The Women Mediators Across the Commonwealth (WMC) network comprises 49 women mediators and peacebuilders from across the Commonwealth with expertise and experience in the resolution of conflicts and prevention of violence in community, national and international settings.
Members of the WMC network bring a wealth of practical knowledge and experience from resolving electoral conflicts in Uganda, the mediation of political conflict in Myanmar, and involvement in UN mediation and peacebuilding efforts globally; to bridging divided communities in Northern Ireland and Cyprus, reducing political tensions and the implications of political instability in Bougainville and Kashmir; and the mediation of indigenous conflicts in both Australia and Canada.
The WMC network’s members include professional mediators and negotiators working on peace and mediation processes, civil society leaders, practicing lawyers and peacebuilding strategists, senior political figures, and local grassroots peacebuilders, with expertise in a range of critical issues from constitutional law, preventing violent extremism, addressing sexual violence in conflict to mediating climate related conflicts and border conflicts, as well as political and intra states mediation.
Together, members of the WMC are working for the greater recognition and inclusion of the crucial work done by women mediators and peacebuilders in all spaces, enabling access for women from the frontlines of conflict to the key spaces where policies are shaped and decisions are made and facilitated, and integrate gender responsiveness in analysis, policies and programming pertaining to the world’s most urgent crises and conflicts.
"Women's approaches and decision-making skills are the most under-utilised resource in conflict resolution and prevention. From my work with the WMC I have only been inspired by the amount of skills, knowledge and innovative approaches that members of the network apply to their day to day peace and mediation work that needs to be recognised, supported and incorporated in all peacebuilding and mediation efforts in fullest."
Quhramaana Kakar, Senior Strategic Advisor, WMC
To learn more about the members see womenmediators.org. To hear from the network members about the work of women mediators, watch Why Connecting Women Mediators Works.
Through the Centre’s support for the WMC network we will continue to demonstrate the transformative value of deploying women mediators in conflict settings around the world. Together, we will:
- Increase the participation of women mediators in peace and mediation processes and facilitate members’ deployment in mediation processes across the member states of the Commonwealth;
- Strengthen and contribute to development, international relations, peace and security scholarship through the WMC members’ inclusion in LSE WPS seminars, research activities, publications and interactions with the wider community of academics and students;
- Support WMC members ongoing pioneering peace and mediation efforts through funding their community, national and regional work;
- Build an ongoing evidence base and advocacy platform to collectively address the key barriers faced by women mediators by connecting with decision-makers so that they can benefit from the distinct experiences and alternative solutions to conflicts that woman can propose, but rarely get a chance to share.
Adah Mbah Muyang
Adah Mbah Muyang is a mediator, peace and human rights activist, a woman and youth leader. Adah is a recognised women’s human rights expert and peace leader with over fourteen years of experience.
See Adah's full bio >>
Betty Bigombe
Betty Bigombe is an internationally recognised, award-winning expert in conflict resolution, armed conflict mediation, and post-conflict peacemaking and rehabilitation. Her areas of expertise include: peacebuilding, mediator, negotiator and trainer of senior mediators, in-person mediation, reconciling fractured communities involving grassroots women, and demobilising and reintegrating ex-combatants.
See Betty's full bio >>
Dudziro Nhengu
Dudziro Nhengu is a gender peace and security practitioner and mediator based in Zimbabwe. A member of WMC, FemWise Africa, MBBI and Gender Associations International Consulting, Dudziro works with women, girls and traditional authorities to influence women-led mediation initiatives in local communities.
See Dudziro's full bio >>
Elizabeth Solomon
Elizabeth Solomon is an Industrial Court Judge and an experienced mediator in a wide variety of political, post-conflict and commercial contexts around the world. She is a Director of the Mediation Board of Trinidad & Tobago, Former Executive Director of the Dispute Resolution Centre and the Caribbean Centre for Human Rights and then Founder of Dialogue Solutions.
See Elizabeth's full bio >>
Esther Omam
Esther Omam is the Executive Director of Reach Out Cameroon. She has been at the forefront of mediation and development issues in the South West Region with Reach Out Cameroon since 2000. Esther has created the movement called South West/North West Women Task Force (SNOWT) with more than 150 members to contribute to ending the current crisis in the two Anglophone regions of Cameroon.
See Esther's full bio >>
Etong Fanny Bessem
Etong Fanny Bessem, Epse Ako-Egbe is a trained Civil Society Manager, holder of Bsc Economics, MBA degree, social enterprise/business consultant, mentor and coach with over seven years experience peacebuilding, mediation and community development. Fanny is also a humanitarian practitioner and has over three years experience in humanitarian mediation and family, conflict resolution in Cameroon.
See Etong's full bio >>
Florence Nasamaza
Since 2015, Florence has worked with traditional, religious and community leaders to promote critical thinking among communities about the threat of violent extremism and strengthen local understanding of radicalisation in ungoverned spaces and border areas in the Great Lakes Region, Africa. She has facilitated mediation processes between genocide survivors and perpetrators in order to restore the social fabric, to recreate families, to repair communities, and to rebuild a unified nation in the aftermath of the genocide against Tutsi in Rwanda.
See Florence's full bio >>
Florence Nyambura Mpaayei
Florence Nyambura Mpaayei is the senior advisor and coordinator of peacebuilding practice at Hekima Institute for Peace Studies and International Relations. A seasoned peacebuilding professional, Florence has extensive experience in designing strategies for conflict prevention and peacebuilding programmes. She has offered her expertise in building the capacities of peace actors, particularly women and youth in dialogue, negotiation, and mediation in numerous countries.
See Florence's full bio >>
Irene Limo
Irene Limo works with the United Nations Development Programme South Sudan within the Peace and Community Cohesion Project, where she supports community dialogues and civil society organisations working on the peace and development nexus in South Sudan. Until recently, Irene was the Coordinator of the Preventive Action and Mediation Cluster at the African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD) based in South Africa where she was responsible for leading the implementation of peacemaking and mediation initiatives.
See Irene's full bio >>
Janet Adama Mohammed
Janet is a dialogue facilitator with experience in multi-level mediation processes. Her skills in gender-sensitive conflict and peacebuilding analysis bring nuance to analyses often left out to ensure inclusive processes which are trauma-informed. She takes issues from experience in conflict context and effectively engages with policy actors at local, national, regional, and global levels.
See Janet's full bio >>
Janet Chigabatia-Adama
Janet Chigabatia-Adama a peace activist and has served as a member of the Government of Ghana instituted Peace Council, Northern region chapter since 2014. Janet participated in a number of stakeholder peace meetings towards reconciling feuding parties in both inter and intra-family conflicts in respect to succession unto chieftaincy skins in the region. Janet also played a key role in engaging regional political party executives and youth vigilante groups before, during and after the conduct of general elections, leading to smooth changes in governance from one political party to another.
See Janet's full bio >>
Justina Mike Ngwobia
Elder Amb. Justina Mike Ngwobia has worked with rural, and urban communities in Northern Nigeria through empowering women, girls and young people, and building their capacities in dialogue, peace, security and governance issues. Through her organisation Justice, Peace and Reconciliation Movement (JPRM), Women Peacebuilders Network in Nigeria and Women Peace Mentors and Mediators forum, she has mediated conflicts on farmer-herder conflicts, land/boundary disputes, Indigene/settler divide.
See Justina's full bio >>
Lantana Bako Abdullahi
Lantana Bako Abdullahi is the National Co-Coordinator of the Nigerian Women Mediators Network and leads a local women-focused organisation called Women for Positive Peacebuilding Initiative. She is a member of the Steering Committee of the Women Mediators Across the Commonwealth network and the ECOWAS FemWise. Lantana has participated in many mediation efforts both locally and regionally, including facilitating mediation between pastoralists and farmers to respond to the incessant violent conflicts in central Nigeria.
See Lantana's full bio >>
Linda Manano
Linda Manano is a Lawyer, Human Rights Practitioner and a Court Accredited Mediator. She has been instrumental in mediating land disputes, family and civil mediation in the West Nile Districts of Uganda (Arua, Yumbe, Nebbi, Zombo and Pakwach). Linda has facilitated a number of Community Rural Mediation trainings for local community leaders and most recently participated in the formulation of mediation policies and guidelines for Refugee Welfare Committee (RWC) in Bidibidi , the largest refugee settlement in Uganda.
See Linda's full bio >>
Mable Chawinga
Mable Chawinga is a community level mediator. She has vast experience in managing community disagreements especially on land disputes, gender-based violence, sexual violence against adolescent girls and young women. She has skills including designing inclusive mediation processes, conflict analysis, managing early warnings and response mechanisms, managing peace agreements and formulating policy briefs. She holds a Master's degree in Managing Peace and Security in Africa from Addis Ababa University in Ethiopia.
See Mable's full bio >>
Magda Zenon
Magda Zenon is a peace and human rights activist who brings with her a perspective formed within the contexts of having lived in apartheid South Africa, Greece, and now Cyprus. She is an active member of the local civil society with a focus on the integration of a gender perspective in decision-making including peace processes. She has helped found a number of civil society organisations, including Hands Across the Divide, the Gender Advisory Team, and the Cyprus Women’s Lobby.
See Magda's full bio >>
Meredith Preston McGhie
Meredith Preston McGhie has devoted more than 20 years to addressing conflict and instability in Africa and Asia in some of the most troubled situations. From working with the Naga in Northeast India and indigenous communities on the Thai-Myanmar border, to supporting peacemaking efforts in Kosovo, Northern Iraq, South Sudan, Sudan, Somalia, Kenya, Nigeria and elsewhere, her work has straddled frontline negotiation, policy and diplomacy.
See Meredith's full bio >>
Neha Sanghrajka
Neha Sanghrajka is a negotiator, mediation advisor and author with a track record of definitive and positive outcomes in high-stakes negotiations. She has more than twelve years of experience in conflict prevention, resolution and mediation, including working for Kofi Annan in Kenya on the 2007 electoral crisis, dialogue and reform process and most recently with the United Nations Secretary General’s Personal Envoy for Mozambique as a mediator in the definitive Mozambican peace accord.
See Neha's full bio >>
Noliettie Chihana
Noliettie Chihana is a mediation specialist currently working with the Malawi Police Service. She holds a Master's degree in Diplomacy and International Relations, a Bachelors degree in Business Communication, a diploma in Mass Communication and a Certificate in Journalism. Amongst peace and security-related training, Noliettie has certificates in Mediation, Command and Leadership for emerging policewomen officers, Integrated civil-military coordination in peace support operations, Crisis information management, Public affairs, Commanding United Nations peacekeeping operations, Ethics in peacekeeping, Security Sector Reform, Police Middle management and Public Relations.
See Noliettie's full bio >>
Patricia Ndhlovu
Patricia is an experienced leader, mediator, counsellor, facilitator, policy analyst, communicator, negotiator and gender expert, with over 15 years of accumulated practical experience in Zambia. Key focus areas of expertise include electoral conflict mediation and facilitation, prevention of gender-based violence, family conferencing to resolve disputes, advocacy for and participation in policy and legal reform processes, awareness creation on peaceful resolution of disputes and facilitating dialogues for peaceful resolution of disputes in communities and promoting of women’s participation in all decision making processes.
See Patricia's full bio >>
Robinah Rubimbwa
Robinah Rubimbwa is a feminist communications specialist, poet, educator, mediator and peace activist. She is the Founder and National Coordinator of the Coalition for Action on Resolution 1325 (CoACT), an alliance of women’s organisation working for full implementation of the women, peace and security agenda in Uganda. She is also the founding Executive Director of the Centre for Women in Governance.
See Robinah's full bio >>
Sanam Naraghi Anderlini
Sanam Naraghi Anderlini has 25 years experience as a peace strategist working globally on conflicts and violent extremism. In 2000 she was a civil society leader and drafter of UNSC Resolution 1325 on women, peace and security. She spearheads the global Women’s Alliance for Security Leadership (WASL) with members in over 40 countries. In 2011 she was the first Gender and Inclusion Senior Expert on the UN’s Mediation Standby Team.
See Sanam's full bio >>
Stephanie Ijeoma Ladele
Stephanie Ijeoma Ladele is the founder of the Environmental Conflict Mediation and Women Development Initiative in Nigeria. She is an environmental activist, with experience working on strengthening stakeholders engagement in community development projects and mediation using the indigenous approach to resolving resource-based conflict and gender-sensitive approaches to climate change.
See Stephanie's full bio >>
Ulemu Diana Makumba
Since 2011, Uleumu has mediated land conflicts at the community level, particularly working with vulnerable groups who have been enticed to sell their land. Ulemu has also worked alongside governmental and non-governmental development programmes, mediating conflicts within communities arising from the distribution of aid.
See Ulemu's full bio >>
Alicia Kuin
Alicia Kuin is a mediator and conflict transformation specialist having facilitated over 700 processes. Alicia mediates complex multiparty intercultural, ideological, human rights, government, military, academic, and workplace conflicts. She teaches at Osgoode Hall in the LL.M. in ADR programme on the topics of Conflict Analysis and Process Design. Her international experience includes working alongside legal counsel at the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and to the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDF).
Read Alicia's full bio >>
Betty Bigombe
Betty Bigombe is an internationally recognised, award-winning expert in conflict resolution, armed conflict mediation, and post-conflict peacemaking and rehabilitation. Her areas of expertise include: peacebuilding, mediator, negotiator and trainer of senior mediators, in-person mediation, reconciling fractured communities involving grassroots women, and demobilising and reintegrating ex-combatants.
See Betty's full bio >>
Cate Buchanan
Cate Buchanan currently works as the Conflict Adviser for the Livelihoods and Food Security Fund Myanmar, with UNFPA Myanmar on conflict-related sexual violence and for the UN Office of the Special Envoy for the Secretary-General on Yemen as a Senior Adviser. Cate also acts in retainer roles for the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue and the UN Mediation Support Unit.
See Cate's full bio >>
Elizabeth Solomon
Elizabeth Solomon is an Industrial Court Judge and an experienced mediator in a wide variety of political, post-conflict and commercial contexts around the world. She is a Director of the Mediation Board of Trinidad & Tobago, Former Executive Director of the Dispute Resolution Centre and the Caribbean Centre for Human Rights and then Founder of Dialogue Solutions.
See Elizabeth's full bio >>
Sanam Naraghi Anderlini
Sanam Naraghi Anderlini has 25 years experience as a peace strategist working globally on conflicts and violent extremism. In 2000 she was a civil society leader and drafter of UNSC Resolution 1325 on women, peace and security. She spearheads the global Women’s Alliance for Security Leadership (WASL) with members in over 40 countries. In 2011 she was the first Gender and Inclusion Senior Expert on the UN’s Mediation Standby Team.
See Sanam's full bio >>
Ameya Kilara
Ameya Kilara heads the South Asian Leadership Initiative, a cutting-edge leadership institute dedicated to building peace in the region. The initiative partners with Inter Mediate and leadership experts at the Harvard Kennedy School. She previously managed the South Asia Programme at Conciliation Resources, facilitating dialogue initiatives across the Line of Control in Kashmir and an India-Pakistan track two process with former military and intelligence chiefs.
Read Ameya's full bio >>
Atia Anwer Zoon
Atia Anwer Zoon is currently working as Director of KIIR Women Wing where her work focuses on capacity building and skill development of women on Peacebuilding, Leadership and Mediation. She has 15 years of experience in community and inter-regional level mediation.
See Atia's full bio >>
Cate Buchanan
Cate Buchanan currently works as the Conflict Adviser for the Livelihoods and Food Security Fund Myanmar, with UNFPA Myanmar on conflict-related sexual violence and for the UN Office of the Special Envoy for the Secretary-General on Yemen as a Senior Adviser. Cate also acts in retainer roles for the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue and the UN Mediation Support Unit.
See Cate's full bio >>
Emma Leslie
Emma Leslie, an Australian - Cambodian, director of the Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies, supports peace processes across the Asia region. Since 1993 she has been committed to the field of conflict transformation, undertaking a range of initiatives in weapons reduction, landmine related disputes, community-based peacebuilding and interfaith dialogue. She developed the MA and PhD programs in Applied Conflict Transformation Studies together with Pannasastra University of Cambodia and two years ago launched the Cambodia Peace Museum.
See Emma's full bio >>
Ezabir Ali
Ezabir Ali is a Commonwealth professional and Harvard Alumnae from Kashmir. In the course of her 25-year career, she has served in the public and non-profit sectors in Jammu and Kashmir. For more than two decades, she has done extensive work on the psycho-social healing and economic development of women in Kashmir. Ezabir Ali has documented the impact of conflict on the lives of women in Jammu and Kashmir, including those living along the Line of Control (LoC), Ezabir’s work on the issues affecting half-widows has led to increased support and understanding amongst religious leaders, hard-to-engage groups and society at large, on the rights of women in general and half-widows in particular.
See Ezabir's full bio >>
Meredith Preston McGhie
Meredith Preston McGhie has devoted more than 20 years to addressing conflict and instability in Africa and Asia in some of the most troubled situations. From working with the Naga in Northeast India and indigenous communities on the Thai-Myanmar border, to supporting peacemaking efforts in Kosovo, Northern Iraq, South Sudan, Sudan, Somalia, Kenya, Nigeria and elsewhere, her work has straddled frontline negotiation, policy and diplomacy.
See Meredith's full bio >>
Mossarat Qadeem
Mossarat Qadeem is co-founder of PAIMAN Alumni Trust, a pioneer organisation in preventing/countering violent extremism (P/CVE) in Pakistan. She has a decade of experience in restorative practices (community building, problem solving, harm reducing circles), customised training for organisations, including conflict management and de-escalation, managing high-conflict personalities, negotiation, mediation, mediator skills for working professionals, mediation advocacy, women leaders and organisations.
See Mossarat's full bio >>
Nicole Waintraub
Nicole Waintraub is a Mediation Advisor expert in facilitation and inclusive process design. She applied these skills in designing and implementing Track 1.5 processes engaging senior military officials and other stakeholders in developing ceasefire management practices and other security arrangements in the India-Pakistan context and in the Middle East. Most recently, she has been focusing her development on gender-responsive ceasefire agreements, which she formalised, in 2020, through a certification programme in gender-responsive and inclusive mediation.
See Nicole's full bio >>
Nikhat Sattar
As a development professional, most of Nikhat's peace and conflict related work has been in facilitating discussions with women and youth, conducting training on gender inclusive processes, research on women, peace and security and religious harmony. Nikhat has also provided support and comments on rules for Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR).
See Nikhat's full bio >>
Salma Yusuf
Salma Yusuf is a peace practitioner and mediator from Sri Lanka. She specialises in policy and process development, strategic advocacy, and thought-leadership. She has previously worked as a public official in Government, a university lecturer and researcher, a journalist, and a civil society activist nationally and internationally. In recognition of her professional contributions, she has received leadership awards from the U.S. Department of State, the Foreign Ministry of France, and the European Union.
See Salma's full bio >>
Sanam Naraghi Anderlini
Sanam Naraghi Anderlini has 25 years experience as a peace strategist working globally on conflicts and violent extremism. In 2000 she was a civil society leader and drafter of UNSC Resolution 1325 on women, peace and security. She spearheads the global Women’s Alliance for Security Leadership (WASL) with members in over 40 countries. In 2011 she was the first Gender and Inclusion Senior Expert on the UN’s Mediation Standby Team.
See Sanam's full bio >>
Sumaiya Tanim
Sumaiya Tanim has worked with young student community across Bangladesh to build awareness against hate speech since 2017. As a Programme Associate at the Tolerance, Peace and Respect (TRP) Project at MOVE Foundation, she designs and facilitates peacebuilding processes to develop the capacity of the mainstream (school, college and university) and marginalised (religious and ethnic minority) youths, particularly female students in peace and civic education.
See Sumaiya's full bio >>
Sumona DasGupta
Sumona DasGupta has worked in the area of women, peace and security as a scholar-practitioner for 20 years, facilitating dialogues across conflict fault-lines in Indian Kashmir, evaluating peace interventions with youth, education, women, cross border trade and working with women survivors of conflict with a special focus on psycho-social aspects. Gender-based violence as a fallout of militarisation of state and society has been an area of engagement, particularly in Kashmir where she has co-facilitated workshops and co-designed interventions designed to addressed trauma.
See Sumona's full bio >>
Visaka Dharmadasa
Visaka Dharmadasa is the founder and Chair of Association of War Affected Women and Parents of Servicemen Missing in Action. In struggling to end the civil war in Sri Lanka, she brokered the ceasefire as well as brought women across the conflict lines to work for peace. She also works on the Women, Peace and Security agenda, calling for the inclusion of women at all levels of peacebuilding and decision making. She trains women to run for political office and on power-sharing. She was awarded the prestigious Humanitarian award for 2006 by InterAction.
See Visaka's full bio >>
Elizabeth Solomon
Elizabeth Solomon is an Industrial Court Judge and an experienced mediator in a wide variety of political, post-conflict and commercial contexts around the world. She is a Director of the Mediation Board of Trinidad & Tobago, Former Executive Director of the Dispute Resolution Centre and the Caribbean Centre for Human Rights and then Founder of Dialogue Solutions.
See Elizabeth's full bio >>
Sabrina Mowlah-Baksh
Sabrina Mowlah-Baksh holds a MSc in Gender and Development Studies and has worked with women and communities for over 30 years. Her experience in mediation spans a broad spectrum and she has mediated at the community level, in local government and national spaces. Sabrina has significant experience in working with multi-ethnic communities having worked on issues of gun violence, women's peace security and gender based violence.
See Sabrina's full bio >>
Sanam Naraghi Anderlini
Sanam Naraghi Anderlini has 25 years experience as a peace strategist working globally on conflicts and violent extremism. In 2000 she was a civil society leader and drafter of UNSC Resolution 1325 on women, peace and security. She spearheads the global Women’s Alliance for Security Leadership (WASL) with members in over 40 countries. In 2011 she was the first Gender and Inclusion Senior Expert on the UN’s Mediation Standby Team.
See Sanam's full bio >>
Bebhinn McKinley
Bebhinn McKinley is a Good Relations, Peace and Reconciliation Practitioner. Bebhinn currently works within local government in Northern Ireland after having previously held posts at an operational and policy level in a number of NGO's, and the Office of the First and Deputy First Minister on the implementation of the Together: Building a United Community Strategy.
See Bebhinn's full bio >>
Elizabeth Solomon
Elizabeth Solomon is an Industrial Court Judge and an experienced mediator in a wide variety of political, post-conflict and commercial contexts around the world. She is a Director of the Mediation Board of Trinidad & Tobago, Former Executive Director of the Dispute Resolution Centre and the Caribbean Centre for Human Rights and then Founder of Dialogue Solutions.
See Elizabeth's full bio >>
Emine Çolak
Emine Çolak has worked in mediation, negotiation and facilitation for over 20 years, she has played important roles at both civil society level and in managing processes for constitutional structures to resolve division. Her work in human rights seeks to reinforce equality and the spread of a peace culture in divided societies. She served as the Minister for Foreign Affairs 2015-16. As a co-founder of the Turkish Cypriot Mediation Association she has worked on awareness-raising and practical training to educate on the benefits of mediation as an alternative dispute resolving technique.
See Emine's full bio >>
Magda Zenon
Magda Zenon is a peace and human rights activist who brings with her a perspective formed within the contexts of having lived in apartheid South Africa, Greece, and now Cyprus. She is an active member of the local civil society with a focus on the integration of a gender perspective in decision-making including peace processes. She has helped found a number of civil society organisations, including Hands Across the Divide, the Gender Advisory Team, and the Cyprus Women’s Lobby.
See Magda's full bio >>
Sara Cook
Sara Cook is a conflict response specialist who has extensive experience working with people affected by conflict in Northern Ireland and internationally. Her peacebuilding work includes mediation, dialogue and storytelling encounters between conflict-affected populations, including victims and survivors of violence, security forces and paramilitaries. Much of her work addresses the psychosocial effects of conflict, including the impact of mediation and peacebuilding work on practitioners.
See Sara's full bio >>
Cate Buchanan
Cate Buchanan currently works as the Conflict Adviser for the Livelihoods and Food Security Fund Myanmar, with UNFPA Myanmar on conflict-related sexual violence and for the UN Office of the Special Envoy for the Secretary-General on Yemen as a Senior Adviser. Cate also acts in retainer roles for the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue and the UN Mediation Support Unit.
See Cate's full bio >>
Emma Leslie
Emma Leslie, an Australian - Cambodian, director of the Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies, supports peace processes across the Asia region. Since 1993 she has been committed to the field of conflict transformation, undertaking a range of initiatives in weapons reduction, landmine related disputes, community-based peacebuilding and interfaith dialogue. She developed the MA and PhD programs in Applied Conflict Transformation Studies together with Pannasastra University of Cambodia and two years ago launched the Cambodia Peace Museum.
See Emma's full bio >>
Nicole Waintraub
Nicole Waintraub is a Mediation Advisor expert in facilitation and inclusive process design. She applied these skills in designing and implementing Track 1.5 processes engaging senior military officials and other stakeholders in developing ceasefire management practices and other security arrangements in the India-Pakistan context and in the Middle East. Most recently, she has been focusing her development on gender-responsive ceasefire agreements, which she formalised, in 2020, through a certification programme in gender-responsive and inclusive mediation.
See Nicole's full bio >>
Sanam Naraghi Anderlini
Sanam Naraghi Anderlini has 25 years experience as a peace strategist working globally on conflicts and violent extremism. In 2000 she was a civil society leader and drafter of UNSC Resolution 1325 on women, peace and security. She spearheads the global Women’s Alliance for Security Leadership (WASL) with members in over 40 countries. In 2011 she was the first Gender and Inclusion Senior Expert on the UN’s Mediation Standby Team.
See Sanam's full bio >>
Sara Cook
Sara Cook is a conflict response specialist who has extensive experience working with people affected by conflict in Northern Ireland and internationally. Her peacebuilding work includes mediation, dialogue and storytelling encounters between conflict-affected populations, including victims and survivors of violence, security forces and paramilitaries. Much of her work addresses the psychosocial effects of conflict, including the impact of mediation and peacebuilding work on practitioners.
See Sara's full bio >>
Barbara Tanne
Barbara Tanne has 18 years of hands-on experience working with the women, girls and the communities in peacebuilding, leadership and mentoring. Barbara’s work is made possible through working with the Civil Society Organisations and the government of Bougainville. Her greatest accomplishments have been the empowerment and mentoring of women and girls in leadership and conducting peacebuilding dialogues and mediation in the lead up to the referendum of Bougainville.
See Barbara's full bio >>
Cate Buchanan
Cate Buchanan currently works as the Conflict Adviser for the Livelihoods and Food Security Fund Myanmar, with UNFPA Myanmar on conflict-related sexual violence and for the UN Office of the Special Envoy for the Secretary-General on Yemen as a Senior Adviser. Cate also acts in retainer roles for the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue and the UN Mediation Support Unit.
See Cate's full bio >>
Emma Leslie
Emma Leslie, an Australian - Cambodian, director of the Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies, supports peace processes across the Asia region. Since 1993 she has been committed to the field of conflict transformation, undertaking a range of initiatives in weapons reduction, landmine related disputes, community-based peacebuilding and interfaith dialogue. She developed the MA and PhD programs in Applied Conflict Transformation Studies together with Pannasastra University of Cambodia and two years ago launched the Cambodia Peace Museum.
See Emma's full bio >>
Florence Swamy
Florence Swamy, Executive Director of the Pacific Centre for Peacebuilding, works in Restorative Justice, Women’s Peacebuilding Leadership and Community Peacebuilding. Programmatic work in these thematic areas provide skills, capacity, and support to local communities (and other stakeholders including Government) so as to enable the citizens to engage with different stakeholders, at different levels, to bring about positive and lasting changes.
See Florence's full bio >>
Helen Bishop
Helen Bishop is a Kungarakan woman of the Northern Territory, Australia. Her academic focus has been in her professional ambitions to enlarge procedural fairness, dispute resolution, problem-solving and participatory agreement making, specifically to enhance First Nation Australians' access to such services across Australia. Helen champions dispute resolution as a means of closing the gap in service provision as a constructive tool to enable greater access to restorative justice, effective governance and peacebuilding practices.
See Helen's full bio >>
Miriam Labanue
Miriam Labanue serves as a mediation and peacebuilding trainer in Bougainville, Papua New Guinea in the Pacific Region. She focuses on building bridges and engaging with emerging leaders and youths in remote rural areas. She also undertakes counselling and peer to peer dialogue with the conflicting parties, mostly targeting women and girls who are victims of the violence.
See Miriam's full bio >>
Rose Pihei
Rose Pihei has been working to empower women since 2003, and has been actively engaged in peacebuilding work since 2006, when she pioneered the umbrella women's organisation now formally known as the Bougainville Women's Federation. In 2010 Rose was elected as member for South Bougainville Women, and was allocated as the Minister for Community Development. Rose initiated the National Action Plan on United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 (Women, Peace and Security), which was adopted as a government policy in 2013, and merged with Women's Empowerment and Gender and Equality.
See Rose's full bio >>
