Mediators

Bochra Belhaj Hmida

Categories: Arabic, Children law, French, Human rights, Social and family law, Tunisia
Location: Tunisia
Geographical expertise: Tunisia
Thematic expertise: social and family law, children law, women’s law, human rights
Languages: Arabic and French

Bochra Bel Haj Hmida is an attorney at the Court of Cassation and a member of the Assembly of People’s Representatives since 2014. She is a feminist activist who has contributed to the creation of several associations and has participated in human rights campaigns. She was the President of the Tunisian Association of Democratic Women and then appointed General Secretary from 2003 to 2005. She is a member of the first network of Arab women. Additionally, she is also the co-founder and member of The Caucus for Women Politicians in the Arab Region, working with women in conflict zones on UNSC Resolution 1325 related issues. She was appointed President of the Committee on Rights and Freedoms of the People’s Assembly, is President of the Committee on Individual Freedoms and Equality and a member of the G7 Advisory Council for Gender Equality. She has given several conferences internationally. She was awarded honors by several Arab and Western organizations and women’s magazines additionally to being given the medal of the Type 2 Order of the Republic, the Anna Lindh Civil Society Award in 2015, the Hero award of the Global Campaign against Extremism and Intolerance from the International Coalition of Hope and the Fatima El Fehri award from the Muslims for Progressive Values Association. She has always been involved in mediation, as a lawyer practicing family mediation, as an activist when attending international trials and investigation on human rights violations including sexual violence in conflict zones and as a member of parliament negotiating between parties including for the introduction of a law on violence again women.

Bochra Belhaj Hmida

Bochra Bel Haj Hmida is an attorney at the Court...

Claudia Maffettone

Categories: Africa, English, Europe & EU, French, High-level processes, Italian, Mediation, Mediation, Mena Region, Peace processes, Spanish, Track II diplomacy, USA
Location: Italy
Geographical expertise: MENA Region, Africa, USA, EU
Topical expertise: Mediation, Track II, high-level processes
Languages: Italian, English, French, Spanish

Claudia Maffettone is the Track II Mediation Program Manager at Search for Common Ground. She has led over 35 dialogue initiatives in support of US-Iran and US-Russian relations, the Syrian peace process, demining in Libya, and of broader inclusion in peace processes. She is an advocate for the advancement of the practice of mediation and leads an international consortium to support African insider mediators and their engagement in high-level processes. She is an experienced mediator, trained at the US Institute of Peace, PATRIR, Harvard Law School, and the New York City Bar. Previously, Claudia worked at Soliya, a pioneering organization in the field of virtual exchange and intercultural dialogue, advancing partnerships with educational institutions, NGOs and CSOs in the MENA Region, Asia, Europe, and North America. Claudia holds a BA in International Relations and Diplomacy from the Universita’ degli Studi di Napoli ‘L’Orientale’, in Italy, and a MA Conflict Resolution from the University of Bradford in the UK, where is studied as a Rotary Peace Fellow. Through her work, Claudia has had the opportunity to learn that while only a small number of women are mediators, signatories or negotiators in peace processes, the engagement of women in mediation makes peace agreements all the more likely to succeed.  Thus she is eager to ensure those numbers increase and that the women at the table may be equipped with the best tools to make a meaningful difference and increase the sustainability of peace agreements.

Claudia Maffettone

Claudia Maffettone is the Track II Mediation Program Manager at...

Dalal Iriqat

Categories: 3rd party role in negotiations, Arabic, Coercive Diplomacy, Diplomacy, English, French, Mediation, Nation Branding and Soft Power, Palestine
Location: Palestine
Geographical expertise: Palestine
Thematic expertise: diplomacy, state building, mediation and peace related topics, 3rd party role in negotiations, mediation and coercive diplomacy, nation branding and soft power
Languages: Arabic, English and French

Dalal Iriqat is the Vice President for International Relations and Assistant Professor of Conflict Resolution, Diplomacy and Strategic Planning at the Arab American University in Palestine since 2015. Since 2016, she has been a weekly columnist at AlQuds Newspaper. She has served as advisor of Strategic Communications at the PMO in 2017 and 2018, and as the senior policy consultant for writing the Human Development Report UNDP for Palestine in 2015. Prior to joining the Arab American University in Palestine, she taught at the faculty of law and Public Administration at Birzeit University. Throughout her academic career she has always been engaged being elected President of the Diplomatic Academy of London Students’ Association and a member of the students’ council at the University of Jordan. She is passionate about bringing change into the Palestinian society through education, and about improving Palestinian Diplomacy and better brand Palestine. She holds a PhD in Public Administration from Paris I Sorbonne 2011, a Masters degree in Diplomatic Studies from Westminster University in London 2004 and a Bachelor Degree in Political Science from the University of Jordan 2003. Being a strong believer in the individual role in bringing change and being very passionate about bringing change through education and especially through her background in conflict resolution, mediation and diplomacy, she joined the MWMN.

Dalal Iriqat

Dalal Iriqat is the Vice President for International Relations and...

Dilara Gök

Categories: Conflict resolution, English, Human rights, Mediation, Peacebuilding, Social Cohesion, Turkey, Turkish, Victim-offender Mediation
Location: Turkey
Geographical expertise: Turkey
Topical expertise: Conflict Resolution, Mediation, Victim-Offender Mediation, Peacebuilding, Social Cohesion, Human Rights
Languages: Turkish and English

Dilara Gök is one of the founders of Conflictus Training and Consultancy. She has been working in the discrimination, conflict resolution, mediation and peacebuilding fields for almost 7 years with many national and international organizations such as GIZ, UNHCR, RET International and etc. in Turkey. Currently, she has developed training programs, new modules, approaches and practical solutions in the conflict resolution field by engaging with social and disadvantaged groups, as a trainer. Together with this, after the Syrian crisis, she has also been working on social cohesion by handling this issue under the umbrella of conflict resolution tools. In this context, she has developed and applied trainings by working with both local and international organizations in cities which have intense Syrian population. In addition to this, she had worked as a program coordinator of the Young Mediators Program which was implemented under the support of U.S. Embassy in Istanbul. Now, Dilara is one of the founding member of the Turkish Antenna of The MWMN. Also, since 2016, she has been working as victim-offender mediator in Istanbul Courthouse. She is also trained in Women in Conflict 1325 Fellowship Program. https://tr.linkedin.com/in/dilaragok

Dilara Gök

Dilara Gök is one of the founders of Conflictus Training...

Edita Tahiri

Categories: Albanian, Conflict resolution, Croatian, English, Europe & EU, Foreign Policy, Middle East, Myanmar, Nepal, North Africa, Philippine, Post-conflict transitions and transitional justice, Serbian, Turkish, Yemen
Location: Kosovo
Geographical expertise: Europe, Myanmar, Philippines, Nepal, Yemen, Middle East and North Africa countries
Topical expertise: foreign policy and security, international relations, conflict resolution, international peace negotiations, post-conflict transitions, WPS agenda
Languages: Albanian, Croatian, English, Serbian and Turkish

Edita Tahiri is a key founder and leader of the movement for independence of Kosovo. She was Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs for ten years during the hard times of Kosovo’s liberation (1990-2000), Minister of Dialogue, Minister of Public Administration, Peace Negotiator and Member of Parliament in five terms.

She has a long-standing experience in foreign policy and security, international relations, conflict resolution, international peace negotiations and post-conflict transitions. She is a distinguished peace negotiator and chief negotiator for Kosovo and the Balkan region with about 30 years’ experience. She is recognized as the only woman peace negotiator in the Balkans participating in the international peace processes such as the Rambouillet International Peace Conference on Kosovo (1999), Pre-Rambouillet Peace Negotiation (1998), London Conference on Disintegration of Former Yugoslavia (1992) and Chief Negotiator of Kosovo at the EU facilitated Dialogue on normalization of neighborly relations between Kosovo and Serbia (2011-2017). As the Chief Negotiator of Kosovo in the EU mediated peace talks with Serbia, she is the signatory of first ever-reached agreement between Kosovo and Serbia, after 20 years of peace talks.

She is dedicated to empowerment of women and WPS agenda and has been serving as Chair of the Regional Women’s Lobby in South East Europe for the past 14 years. She is a member of the Women Waging Peace Network.
She is a graduate of Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government with a Master’s Degree in Public Administration with a major in international relations. She holds a PhD in Political Sciences focused in the international state-building from Prishtina University in cooperation with SAIS Johns Hopkins University. She is a Fulbright Scholar and a graduate of George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies.

Edita Tahiri

Edita Tahiri is a key founder and leader of the...

Elif Kalan

Categories: Central Europe, Community Mediation, Eastern Europe, English, French, Gender-sensitive conflict resolution, Peacebuilding, Refugee response programming, Social Cohesion, South-East Europe, Turkey, Turkish, Youth-specific conflict resolution
Location: Turkey
Geographical expertise: Turkey, Middle East and Central and South Eastern Europe
Topical expertise: Gender-sensitive and youth-specific conflict resolution and community mediation, peacebuilding, social cohesion, refugee response programming
Languages: Turkish (native), English (fluent), French (beginner)

Elif Kalan is a freelance consultant on conflict analysis and resolution, peacebuilding and community-based programs and initiatives with extensive experience working with international organisations, such as GIZ, UN agencies, the European Commission, IMC and Ret International. Recently, she consulted for UN Women Turkey in Gender Sensitive Refugee Response Program working with Syrian and host communities on gender in complex emergencies and conflict as well as on mitigation through local mediation practices and social cohesion approach. She has also organised trainings and workshops in numerous universities. She is a co-founder of Conflictus Consultancy on Conflict Resolution in Turkey where she has designed, maintained, developed and delivered several training programs and projects to boost the skills and knowledge of groups particularly on conflict resolution and community-based mediation. She has been active within the MWMN Turkey antenna since the beginning and has co-conducted a gender sensitive mediation training program titled ‘Women and Mediation’ reaching out to women working extensively in refugee response programs at CSOs and local authorities. She is highly motivated and interested in women and youth leadership in conflict resolution and mediation processes at all levels and in developing tailor-made and specific training programs through using gender-sensitive and youth and women-specific mediation methods. She holds an MA in Conflict Analysis and Resolution from Sabanci University in Istanbul and an MSc in Political Sociology from London School of Economics with Jean-Monnet scholarship as is part of the Women in Conflict 1325 Fellowship Program and the Legislative Fellowship Program supported by the US State Department.

Elif Kalan

Elif Kalan is a freelance consultant on conflict analysis and...

Emine Çolak

Categories: Conflict dynamics, Cyprus, English, Ethnic/linguistic conflicts, French, Human rights, Turkish
Location: Cyprus
Geographical expertise: Cyprus
Topical expertise: Conflict dynamics, ethnic/linguistic conflicts, human rights
Languages: English, Turkish, and reasonable French

Emine Çolak is a Turkish Cypriot lawyer/barrister practicing in Nicosia since 1982, specializing in human rights. For 25 years, she has trained in and used mediation and negotiation skills professionally and in activism. She is member of several cross community dialogue groups for reconciliation and reunification focusing on tangible ways to resolve the frozen conflict. She coordinated Committees negotiating laws attached to the comprehensive solution proposal, the Annan Plan in 2004. As a co-founder and head of the Turkish Cypriot Human Rights Foundation for 10 years, she worked to elevate the standard of human rights in her community through awareness raising, reporting and legal challenges also contributing to the formation of the Immoveable Property Commission to solve property disputes pending a solution. She speaks fluent Turkish and English and reasonable French. During 2015 and 2016 she served as the Foreign Minister of her community. She considers her expertise to be in conflict dynamics arising after independence in former colonies with communities clashing over ethnic/linguistic differences believing that reinforcing human rights is an essential tool for overcoming disputes within and between communities. Being dedicated to achieving gender equality and the effective participation of women in all fields of life and governance she regards the absence of enough women and gender sensitivity peace processes is clearly a major cause of the limited success of many of them. Consequently, she is now a member of the Women Mediators Across the Commonwealth and the Mediterranean Women Mediators networks, and co-founder of its Cyprus Antenna.

Emine Çolak

Emine Çolak is a Turkish Cypriot lawyer/barrister practicing in Nicosia...

Eynat Shlein

Categories: Israel
Location: Israel

Ambassador  Eynat  Shlein  is  an  Israeli  diplomat  and  a  senior  analyst.  Born  and  raised  in  Israel,  she  joined  the  Foreign  Service  as  a  career  diplomat  in  1992,  specializing  in  the  Middle  East  region, the Israeli-Arab  relations  and  American  affairs, and promoting  dialog  and  understanding  in  the  region.  She  was  posted in Jordan (twice), in Washington DC, in Boston, and in the Israeli Foreign Ministry  holding several senior positions, including ambassador  (2015-2017), and deputy  head  of  the  Policy  Research  Center  and  director  of  Maghreb,  Syria  and  Lebanon  affairs  department.  She  holds  a  Master’s degree  in  Public Administration (2000) from the Kennedy  School  of  Government at Harvard  University, with a major in Negotiation and Conflict Resolution. She also holds a Bachelor  degree  in  Middle  Eastern  History,  magna  cum  laude  (1991) from the Tel  Aviv  University, Israel.

Eynat Shlein

Ambassador  Eynat  Shlein  is  an  Israeli  diplomat  and  a  senior ...

Jeta Krasniqi

Categories: Albania, Albanian, Dealing with the past, English, French, Italian, Kosovo, Mediation, Negotiation, Prevention and rehabilitation of CRSV, Serbo-Croatian, Turkish, Ukraine
Location: Kosovo
Geographical expertise: Kosovo, Albania, Ukraine
Topical expertise:: Prevention and rehabilitation of CRSV, Dealing with the Past, Negotiation & Mediation processes
Languages: English, Italian, Turkish, French (basic), Serbo-Croatian (basic), Albanian (native)

Jeta Krasniqi serves as a project manager at the Kosovo Democratic Institute (KDI) since 2016, focusing on the negotiations between Kosovo and Serbia by working with the parliament to strengthen oversight, transparency and accountability of the process. In addition to inciting internal social and political dialogue through meetings of relevant stakeholders with citizens and civil society, and research analysis. Mrs. Krasniqi is engaged by UN Women as an International Consultant on Prevention and Response to Conflict related sexual violence in Ukraine. At the same time, Mrs. Krasniqi is the deputy chair of the Governmental Commission for the Verification and Recognition of Conflict-related sexual violence victims during the War, representing civil society.

Previously, Mrs. Krasniqi served as Political Advisor to the President of Kosovo, Atifete Jahjaga, where she was engaged in the field of foreign policy, promotion of human rights and gender equality. Mrs. Krasniqi was the Coordinator of the National Council for Survivors of Sexual Violence during the War established by the then President of Kosovo, Atifete Jahjaga. Mrs. Krasniqi has a long-standing commitment to civil society organizations in advancing the role of women in society in Kosovo and Albania. Jeta Krasniqi graduated in International Affairs at the Johns Hopkins University, School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), and finished her undergraduate studies in International Relations at Eastern Mediterranean University in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.

Krasniqi is a board member of the Kosovo Women’s Network and the Kosovo American Educational Fund (KAEF).

Jeta Krasniqi

Jeta Krasniqi serves as a project manager at the Kosovo...