Mediators

Anna Cervi is an Italian national with almost 15 years overseas experience with International Organisations in leading humanitarian interventions in Syria, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Darfur. She negotiated and managed anumber of programs in support to peace and reconciliationpromoting the use of ADRs with particular focus on humanitarian access, gender, inclusion and transitional justice. In Syria since 2015, she just ended her assignment as Country Director of the Norwegian Refugee Council, where she was a spokesperson with the Government of Syria and in a number of high-level events in European capitals on behalf of the aid community. She became a member of the Mediterranean Women Mediators Network in 2019 to step up her efforts in support of women, peace and security. She is an associate of the School of Development Innovation and Change (SDIC), carrying out research on war and inequality. Anna is a qualified mediator by the International Mediation Institute (IMI), registering as a mediator with the Italian Ministry of Justice. She is currently studying to become a Certified Global Sanctions Specialist with ACAMS and doing research on women leadership in mediation and negotiations in humanitarian action and their contribution to peace. Anna holds two degrees in Development and Cooperation Studies from the University of Bologna and a Master of Science in Forced Migration from the University of Oxford. She further strengthened her mediation expertise by taking the Swiss FDFA’s Peace Mediation Course and other specialised courses on negotiations, women leadership and empowerment.

Ambassador Cecilia Attard-Pirotta, currently Malta’s Ambassador to Israel, is a Maltese diplomat and has worked on Mediterranean, European Union and Commonwealth issues. She has also worked on projects for underprivileged girls, with a focus on education and improving the status of women. She has specialized in Mediterranean Affairs and her exposure to the realities prevailing in this Region, as well as her conviction that women’s participation in peace building processes in the Mediterranean is crucial, has instilled in her the conviction that women need to further engage in transforming and sustaining democracy, preventing conflict, as well as securing peace and security; this is what motivated her to join the group of founding members of the MWMN. While working on peace-related projects, She repeatedly underlines that peace is only the beginning of any reconciliation, not the end. Reconciliation requires numerous societal tasks, if it is to succeed and hence her engagement in promoting dialogue between women from different communities.

Chiara Segrado is an Italian national with almost 20 years of experience in International Development and Diplomacy, passionate about gender issues and women’s rights.

A graduate in International Relations and Diplomacy from the University of Trieste with a final thesis on the Empowerment of Women through Microcredit, she holds a Master-Degree in Microfinance from the University of Bergamo, Italy.

Her extensive experience in development spans from field work with Italian NGOs in Brazil and India to the UN Fellowship at the Italian Embassy in Cairo, Egypt and regional work in the Middle East with the International Finance Corporation (IFC, World Bank Group). She has worked as Regional Representative for the Middle East, South East Europe, Asia and Latin America for Save the Children Italy for 8 years, gaining strong field experience through extensive travel in all four regions and expertise in rights-based approaches, in particular for children and women.

In 2015 she has joined the United Kingdom Representation to the United Nations Agencies based in Rome as Deputy Permanent Representative to the World Food Programme (WFP); she has since increased her skills in multilateral diplomacy, intergovernmental processes and humanitarian affairs.

Chiara has joined the Mediterranean Women Mediators Network (MWMN) in 2020.

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.

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.

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).

Kalliope Agapiou Josephides is Jean Monnet Chair Holder at the University of Cyprus, and elected Council Member of the Global Campus of Human Rights, Venice. She served as Chair of the European Institute for Gender Equality, Vilnius, and Vice-President of the European Inter University Centre for Human Rights and Democratisation, Venice. She holds a PhD in Political Science from Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne University, and has extensive national, regional, and international experience in Gender Equality, Human Rights, Women, Peace and Security, Constitution-Building, and International Negotiations. She is regular Convener of the Venice School of Human Rights, on Women, Peace and Security and CEDAW, Conflict-Related Sexual Violence, Gender-Based Violence, Human Rights Defenders… She is the lead author for the European Parliament study on Women in Democratic Transitions, lead expert for the gender dimension in the UN Global Study on Children Deprived of Liberty, and national expert for Cyprus’s National Action Plan for the UN Security Council Resolution 1325. Her vision for women’s role and empowerment in transforming, substantiating and sustaining democracy, preventing conflicts and securing peace and security, motivated her to join the group of founding members of the MWMN, and to co-initiate the establishment of the MWMN/Cyprus Antenna, with a view to strengthen the role of women as drivers of peace and active agents in all areas of life.

Laura Bologna is a Political Affairs Officer at the Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs (DPPA) at UNHQ in New York since 2000, after having served in the diplomatic service at the Permanent Mission of San Marino to the Council of Europe in Strasbourg where she focused on human rights and gender. Laura is part of the Network as Member from the Mediterranean region and can contribute thanks to her extensive and direct experience in mediation processes as well as her wide network of contacts in the region and in Africa. She brings over 20 years of experience in diplomacy, international relations in the field of peace and security, intergovernmental processes, conflict prevention, mediation, elections and gender. For several years, she focused on Africa, in particular the Great Lakes region, Eastern and Southern Africa and Sudan. She served in UN peace operations including Nepal in 2007, in Sudan in the Office of the Secretary-General’s High-Level Panel for the Sudan Referenda in 2011, and in Nicosia in the Office of the Secretary-General’s Special Adviser on Cyprus where she assisted during the negotiations in 2016. Over the last few years, she focused on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the relative peace process. She has extensive knowledge on UNSR 1325 and women peace and security issues as well as gender parity. She holds a master degree in Political Science and International Affairs from the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Milan.