Professional bio
I am currently pursuing a PhD at the University of Basel, Switzerland, as part of the broader research project “International Peacemaking in Pursuit of a ‘Good Peace'”. The project is funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation. I am also involved in several policy and practice engagements on themes around peace processes and DDR, as well as context-specific issues.
My MPhil dissertation at Cambridge studied the discourses on youth in the UN Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration (DDR) Programmes through the case of the Central African Republic. The adapted paper from the dissertation was selected as the winning submission for the Kenneth E. Boulding Award from the International Studies Association (ISA) Peace Studies Section. I was awarded an overall Distinction for the MPhil in African Studies.
Before starting the PhD, I worked with the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs as part of its Nairobi-based Emergency Preparedness and Response Unit. I was deployed to Ethiopia and East Sudan to support the humanitarian response around the Tigray conflict. I also served as the focal point for coordinating the Humanitarian Needs Overview-Response Plan (HNO-HRP) for the Zimbabwe Humanitarian Advisory Team.
I am part of the Steering Group for the Politics After War Network, a global research network for collaborative activities and knowledge-sharing among scholars and practitioners working on party politics, dynamics of political mobilisation and state-society relations in post-war contexts. As a network, we have collaborated with the UN DDR Section, Folke Bernadotte Academy and Berghof Foundation.
I previously worked as a new arrivals coordinator at the Moria Refugee Camp in Lesvos, Greece, as a speech writer and researcher for the Korean Broadcasting System, one of the largest broadcasters in South Korea, and as an intern with the National Assembly of South Korea.
Other commitments
During my time in Cambridge, I co-founded the Cambridge Refugee Scholarship Campaign, which contributed to the establishment of the Rowan Williams Cambridge Studentships that allow forcibly displaced people from around the world to study at Cambridge at undergraduate and graduate levels.
When the first cohort of scholars arrived in 2019, I had the privilege of welcoming and helping build a community with the scholars, many of whom remain dear friends. We now work to inspire and encourage future applicants by sharing the individual stories of the scholars through the website 'Letters for Rowan Williams Cambridge Scholars' and other avenues. We continue to advocate for equal access for students from conflict-affected areas in various ways and are always open to creative ways and ideas to share the stories of the scholars and the student-led campaign more widely.
Being a resident at Lyn's House that provides a space for hospitality and friendship amongst people with and people without learning disabilities was a profoundly marking experience. To learn more about the heart as well as the practicalities of Lyn's House, I couldn't recommend more the book, 'A Kind of Upside-Downness: Learning Disabilities and Transformational Community'.
I enjoy coordinating a book club with several friends at the intersection of peacebuilding, justice work and faith. We've read the following books in the past 2+ years: The Frontlines of Peace by Séverine Autesserre, Kofi Annan's auto-biography, Interventions: A Life in War and Peace, Born from Lament: The Theology and Politics of Hope in Africa by Emmanuel Katongole, The Ungrateful Refugee by Dina Nayeri, and The Moral Imagination by John Paul Lederach. If you think you might be interested in joining the book club, send me a message!