| Mr. Martin Griffiths
Mr. Martin Griffiths was appointed Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator in 2021. Since 2018 he served as the Secretary-General's Special Envoy for Yemen. Between 2014 and 2018, he served as the first Executive Director of the European Institute of Peace. Between 2012 and 2014, he served as an adviser to all three Special Envoys of the Secretary-General for Syria, and Deputy Head of the United Nations Supervision Mission in Syria (UNSMIS). From 1999 to 2010, Mr. Griffiths was the founding Director of the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue in Geneva. He also worked in the British diplomatic service and for various international humanitarian organizations, including UNICEF, Save the Children and Action Aid. In 1994 he became the Director of the Department of Humanitarian Affairs in Geneva and, from 1998 to 1999, served as Deputy to the United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator in New York. He has also served as United Nations Regional Humanitarian Coordinator for the Great Lakes and in the Balkans.
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| Ms. Sanam Anderlini Naraghi
Sanam Naraghi Anderlini is the Founder and ED of ICAN and spearheads the Women's Alliance for Security Leadership (WASL). She was a civil society leader and drafter of UNSCR 1325 and the first Senior Expert on Gender and Inclusion on the UN's Mediation Standby Team. Working with UNFPA in Nepal, she led the first assessment team into Maoist cantonments. Naraghi Anderlini works with women's peace coalitions internationally. Between 2002 and 2004 she led the Women Waging Peace Policy Commission with 12 in-depth country studies on women's contributions. Other works include Women at the Peacetable: Making a difference, Women Building Peace: What they do, why it matters and SCR 1325 and Participation. In 2014 ICAN and UN Women hosted the Better Peace Forum to review women's participation in peace processes. The symposium led to ICAN's Better Peace Tool and Initiative (BPI) on the 'how to' of ensuring women's effective inclusion and systematic gender mainstreaming. Media appearances include the BBC World Service television and radio. Her editorials have appeared in the Guardian, Foreign Affairs, Open Democracy, Ms. Magazine and other publications. Sanam Naraghi Anderlini is a member of Women Mediators across the Commonwealth (WMC), a network hosted by Conciliation Resources which connects women with a broad range of mediation knowledge and experience. |
| Mr. Philippe Lazzarini Mr. Philippe Lazzarini has served as Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) since 2020. With over 30 years in humanitarian leadership, he has held key roles within the United Nations, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), and the private sector. Prior to UNRWA, Mr. Lazzarini was the Deputy UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon, as well as Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator, leading coordination efforts in conflict and post-conflict settings. From 2013 to 2015, he served as Deputy Special Representative for the United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia. His career began with the ICRC, where he directed delegations in Rwanda, Angola, and Sarajevo. Mr. Lazzarini holds degrees from the University of Neuchatel and the University of Lausanne and began his career as an economist in Switzerland.
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| Mr. Itonde Kakoma
Mr. Itonde Kakoma assumed the role of President of Interpeace on October 2, 2023. Previously, he served as the Permanent Representative of the International Federation of the Red Cross & Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) to the African Union, advancing humanitarian diplomacy initiatives focused on public health, climate change, disaster management, and food security. With extensive experience in international peace mediation, Mr. Kakoma was Director for Global Strategy at the CMI Martti Ahtisaari Peace Foundation, where he led mediation efforts across the Great Lakes, Horn of Africa, and Red Sea regions. His previous roles include Assistant Director for the Conflict Resolution Program at The Carter Center, supporting former President Carter's peace initiatives and serving as an international observer in South Sudan. Mr. Kakoma holds an Executive Master's in International Law in Armed Conflict from the Geneva Academy and the Graduate Institute of International & Development Studies.
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 | Dr. Comfort Ero Dr Comfort Ero was appointed Crisis Group's President & CEO in December 2021. She joined the organisation as West Africa Project Director in 2001 and rose to become Africa Program Director and then, in January 2021, Interim Vice President. Dr Ero has spent her entire career working on or in conflict-affected countries. In between her two tenures at Crisis Group, she served as Deputy Africa Program Director for the International Centre for Transitional Justice (2008-2010) and, prior to that, Political Affairs Officer and Policy Advisor to the Special Representative of the Secretary-General, UN Mission in Liberia (2004-2007). She has a PhD from the London School of Economics, University of London. Dr Ero sits on various boards and advisory bodies.
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| Dr. Andreas Hirblinger
Dr. Andreas Hirblinger is a Senior Researcher at the Geneva Graduate Institute's Centre on Conflict, Development and Peacebuilding (CCDP). He is also Associated Senior Researcher at the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO) and a Visting Fellow at the School of Transnational Governance, European University Institute (EUI). Dr. Andreas' research explores the role of digital technologies in contemporary conflict prevention, peace mediation and peacebuilding. He is especially interested in how digitalisation shapes understandings of conflict and approaches to conflict resolution, in the emergence of 'hybrid' peace intelligence, and the impact of the socio-technical context on such dynamics. Dr. Andreas has worked as an advisor, coach and consultant to several international organisations and civil society, including the United Nations Mediation Support Unit, the European Union External Action Service, the CMI-Martti Ahtisaari Peace Foundation, the Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit(GIZ), the Berghof Foundation, the Geneva Peacebuilding Platform and the Swiss PeaceTech Alliance.He holds a PhD from the University of Cambridge.
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