diplomat and gender specialist with the Dutch MFA in addition to other assignments in the Middle East/North Africa Department and the DG for International Cooperation involving Yemen.

Burgina holds a master’s degree in social anthropology with a specialization in women’s studies, from the University of Amsterdam, and a certificate in international relations from the Clingendael Institute in the Hague.