Peace Insight is managed by Peace Direct staff based in the UK:

Jennifer Venis, Senior Communications Officer

Jennifer is responsible for implementing our cross-organisational communications strategy. She works across teams to facilitate production of key publications and support the development of messages for all our audiences. She is the commissioning editor of the Peace Insight platform, holding core responsibility for content development.

Jennifer has a background in journalism, focusing on human rights and international justice, and was formerly the Multimedia Journalist and Content Editor at the International Bar Association - the members' body for legal professionals worldwide. She has two degrees in creative writing. Contact: jennifer.venis@peacedirect.org

Raaval Bains, Research Officer

Raaval is responsible for supporting Peace Direct’s research work on Decolonising the System. He facilitates online Platform4Dialogue discussions, conducts qualitative data analysis and drafts research reports. His work currently focuses on the “Decolonising Peacebuilding Practice” research project as well as supporting on the “Local Voices for Peace” and USAID funded “Stopping As Success” projects.

Raaval has previously worked on research projects that advocate for the decolonisation of secondary school education in the U.K. Raaval holds an M.A in Social Anthropology with a focus on identity and belonging in ethnic minorities from SOAS, University of London and a B.A in History from the University of Cardiff. 

Peace Insight staff work with a team of local contacts from around the world.

Local Correspondents

Ashima Kaul Ashima coordinates the organisation Yakjah in their work in Jammu and Kashmir. An independent journalist by profession, she has an active interest in interfaith dialogue.

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Lina María Jaramillo is our Local Correspondent for Colombia. Lina María is a political scientist with Master's degrees in International Studies and International Development. For the past 8 years, she has worked on projects related to peace, security and development issues, and is currently with acting as a Knowledge Management Officer at Oxfam.

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Olga Dolinina is Peace Insight’s Local Correspondent in Ukraine. A trained journalist, in 2014 she began working for Save the Children in Dnipropetrovsk. Using her experience in professional sports marketing and management, she also founded and manages Break The Ice, a hockey-based NGO supporting children displaced by the conflict in Ukraine.

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Salma Yusuf is a Senior International Expert and Specialist Consultant on Peace and Conflict, Transitional Justice, Human Rights, Democratization and Governance providing technical expertise to a range of international and national organizations in diverse sectors including Governments, UN institutions, IGOs, INGOs and the Corporate Sector. She is a practising lawyer in the Supreme Courts of Sri Lanka. She is a Founder Member and Steering Committee Member of the Women Mediators across the Commonwealth Network.Link to a longer profile:https://www.c-r.org/who-we-are/people/salma-yusuf

Read more from Salma Yusuf

Local peacebuilding experts

Dr. Prince Charles Dickson is Peace Insight's Local Peacebuilding in Nigeria. Based out of Jos, Plateau State, Dr. Prince Charles is a peace practitioner and policy analyst with decades of experience in media, public policy, psychology and development practice. He is currently the Team Lead for the Nigerian-based Tattaaunawa Roundtable Initiative (TRICentre).Prince Charles is a certified negotiator and arbitrator, with training in journalism and psychology. He is also a Henry Luce Fellow and Ford Foundation grantee, and holds certifications in Religion and Global Politics, Gender, Negotiation and Conflict Management and Analysis, Interfaith, Peacebuilding and Conflict Resolution.Prince Charles is an alumnus of the University of Jos and, the prestigious Humanitarian Academy at Harvard and the University of Texas at Austin. He holds a doctoral in Psychology (Policy & Human Development) from the Jesuit run Georgetown University Washington DC.

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Zahid Shahab Ahmed is a Senior Research Fellow at Deakin University in Australia. He received his PhD from the University of New England (UNE) in Australia. He has an MA in Peace Education from the UN-mandated University for Peace in Costa Rica, and an MA in Sociology from the University of Agriculture Faisalabad in Pakistan.He has taught peace and conflict studies at universities in Australia and Pakistan. Since 2003, he has been working with local and international development agencies in South Asia, especially in Pakistan, on various peacebuilding and development projects.He specialises in preventing violent extremism through education and has led numerous projects in Central, South and Southeast Asia and West Africa in collaboration with Hedayah, UNESCO and USAID. He has published and presented papers on a wide range of issues, such as Islam, human rights, peace & conflict, regionalism, and regional security.

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Boubacar Thera is Peace Direct’s Local Peacebuilding Expert in Mali. Boubacar is Programme Officer at the Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance (DCAF). He is the former national coordinator for the West African Network for Peace in Mali (WANEP). In addition, he is a doctoral researcher in public law at Cheikh Anta Diop University (Dakar, Senegal) and the University of Legal and Political Sciences of Bamako (Mali). Prior to this he worked for a variety of NGOs and other organisations, and as an interpreter.

Read more from Boubacar Thera

Marius Ruhanamirindi is Peace Insight’s Local Peacebuilding Expert in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Based out of Goma, Marius works as a Consultant at the Peacebuilding Support Office in the DRC (Bureau de soutien pour la consolidation de la paix en RDC). He has previously worked as a Project Consultant with Oxfam GB on their joint programme against gender-based violence from December 2019 to December 2020. He was also a Project Coordinator for the promotion of peace and social cohesion by young people within the national NGO Bénévolat pour l'Enfance in the DRC for more than 3 years.

Read more from Marius Ruhanamirindi

Martine Kessy Ekomo-Soignet is our Local Peacebuilding Expert in Central African Republic (CAR). She has over four years of experience in the political and development sectors. She has worked with UNDP, UNESCO and the African Medical and Research Foundation. Her work in CAR focuses on civil society and youth organisations. Martine Kessy holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics and Social and Political studies and a master’s degree in Geopolitics, International Security and International Relations. She completed the Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders in 2014, and was one of 100 Fellows competitively selected to participate in an 8-week internship in the United States following the Mandela Washington Fellowship academic institute.

Read more from Martine Kessy Ekomo-Soignet

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