Advisory Council
An Advisory Council was established in 2016 to support the development and establishment of the initiative (see below the list of advisors). With the change of organisational set-up in 2017, the Advisory Council was not mobilised in support of the initiative’s incubator phase, however with the scope for developing, in November to December 2018, a longer-term engagement, an Advisory Council will be re-established as part of the Acceleartor workshop in Geneva in November 2018.
Mariama Conteh
Mariama Conteh is an independent advisor on peacebuilding and conflict transformation, who has served in a number of international NGO’s in various capacities, including several years as the West African Program Director for Conciliation Resources. From October 2017 to September 2018 Mariama Conteh was employed by Oxfam IBIS and served as the Lead for Conducive Space for Peace. She has for the past 16 years contributed to supporting peacebuilding, mediation and dialogue processes at multiple tracks in Africa, including support to Regional Economic Commissions such as ECOWAS and ECCAS, and to the World Bank. In previous advisory roles for Crisis Management Initiative, Ms Conteh led the development of mediation and conflict analysis training courses, and collaborated with local stakeholders to develop dialogue initiatives/responses to recent crises in Guinea Bissau and Mali and supported African Union initiatives on Madagascar and Burundi. Ms Conteh is currently working on her doctorate that examines an alternative approach to addressing post war trauma. Her research has taken her to Hawaii, New Mexico, Chennai and Sierra Leone.
Mariama Conteh
Mariama Conteh is an independent advisor on peacebuilding and conflict transformation, who has served in a number of international NGO’s in various capacities, including several years as the West African Program Director for Conciliation Resources. From October 2017 to September 2018 Mariama Conteh was employed by Oxfam IBIS and served as the Lead for Conducive Space for Peace. She has for the past 16 years contributed to supporting peacebuilding, mediation and dialogue processes at multiple tracks in Africa, including support to Regional Economic Commissions such as ECOWAS and ECCAS, and to the World Bank. In previous advisory roles for Crisis Management Initiative, Ms Conteh led the development of mediation and conflict analysis training courses, and collaborated with local stakeholders to develop dialogue initiatives/responses to recent crises in Guinea Bissau and Mali and supported African Union initiatives on Madagascar and Burundi. Ms Conteh is currently working on her doctorate that examines an alternative approach to addressing post war trauma. Her research has taken her to Hawaii, New Mexico, Chennai and Sierra Leone.
Michelle Parlevliet
Michelle Parlevliet is Assistant Professor at University of Amsterdam and a part-time post.doc research fellow as part of the Human Rights and Peacebuilding project at the Centre for Resolution of International Conflicts (CRIC), Copenhagen University. Ms. Parlevliet has been working on the nexus of human rights and peace work for over 18 years in various capacities and contexts, combining practice and scholarship. She served as senior conflict transformation adviser for Danida’s Human Rights and Good Governance Programme in Nepal between 2006 and 2009, in which capacity she also advised the Embassy of Denmark on its support to the peace process. Prior to that, she worked with the Centre for Conflict Resolution in South Africa, the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia.
Gay Rosenblum-Kumar
Gay Rosenblum-Kumar teaches courses on the UN and on peacebuilding at New York University, assisting the Nonviolent Peaceforce as a Senior Advisor for Advocacy and Outreach in NY, overseeing a research project on reconciliation in the Western Balkans, and working on an intergovernmental initiative to develop a knowledge network and resource centre on atrocity prevention and ‘dealing with the past’ after violence after leaving the UN in 2014. Gay Rosenblum-Kumar worked with the United Nations for 25 years, and in her last post leading the Secretariat of the UN Interagency Framework Team for Preventive Action (FT), an informal mechanism at UN Headquarters assisting UN agencies, departments and Country Teams to strengthen their skills to work with national stakeholders in building local capacities to prevent and mitigate destructive conflict. Prior to her work with the UN, Gay Rosenblum-Kumar has also worked ten years with NGOs primarily in sub-Saharan Africa.
Gay Rosenblum-Kumar
Gay Rosenblum-Kumar teaches courses on the UN and on peacebuilding at New York University, assisting the Nonviolent Peaceforce as a Senior Advisor for Advocacy and Outreach in NY, overseeing a research project on reconciliation in the Western Balkans, and working on an intergovernmental initiative to develop a knowledge network and resource centre on atrocity prevention and ‘dealing with the past’ after violence after leaving the UN in 2014. Gay Rosenblum-Kumar worked with the United Nations for 25 years, and in her last post leading the Secretariat of the UN Interagency Framework Team for Preventive Action (FT), an informal mechanism at UN Headquarters assisting UN agencies, departments and Country Teams to strengthen their skills to work with national stakeholders in building local capacities to prevent and mitigate destructive conflict. Prior to her work with the UN, Gay Rosenblum-Kumar has also worked ten years with NGOs primarily in sub-Saharan Africa.
Chris Spies
Chris Spies is the founder and director of Dynamic Stability Consultancy in Stellenbosch, South Africa and Senior Research Fellow of the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation. Chris Spies is currently a lead facilitator of international courses in dialogue and mediation for the Folke Bernadotte Academy in Sweden and various UN programmes. He specialises in the design and facilitation of processes to build capacities for dialogue, mediation and collaborative leadership in socio-political conflict settings. Chris Spies has been involved in Infrastructure for Peace (I4P) related initiatives and developed curriculum and training courses on Collaborative Leadership and Dialogue for Nepal, Kenya, Malawi and Myanmar. From 2003 to 2006 Chris Spies served as Peace and Development Advisor for the Guyana Social Cohesion Programme based at the UNDP in Guyana, South America.
George Varughese
George Varughese is a Senior Adviser with the Niti Foundation in Nepal. Between 2009 and 2018, George Varughese served as the country representative of the Asia Foundation in Nepal. Prior to this position in Kathmandu, Varughese was The Asia Foundation’s country representative in Afghanistan. Prior to joining The Asia Foundation, he served as Country Program Development Advisor with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in Nepal. George Varughese has worked in the fields of political economy of development, social science research, and management in Nepal, India, Madagascar, and the United States. During the 2015-16 academic year George Varughese served as Visiting Professor and Senior Scholar in the University’s Global and Area Studies program. Varughese was a Senior Visiting Fellow of The Australian National University’s Asia-Pacific College of Diplomacy in 2010 and a Senior International Fellow of the City University of New York’s Graduate Center for Philanthropy and Civil Society in 2008.
George Varughese
George Varughese is a Senior Adviser with the Niti Foundation in Nepal. Between 2009 and 2018, George Varughese served as the country representative of the Asia Foundation in Nepal. Prior to this position in Kathmandu, Varughese was The Asia Foundation’s country representative in Afghanistan. Prior to joining The Asia Foundation, he served as Country Program Development Advisor with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in Nepal. George Varughese has worked in the fields of political economy of development, social science research, and management in Nepal, India, Madagascar, and the United States. During the 2015-16 academic year George Varughese served as Visiting Professor and Senior Scholar in the University’s Global and Area Studies program. Varughese was a Senior Visiting Fellow of The Australian National University’s Asia-Pacific College of Diplomacy in 2010 and a Senior International Fellow of the City University of New York’s Graduate Center for Philanthropy and Civil Society in 2008.
Founder
Strategic Partners
Advisory Council
Organization
Funders
Board of CSP