Mediators

Sophia Papastavrou

Categories: Africa, Eastern Europe, English, French, Gender-based violence, Gender-based violence, Greek, Middle East, Peacebuilding, South-East Asia, WASH, Women and Agriculture
Location: Cyprus
Geographical expertise: Middle East, Eastern Europe, Africa, South East Asia
Topical expertise: Gender-based violence, girls’ education, WASH, Women and Agriculture, WPS, Peacebuilding
Languages: English, Greek, basic French

Sophia Papastavrou is a citizen of Canada and Cyprus and spent her formative years in Dominican Republic and Ghana before immigrating to Canada. She holds a Ph.D. in Social Justice Education at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto. Her dissertation entitled: Women’s Organizations for Peace: Moving Beyond the Rhetoric of the Cyprus Problem was the result of over 7 years of field research in a frozen conflict zone. She has previously worked on consultancies with the OSCE Mission to Croatia, the World Bank, and the United Nations. Sophia held the role of Gender Technical Lead at World Vision International Middle East and Eastern Europe covering fragile states and the Syria Response. Prior to holding this position, she led the Gender Learning Hub, including management of the Gender Based Violence Regional project. Sophia was a speaker at TEDx Nicosia Women in 2015 and recently, worked with women’s civil society to co- create the first White Book of Best Practice on UNSCR 1325 on Women, Peace and Security in Cyprus. She was selected as part of the She-Experts initiative by the Mediterranean Institute of Gender Studies (MIGS) aiming to enhance the visibility and impact of women in their professional capacity.  She joined the network because of her commitment and passion for women in peace building specifically building gender data and gender assessments to inform gender transformative approaches to meeting the WPS mandate.

Sophia Papastavrou

Sophia Papastavrou is a citizen of Canada and Cyprus and...