Mediators

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.

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.

Farida Jaidi, a career diplomat, has worked for 38 years at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation as Head of Department, Head of Division, Director of Multilateral Cooperation, as Consul General in Montreal, as Ambassador to Sweden, Brazil, Paraguay and Suriname, and as Diplomatic Advisor to the Minister of Foreign Affairs. She has participated in numerous Conferences and Summit at the international level (UN, MNA, UNDP, UNEP, FAO). Advisor to the Prime Minister at the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie (OIF), she was part of the OIF delegation that oversaw the elections in Mauritania and chaired the delegation of OIF that oversaw the elections in Niger. Currently, she is a trainer and master coach in personal and professional development as well as a diplomatic coach, practicing in the Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. She is very active at the national level participating in seminars on numerous gender-related issues ranging from health to economics to entrepreneurship to development. Over the years she has also received numerous honors and has been decorated by His Majesty the King of Morocco. She is a member of the Mediterranean Women Mediators Network, which she joined to contribute to the achievement of peace in the world. She believes women have an important responsibility in this regard but need the autonomy and the political and economic rights. She is a member of FemWise and since 2016, she is the President of the Environmental Women Association (EWA).

Giulia Massotti is diplomat in training at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation. From 2014 to 2019, she worked at the presidency of the Council of Ministers of Italy, first in the cabinet of the Secretary of State for European affairs and subsequently in the taskforce responsible for EU infringement procedures. Previously, she worked as project manager for a European Brussels based foundation funded by the European Parliament. She holds a MA in European Studies from the College of Europe, as well as a MA in international relations and a BA in political science from the RomaTre University. She did an Erasmus at the Université Libre de Bruxelles and was a Schuman Trainee at the European Parliament. During her professional career, she specialized in the field of organized crime and anti-corruption and holds an MA on the subject from the University of Pisa. Over the years, she has actively participated in various organizations, such as the Aspen Institute Italia, the European Media Initiative, the European Movement, and the Italian association “Pubblici Cittadini”. Since its foundation in 2017, she is a member of the MWMN, for her theoretical background in the field of gender and mediation. She attended the first edition of the training on Mediation and conflict resolution from a gender perspective organized by the Spanish and Moroccan Ministries of foreign affairs in 2014 and then participated in later editions organized by CITpax. As a member of the MWMN, she has also benefitted from trainings organized by the network. Finally she has drafted various research projects on WPS.

Katarina Kresal is President and Founder of the European Centre for Dispute Resolution, a regional institutional provider of alternative dispute resolution procedures and consulting institution for the Rule of Law projects, based in Ljubljana, Slovenia. A specific expertise of Ms. Kresal as an ADR expert is in designing mediation systems and various ADR schemes, their capacities, including the integration of women, and she is engaged in various international projects as an international consultant. Ms. Kresal is also Managing Partner and Head of the Dispute Resolution Department at the Law Firm Miro Senica and Attorneys, Ltd. Prior to her work as an attorney she gained her experience in dispute resolution and corporate commercial matters as an independent advisor, director of the legal department and member of supervisory boards in various Slovenian companies as well as a judicial clerk in the biggest court in Slovenia – the District Court of Ljubljana. Apart from her extensive legal career, Ms Kresal is a prominent political figure, having served as Minister of the Interior, member of the National Assembly (MP) and president of the parliamentary party Liberal Democracy of Slovenia as well as vice-president of the Liberal International.

María Solanas is a senior expert in international relations, with more than 25 years of experience in political analysis of international scenarios, conflict analysis, research on international affairs, and strategic partnership building. She currently is director of Programmes at the Elcano Royal Institute, the leading Spanish think-tank on international relations and strategic studies and research in gender Issues and global governance. Previously, from 2004 to 2011, she was Executive Senior Policy Adviser on International Affairs at the Spanish Prime Minister Office responsible for Latin America, Asia-Pacific and Sub-Saharan Africa, in addition to migration and human rights. From 2003 to 2004 she was the Coordinator of the Spanish Socialist Worker’s Party Secretariat for International Relations, being responsible for European Union, Central and Eastern Europe and former URSS countries (1993-2003). In February 2018, she has been nominated Vicepresident of the UNICEF National Committee in Spain. She holds a Bachelor Degree in Sociology & Political Science, as well as one in Journalism from the Madrid’s Complutense University. She is part of the Mediterranean Women Mediators Network due to a combination of political experience as a senior adviser at the Spanish government and her research skills on gender issues, particularly on Women, Peace and Security. In the last 25 years she was involved in several negotiations within the governmental framework, she has actively participated in the preparation of the II National Action Plan on WPS and has published several policy papers on Gender issues.