was bor

n and raised in Algeria. After secondary school, she studied political science and international relations in France and humanities in Spain. She holds a PhD in political science from the Toulouse social sciences university and specialises on EU Mediterranean policies and issues of defence. In 2006, she obtained a Schuman grant from the European Parliament which allowed her to join the Directorate-General for External Policies of the Union as an administrator of EUROMED inter-parliamentary delegations. In 2009, she entered the Committee on Foreign Affairs with a portfolio including the Mediterranean region, Gulf countries, the Middle East peace process and energy security.
She became a cabinet member of the European Parliament president (Martin Schulz) in 2012 and, for 5 years, was his adviser on the Mediterranean region, Gulf countries, the European Neighbouring Policy, Turkey, Iran and activities for the promotion of democracy and human rights.
Since September 2017, Djamila Chikhi has been back with the Directorate-General for External Policies in the administrator post within the human rights sub-committee and deals with issues relating to refugees and migrants, UN business, North Africa and Latin America.