He has more than ten years of experience designing, leading, managing, and implementing humanitarian, peace, and security nexus programs that promote stability, community resilience, and peace in conflict-affected countries. From 2016 to 2023, Omar worked with IOM in both Somalia and South Sudan, implementing peace and security programs. Omar’s experience included Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration (DDR); Security Sector Reform (SSR); Youth Peace & Security (YPS); Prevention and Countering of Violent Extremism (PCVE); community-oriented policing; migration and border management.

In 2019, with IOM, Omar was among the team leading the pioneering DDR programme, focusing on the rehabilitation and reintegration of women formerly associated with armed groups in Somalia. In South Sudan, he led the community policing portfolio, fostering collaboration between police and communities in the border areas. In his current role, with the United Nations Transitional Assistance Mission (UNTMIS) in Somalia, he made significant contributions to the Somalia national Prevention and Countering of Violent Extremism (PCVE) strategy (2024-2027).

His academic achievements include an MSc in Security Sector Management (SSM) from Cranfield University, UK, and an MA in Global Security and Strategy at the University of London, School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), UK.

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As a feminist researcher, Leena emphasizes research ethics in all aspects of her work, and has been among the first scholars to use auto-photography in peace and conflict research. Leena is the author of ‘Liberia’s Women Veterans: War, Roles and Reintegration’ (Zed Books 2018), and the recipient of the Raimo Väyrynen dissertation prize of 2019 for the best PhD dissertation in International Relations written in a Finnish university between 2016 and 2018.

In addition to academia, Leena has worked in the areas of development cooperation and consultancy (e.g. Plan International Finland and Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland). Before joining SEDU, she was the Planning and Reporting officer at the EU Civilian Crisis Management Mission in the Central African Republic, being a member of the core team setting up the mission.

To read more about Leena Vastapuu, kindly visit: https://www.fhs.se/sc/profile-page.html?identity=400.5ddcd7d717aa7ad81ebbe974

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His other areas of expertise and research interests include UN peace operations, UN arms embargoes, prevention of diversion, illicit arms and ammunition flows, counter-terrorism, and conflict prevention. Prior to re-joining UNIDIR, Hardy worked for the Arms Embargo Cell of the UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the DR Congo (MONUSCO), UNMAS, MONUSCO, Geneva Call and the Swiss Federal Department for Foreign Affairs.

He holds a master’s degree in International Relations, Peace and Security Studies from the Institute for International Studies in Barcelona, as well as a bachelor’s degree in International Relations from the University of Geneva.

Hardy has authored, co-authored, and contributed to numerous publications on conventional arms control. He speaks English, French, Spanish and (Swiss) German.

To read more about Hardy Giesendanner, kindly visit: https://www.unidir.org/staff/hardy-giezendanner

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Before joining BICC’s DDR advisory project, Milena worked at the UN Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) in New York where she supported small arms control initiatives in Africa with national and regional partners, including the African Union and the Regional Centre on Small Arms (RECSA).

She also worked as an Advisor on small arms control at BICC, engaging in regional small arms control initiatives in Africa, notably physical security and stockpile management (PSSM) and weapons and ammunition management (WAM). Milena also worked as a DDR Officer for the UN Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) and the Belgian Development Cooperation in Niger.

She holds a Master degree in International Relations from the University of Louvain (UCL) and is pursuing her PhD on the Reintegration of former combatants in Niger.

To read more about Milena Berks, kindly visit: https://www.bicc.de/about/staff/staffmember/member/646-berks/

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Khaled has accumulated an expertise in supporting national stakeholders to design and implement complex DDR and CVR programs that had led to significant peace consolidation. As a senior staff of UN Peacekeeping operations, and given his background as a professional diplomat with the government of Egypt, Khaled was a pioneer in negotiating sensitive Security Council mandates on DDR, CVR and SSR and other stabilization measures with national authorities both at the civilian and the military levels to ensure a transparent, inclusive, gender and human rights based processes that would lead to effective DDR processes and programs.

He has been praised for his innovative approaches and some of the programs he conceived have been considered as an added value to international Best Practice. He also played a strategic role in providing political and security advice to UN senior leadership including DPO, UNCT and UN Humanitarian country teams (HCT) on DDR, CVR and SSR issues and their impact on the overall mandated objectives of the UN particularly in Protection of Civilians, Restoration of State Authority and supporting complex and participatory political processes. Khaled has also played a crucial role in advocacy and resource mobilization given his long experiences in coordinating multiple DDR stakeholders both at national and international levels.

Khaled worked in several countries in the African continent, such Sudan, South Sudan, Côte d’Ivoire, Mali, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Central African Republic (CAR). He also served in other conflict-affected settings such as Lybia and Yemen. He is currently the Principal Coordinator of the Stabilization Support Unit in the United Nations Stabilization Mission in the DRC.

Khaled is fully bilingual (English- French). His mother tongue is Arabic and he is also fluent in Italian.

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He joined the United Nations (UN) system in May 2000, and have since worked in fragile post conflict and politically sensitive settings with UNDPKO (UNOCI, MUNSCO and MINUSCA), UNDP and UN ILO in Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR), Child protection, Human Rights, Community Violence Reduction and Security Sector Reform (SSR) in DRC, Côte d’Ivoire and CAR, including cross-border issues in Chad, Sudan, Mali and Liberia in addition to field complex surveys (UNICEF) and humanitarian work (WVI).

Dr. Ntanga holds master’s Degrees in Rural Development, in Labour Economy and a PhD in Development Economics respectively from Institut Supérieur de Déveleppement Rural (ISDR) Tshibashi, (DRC), Université Toulouse (France) and Université Alassane Ouattara (Ivory Coast). In addition, he is a passionate University Associate Professor, teaching various courses including Community and Rural development and related subjects.

He has (co) authored several books and articles available online, including the Reducing Community Violence in the Central African Republic – The Case of Bria | Small Wars Journal with Dr. Robert MUGGAH.

To read more about Jean de Dieu Desire Ntanga Ntita and the work of MINUSCA, kindly visit: https://minusca.unmissions.org/en

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She brings a development perspective to the often-securitized DDR and PRR approaches and guides UNDP to provide sustainable reintegration solutions for former members of armed forces and groups, their families and communities.

Glaucia brings over 20 years of experience in the UN system, of which 15 years with UNDP as a peacebuilding and development practitioner. She was part of the Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery from 2006 to 2014 and the Bureau for Policy and Programme Support from 2014 to 2018 and has since then been with the Crisis Bureau. Her one-the-ground technical advice and support has spanned across several countries and regions over these years – Burundi, Central African Republic, Colombia, Comoros, Congo-Brazzaville, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Indonesia/Aceh, Iraq, Niger, Nigeria, The Philippines, Rwanda, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Uganda, Ukraine – and the Great Lakes and Lake Chad Basin regions and institutions.

Since 2018, Glaucia has provided dedicated technical assistance to the formulation of Prosecution, Rehabilitation and Reintegration (PRR) strategies within the framework of counterterrorism, with focus on community-based reintegration (in Iraq for families with perceived association with ISIL) and through regional approaches in the Lake Chad Basin countries (Cameroon, Chad, Niger, Nigeria in response to the Boko Haram Crisis).

Glaucia has a Law Degree (1990) from the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil, and a PhD in International Relations with focus on Statebuilding/Peacebuilding (2005) from The Graduate Institute of International Studies, in Geneva, Switzerland.

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Mr. Diagne has in the last 20 years gained extensive experience in the field of DDR, and is adept in political and military dynamics of conflict given his background and work in MINUSMA combined with the expertise gained in ONUCI, MONUC and MONUSCO. During his time with the UN, Mr. Diagne has collected, analyzed and shared critical insights that facilitated the leadership’s decision on strategy and approaches to SSR/DDR.

As an active member of the implementation of the defense and security provisions of the Peace Agreement in Mali, which include SSR and DDR aspects, Mr. Diagne is attending and charing many different fora, including among others the SSR-DDR working group and secretary/focal point of the SSR-DDR strategic committee headed by the SRSG and attended by the ambassadors in the country.

In addition, Mr. Diagne has contributed to the drafting and finalizing of the accelerated DDR program to facilitate the disarmament and demobilization of 2200 combatants of signatories armed groups and the integration of 1765 of them into the Malian defense and security forces, the Community Rehabilitation Program designed for the Center of Mali, and the National DDR Strategy and program in Mali.

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He is currently an independent consultant providing technical analysis, capacity enhancement and advisory services to UNDP-Nigeria and other international organizations in DDR, counter-terrorism and reintegration of formerly associated insurgents in the Lake Chad Basin Region.

Peter is an economist by training with a legal background and experienced management consultant in complex and dynamic political, conflict-affected and post-war environments. Most of this experience is in Horn of Africa, Great-Lakes Region and Lake Chad Basin in Africa, particularly in Uganda, Somalia, Kenya, Rwanda, Ethiopia, South Sudan and Nigeria. He also worked in countries such as Gambia and France in global policy formulation for human rights and gender mainstreaming. He has conducted reviews for publications on reintegration of formerly associated insurgents and conflict-affected persons and also co-authored “Deradicalisation and Disengagement in Somalia: Evidence from a Rehabilitation Programme for Former Members of Al-Shabaab.”

From 2007 to 2015, he was a Programme Officer with UNESCO in Uganda providing technical stewardship on programme design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation in the UNESCO’s areas competence. He also worked with Adam Smith International as Deputy Team Leader in Somalia (2015-2021) in the FCDO-funded Counter Extremism Programme. He has also conducted consultancies on monitoring and evaluation, conflict and risk analyses (IOM-Ethiopia) and developing PVE policies and programmes (EIP-Iraq).

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She has served in the United Nations system since 2004, in various United Nations Peacekeeping missions and UN Special Political Missions and in the United Nations Development Programme. She served in the United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM) as Head of DDR Section in 2017-2018, based in Mogadishu; as DDR Officer, Head of the “Operations & Projects Cell, in MINUSCA (United Nations Mission in Central African Republic), from March 2015 to March 2017; in MONUSCO (UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo) as DDR/RR Team Leader/North Kivu from March 2013 to March 2015, based in Goma; in UNMIS (UN Mission in Sudan), based in Wau/Western Bahr-el Ghazal State, and in UNMISS (UN Mission in South Sudan), based in Juba, as Civil Affairs Officer from end 2010 to March 2013; in the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq as Humanitarian Affairs Officer, based in Baghdad, from July 2009 to December 2010; in the United Nations Operation in Ivory Coast (UNOCI) as DDR Officer between 2007 and 2009.

She served as Reintegration Expert for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in the period 2004-2006, in a programme for reintegration of ex-combatants and community recovery in the eastern D.R. Congo. She worked in Kosovo from October 2001 to March 2004 for an International NGO, implementing projects for the socio-economic reintegration of people with disabilities.

Prior to these work experiences in post-conflict contexts, she worked in Italy, her home country, in various programmes for socio-economic reintegration of vulnerable groups (people with disabilities, ex-detainees, ex-drug addicts, immigrant women victims of trafficking).

Ms Zenaide Gatelli holds a University Degree in Sociology and a Masters Degree in Peacebuilding and Conflict Management from the University of Trento (Italy).

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