Isabel Aguilar Umaña is Regional Director of the Central America Youth Programme at Interpeace. A specialist in youth-related violence, prevention, rehabilitation and reinsertion programs, she designs public policy proposals, works with youth networks, and carries out advocacy on behalf of vulnerable and at-risk youths.
Bernardo Arévalo de León is Senior Peacebuilding Adviser at Interpeace’s International Peacebuilding Advisory Team, previously serving as Deputy Director General for Research and Development. Before working for Interpeace, Bernardo served in Guatemala’s foreign service for over 12 years, including as Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and as Ambassador to Spain.
Dr. Véronique Dudouet is Programme Director at the Berghof Foundation in Berlin, where she coordinates participatory action research, training and policy advice activities on “resistance and liberation movements in transition”. She holds an MA and PhD in Conflict Resolution from Bradford University, UK, as well as an MPhil in International Relations and Security and a BA in Political Science from the Institute d’Etudes Politiques, Toulouse, France.
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Joanna Wheeler is a research fellow at the Institute of Development Studies. Her interest in citizenship and violence builds on over 10 years of action research in Rio de Janeiro’s favelas. Her current research is on: local power and violence in Cape Town, the relationship between citizens and informal governance in an urban context; and the role of participatory visual methodologies in citizen action.
Ghulam Rasoul Rasouli has over 19 years of development experience in Afghanistan, working with international NGOS and the UN before joining the National Solidarity Program (NSP) of the Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. He is currently the Director of Operations for NSP.
Karim Merchant spent 14 years in Afghanistan working at regional level with international NGOs, then as a Chief Technical Advisor for the UN, and as a project formulator, programme director, and senior advisor to several ministers for the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. He is currently a freelance consultant in rural development and a lecturer in conflict-sensitive development.
Doreen Khoury is Middle East Liaison Officer at Hivos International. She was previously a research fellow at the German Institute for International and Security Studies, where she focused on the Syrian civilian grassroots movement, and has worked at the Heinrich Boell Foundation in their Middle East Office.
Bipin Adhikari is a constitutional expert from Nepal, and heads the Nepal Constitution Foundation in Kathmandu. He has particular interests in constitution-building processes, design options, democratisation and justice sector reforms. His latest publication in English is Nepal Constituent Assembly Impasse: Comments on a Failed process (Kathmandu: Nepal Consulting Lawyers Inc, 2010).
Virisila Buadromo is Executive Director of the Fiji Women’s Rights Movement (FWRM). In this role since 2001, Virisila has helped FWRM to advocate and lobby for gender equality and legal and policy reform. She is also chairperson of the Fiji NGO Coalition on Human Rights, and is a vocal presence on human rights issues in the country, particularly since the 2006 coup d’état.
Abdihakim Ainte is an independent consultant who has advised various UN and international agencies on a range of issues related to Somalia. His writing has appeared in major publications and contributed to multi-disciplinary research on Somalia. He regularly blogs at www.africanarguments.org
