Event Date: September 18, 2024 - 9:00am to 5:30pm
Location: FSS 4007, 120 University Private, University of Ottawa
Presented by CIPS and the Embassy of Afghanistan in Ottawa
The Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021 was a tragic turning point in Afghanistan’s recent history, plunging the country into a dark trajectory and a multifaceted crisis with devastating consequences for the people of Afghanistan and dangerous implications for the region and the wider world. The Taliban lack legitimacy, and their approach to governance, human rights and international relations is incompatible with international norms.
Afghanistan, under the Taliban, continues to face one of the largest humanitarian crises at a global level. The human rights situation remains alarming, and every aspect of women’s and girls’ lives has been restricted by some of the most repressive policies and practices, which, according to many international legal experts and human rights defenders, amount to gender apartheid. The Taliban have consistently rejected all national and international appeals for a political process and an inclusive system and continue to rule unilaterally in a country that is known for having a diverse, multi-ethnic, multi-linguistic, and multi-cultural society. In addition to this, several known terrorist groups have been able to find new space under the Taliban and expand their activities in the country.
As highlighted by many Afghan and international stakeholders, including under the recent UN assessment on Afghanistan, the status quo of international efforts on Afghanistan is not working and the international community needs a new approach to respond more effectively to the current multifaceted crisis in Afghanistan.
Note: Except for the Opening Session, all other panel discussions will be conducted under Chatham House Rules. This means that while participants are free to use the information received, neither the identity nor the affiliation of the speakers may be revealed.
Agenda:
9:00am–9:30am – Registration
9:30am–10:00am – Opening Session
10:00am–12:00pm – Panel 1: Women’s Rights in Afghanistan: A Human Rights Catastrophe during a Humanitarian Crisis (Ongoing Efforts and Current Challenges)
12:00pm-1:30pm – Lunch Break
1:30pm–3:30pm – Panel 2: Political Process: Prospects for Peace and Stability
3:30pm–3:45pm – Tea/Coffee Break
3:45pm–5:30pm – Panel 3: Counter Terrorism: Regional Cooperation and International Engagement
Speakers:
Dr. Nipa Banerjee, Senior Fellow, CIPS, University of Ottawa
Nipa Banerjee earned Doctorate and Master’s degrees, specializing in development studies, from Toronto, Carleton and McMaster Universities in Canada. She served as a practitioner and policy analyst in international development and foreign aid for over 35 years. She worked with Canadian Universities Services Overseas (CUSO), International Development Research Center (IDRC) and 33 years in CIDA, Canada’s ODA agency (now amalgamated with Global Affairs Canada). She represented CIDA in Bangladesh, Indonesia, India/Nepal, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Afghanistan, heading Canada’s aid program in the four latter countries. She joined the University of Ottawa in July of 2007, teaching international development. Her primary objective as a teacher is to transfer development knowledge, expertise and skills to young Canadians and prepare them as analytic and critical thinkers and future practitioners and policy makers in international development. She strives to promote debates and dialogue on development and aid; fragile and conflict affected countries, aiming to influence public opinion and public policies. She has to her credit several published policy briefs and Chapters in books on Canada’s and international community’s role in Afghanistan. Her geographic area of interest is Asia (focus on south and south-east Asia). Her research interests and sectoral specializations include foreign aid- policies, practical ramifications of policy application and impact; development and aid effectiveness; policies and programming for reconstruction and development in post conflict and conflict affected countries, in general, with a special focus on Afghanistan, where she travels frequently. Her other activities comprise capacity building in partner developing countries in planning and managing for results, management of aid & monitoring and evaluation of effectiveness of aid. Nipa has been invited to participate in numerous media events spanning different mediums such as radio/television and on the internet in Canada, the United States, EU and Asia.
Dr. Mirwais Balkhi, Fellow, Wilson Center
Mirwais Balkhi is a Fellow at Wilson Center in the United States. He was a visiting scholar at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Services. From 2018 to 2020, he served as the Minister of Education of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. Earlier, Balkhi served as Afghanistan’s deputy ambassador to India. Balkhi holds a PhD in International Relations with a specialization in West Asia from Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi, India. He has published numerous academic articles both in English and Persian. Balkhi was a lecturer at the Law and Political Science Faculty of the American University of Afghanistan (AUAF) & was lecturing at the International Relations Faculty of Afghanistan Institute of Higher Education (UofA). He is the author of several books and articles on state building, regional studies, and International Relations.
Hon. Pam Damoff, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Canada
Pam Damoff was first elected as the Member of Parliament for Oakville North—Burlington in 2015. Ms. Damoff has previously served as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Indigenous Services and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health. Ms. Damoff is a community activist and business professional with over 25 years of corporate experience. Before being elected as a Member of Parliament, she served as an Oakville town councillor from 2010 to 2015. During her time on council, she was a member of the Oakville Public Library Board, the budget committee of the Town of Oakville, and the Oakville Tourism Partnership. Ms. Damoff was recognized as a leading advocate for active transportation and better cycling infrastructure in Oakville. She co-founded Cycle Oakville to promote cycling and improve cycling infrastructure, and received the 2013 Bicycling Leadership Award from Share the Road Cycling Coalition for her promotion of cycling in Ontario. She is an active volunteer in her community, serving as Chair of the Oakville Terry Fox Run and a member of the organizing committee of the Courage Polar Bear Dip. Ms. Damoff is a proud recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal and the Paul Harris Fellow recognition from Rotary International. She also received the Linda Jones Women’s Activist Award from the Oakville District Labour Council for her community service, and the Top 40 Fabulous Women Over 40 Excellence Award for Community Leadership. She is passionate about many causes, including employment for persons living with disabilities, women’s empowerment, mental health, environmental protection, and cycling and improved cycling infrastructure.
Mr. Hussain Ehsani, Researcher on Terrorism and Islamist Groups in the Middle East and Afghanistan
Hussain Ehsani is an independent researcher based in Ottawa, Canada. He holds a master’s degree in Middle East studies from the University of Tehran. His concentration was the independence of Kurdistan and regional security of the Middle East. Hussain previously worked in Iraq, researching terrorist groups, specifically ISIS and Al-Qaeda. While living in his native country of Afghanistan, Hussain focused on the Islamic state of the Khorasan Province for the Afghan Institute for Strategic Studies. He co-authored a book with Sean Withington called ‘Islamic State Wilayat Khorasan – Phony Caliphate or Bona Fide Province?’ After the US withdrew from Afghanistan, Hussain fled to Canada, where he now covers the foreign policy of Canada toward the Middle East region, in particular Saudi Arabia. Hussain is fluent in Arabic, and can speak Kurdish, Pashto, and English.
Mr. Sharif Ghalib, President of the Canadian Afghan Council
Sharif Ghalib enjoys a distinguished career as a former diplomat with an extensive record of service spanning some 25 years.
The first diplomat to represent Afghanistan in Canada, he led negotiations on the establishment of full bilateral diplomatic and consular relations between Afghanistan and Canada at resident-embassy level back in 2002. Sharif Ghalib received his B.A., in Law and Political Science from Kabul University in 1984. He earned an M.A., in international relations from Virginia Theological University (VTU) in 1997 and is currently pursuing his MBA in business and management at Laurentian University. Ghalib completed an international intensive career development program in broadcast journalism conducted by the Center for Foreign Journalists in Reston, Virginia, was a participant in the Senior Afghan Leadership program organized by the Geneva Center for Security Policy (GCSP) in 2011 and was recognized for the completion of a special program on Charisma and Leadership by the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) in Switzerland in 2012. Sharif Ghalib was last serving as Senior Foreign Policy Advisor to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Afghanistan and is currently the President of the Canadian Afghan Council (CAC).
Professor Alexandra Gheciu, CIPS Director, Professor, University of Ottawa
Alexandra Gheciu is a Professor at the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, and Director of the Centre for International Policy Studies. Her research interests are in the fields of international security, international institutions, Euro-Atlantic relations, global governance and the liberal order, the Global Right, state (re)building, and International Relations theory. Alexandra’s publications include, in addition to articles in leading academic journals, several books: NATO in the ‘New Europe’: The Politics of International Socialization After the Cold War (Stanford University Press, 2005); Securing Civilization? (Oxford University Press, 2008), The Return of the Public in Global Governance (co-edited with Jacqueline Best, Cambridge University Press, 2014 and 2015); and, more recently, Security Entrepreneurs: Performing Protection in Post-Cold War Europe (Oxford University Press, 2018); and The Oxford Handbook of International Security (co-edited with William Wohlforth, Oxford University Press, 2018). Prior to joining the University of Ottawa, she was a Research Fellow at the University of Oxford, and a Jean Monnet Fellow at the European University Institute, Florence. She has also been a Senior Research Associate with the Changing Character of War Programme (Oxford University), a Visiting Professor at Sciences Po, Paris and the Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, and is an Associate Fellow of the Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies (RUSI, London). In addition, she has served as Associate Editor for the journal Security Studies, and is currently an editorial board member for the European Journal of International Security and Security Studies.
Professor Ali Ahmad Jalali, Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies, National Defense University, Washington, D.C.
Ali Ahmad Jalali, serves as a Distinguished Professor at the Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies (NESA) at the National Defense University in Washington D.C. since October 2005. He is a former Interior Minister of Afghanistan (Jan. 2003-Sept. 2005) and Afghanistan Ambassador to Germany (Dec 2016-Sep 2018). A reputed multi-lingual military and political analyst, Ambassador Jalali has extensive academic, managerial, journalistic, and writing experience and has published in three languages (English, Pashto, and Dari/Farsi). He is the author of numerous books and articles on political, military and security issues in Afghanistan, Iran, and Central Asia. His works are published in the United States, Britain, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iran. He is a frequent commentator on Afghan and regional security and international political developmental at U.S. major TV networks (including CNN, ABC, NBC, MSNBC, FOX News, PBS, NPR) as well as Australian National TV (ABC) and Canadian CBC. Jalali’s articles and comments are also published in New York Times, Washington Post, Christian Science Monitor, and many other major U.S and European papers. Many of his scholarly articles are published by the Parameters, the senior professional journal of the U.S. Army, from 2001-2010. Jalali has taught at higher education institutions of Afghanistan and the United States and extensively lectured at U.S. Army War College, U.S. Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, California, the Command and General Staff College, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, the British Army Staff College, Camberley, England and UAE National Defense College, Abu Dhabi.
Dr. Noorin Nazari, Research Affiliate at the Canadian Society for the Study of Education and the International Association for the Advancement of Curriculum Studies
Noorin Nazari has a PhD in Education from the University of Ottawa, concentrating on societies, cultures, and languages. Dr. Nazari is a research affiliate at the Canadian Society for the Study of Education and the International Association for the Advancement of Curriculum Studies. Dr. Nazari is a Learning Advisor at the Canadian Foreign Service Institute. Nazari’s research papers have been published in Springer, University of Ottawa Press, and elsewhere. Nazari’s upcoming scholarly work includes a book focusing on reimagining nationalism and citizenship in the textbooks of Afghanistan and theoretical articles on the nexus of society, gender performativity, and education. Nazari has presented her research findings at academic conferences, including the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. In the context of education in the Republic of Afghanistan, Nazari’s latest engagements include supervising an international team of textbook production assessment within the Ministry of Education and advising on gender equality objectives of the Certification and Accreditation of Teacher Training Colleges Program at the Teacher Training Directorate of the Ministry of Education of Afghanistan.
Dr. Orzala Nemat, Founder and Director, Development Research Group LTD (DRG)
Dr. Orzala Nemat is an internationally known scholar & think tank leader from Afghanistan. She is an expert in political ethnography, holding a PhD in Development Studies from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) and an MSc in Development Planning from the University College London (UCL). Dr Nemat was the director of Afghanistan’s leading Think Tank, AREU, between 2016-2022. She started her career in the development field as a grassroots refugee leader from Pakistan in 1999. She founded and led various organisations that assisted the most vulnerable women and youth and marginalised communities through educational programs, building schools, protecting female victims of violence, peacebuilding for children and advocating for legal reform. Dr Nemat has also worked with various national and international organisations for 25 years. She served on various development organisations’ governance boards and attended numerous international and national conferences representing the voices of Afghans and Afghan women. Dr Nemat was chairperson of the Open Society Foundation’s Afghanistan until July 2021 and continues to serve on Afghanaid, a British Charity working in Afghanistan, as a trustee. Dr Nemat was selected as a Young Global Leader at the World Forum in 2009, Yale Greenberg World Fellows in 2008 and is a recipient of the Isabel Ferrer Award for Women’s Education and the Amnesty International Award for Humanitarian Aid to Children and Women in the year 2000. Dr Nemat is an experienced professional in leadership, research management, fundraising, development programs and policy assessments with a keen interest in bridging between academia and policy expertise in conflict-affected contexts. Her subject expertise includes political economy, local governance, gender, and conflict.
Dr. Lauryn Oates, Executive Director, Right to Learn Afghanistan (formerly Canadian Women for Women in Afghanistan)
Dr. Lauryn Oates advocates for equitable access to quality education in conflict zones, for the universalism of human rights, and works to realize the transformative power of educated women and girls. She is Executive Director of Right to Learn Afghanistan (formerly Canadian Women for Women in Afghanistan), a charity that has helped make the human right to education real for Afghan women and girls through online secondary education, teacher training, village libraries, literacy classes, and Afghanistan’s largest collection of learning materials, Darakht-e Danesh (‘knowledge tree’), which was awarded a Presidential Citation by the American Library Association. These projects have ensured access to learning for thousands of Afghan girls and women. Lauryn has also worked in consulting and advisory roles with UNICEF, the World University Service of Canada, Global Rights, the Nike Foundation, Action Aid, medica mondiale, the Afghan Research and Evaluation Unit, the Women and Children’s Legal Research Foundation, and Womankind Worldwide, among others. She did her doctoral research in northern Uganda, working with teachers there to create local language educational materials for their classrooms through digital technology. Lauryn is the recipient of a Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal awarded by the province of BC, is a Rotary Paul Harris Fellow, and has twice been awarded a Social Science & Humanities Research Council award for her scholarship. She is Adjunct Faculty at the Faculty of Education at UBC, and previously taught graduate students in the School of Humanitarian Studies at Royal Roads University.
Mr. Mohammad Dawood Qayomi, Researcher, Laurentian University
Mohammad Dawood Qayomi is a PhD candidate at Laurentian University, completing his dissertation in Human Studies with a focus on peace and conflict resolution. His research takes an interdisciplinary approach, exploring conflict mediation and peacebuilding. Prior to his academic pursuits, Qayomi served in various diplomatic roles, including Acting Ambassador and Chargé d’Affaires at the Embassy of Afghanistan in Ottawa, and as Deputy and Acting Director General of the Center for Strategic Studies at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Afghanistan. He has published several academic papers, including: 1: The Doha Conference and UN Peace Efforts in Afghanistan; 2: New Paths for Conflict Resolution: External-Domestic Perspectives; 3: Prospects for Political Stability in Afghanistan; 4: Regional Power and Peacebuilding in Afghanistan.
Dr. Mariam Safi, Founding Executive Director of the Organization for Policy Research and Development Studies (DROPS)
Mariam Safi serves as the founding Executive Director of the Organization for Policy Research and Development Studies (DROPS), established in Afghanistan in 2014 and expanded to Canada in 2021. She is a researcher and peace-building practitioner with 15 years of experience working in Afghanistan and the South Asian region. Her expertise spans a broad spectrum of topics related to policy development, inclusive practices, and peace initiatives. In 2023, Mariam Safi assumed a pivotal role as a member of the steering committee of the World Movement for Democracy, dedicating four years to guiding the movement’s strategic direction. During the spring of the same year, she held the position of research associate at SOAS University and ODI, where she authored a timely policy brief addressing the escalating mental health crisis among Afghan women and girls. In addition to her role at DROPS, Mariam Safi serves as an advisor to the Politics and International Studies Department at the American University of Afghanistan. She is a member of Editorial Board of Peace Prints: A South Asian Journal for Peacebuilding, a member of the Afghan Women’s Leader Forum, and a steering committee member of the Afghanistan initiative at The Center for Feminist Foreign Policy. Drawing on feminist and decolonial theory, Mariam’s recent academic publication in the International Affairs Journal (Vol. 98, Issue 1), offers a nuanced perspective in challenging the simultaneous hyper-visualization and silencing of Afghan women in the peace process.
Dr. Arian Sharifi, Lecturer and Co-chair of the Master in Public Policy Program, Princeton School of Public and International Affairs
Dr. Arian Sharifi is a Lecturer and Co-chair of the Master in Public Policy Program at Princeton University’s School of Public and International Affairs. He joined Princeton after a decade and a half of high-level practical experience in Afghanistan and internationally, having served in multiple positions in the former Afghan government, notably as Director General of National Threat Assessment in the Office of National Security Council, as well as a Senior Adviser to the Minister of Foreign Affairs in Kabul. At the international level, Sharifi worked as an Analyst for the Combatting Terrorism Center at the US Military Academy at West Point, and as Operations Research Analyst for the International Center for Political Violence and Terrorism Research in Singapore, covering issues of security and terrorism in the Central and Southern Asia regions.
Ambassador Hassan Soroosh, Ambassador of Afghanistan to Canada
Hassan Soroosh has served as Ambassador of Afghanistan to Canada since September 2019. He has over 20 years of experience with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Afghanistan, working in different capacities in Kabul and at various Afghan missions abroad. He has authored/co-authored major national reviews, policy papers and country reports and has played a major role in the design of new policies and initiatives pertaining to regional economic cooperation, trade and transit as well as the global development agenda. Under his previous positions, Ambassador Soroosh led the Secretariat for the Regional Economic Cooperation Conference on Afghanistan (RECCA) and worked as Governor at the Board of Governors of the International Think Tank for Landlocked Developing Countries (ITTLLDC). Ambassador Soroosh has served as lecturer at the Institute of Diplomacy, MoFA. He holds a Master of Arts in Public Policy: International Development Studies from the Japanese National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS).
Ambassador Nell Stewart, Executive Director, Afghanistan & Pakistan, Global Affairs Canada
Nell Stewart (BA Hons [Political Science], McGill University, 1996; MSc [Gender Relations], London School of Economics and Political Science, 1997) joined the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade in 2002. At Headquarters, she has worked in the Human Rights, Humanitarian Affairs and International Women’s Equality Division; the Afghanistan Task Force; and the Haiti Task Force. She was director of the Counter-Terrorism and Anti-Crime Capacity Building Programs from 2013 to 2016 and executive director of the Haiti Division from 2016 to 2018. She was executive director of the Gender Equality Advisory Council Secretariat for Canada’s G7 presidency in 2018. Abroad, she served in Hong Kong from 2000 to 2002 as vice-consul for immigration, in New York at the Permanent Mission of Canada to the United Nations from 2005 to 2009 as first secretary for human rights and social affairs and in Port-au-Prince from 2011 to 2013 as political counsellor. She was Ambassador to Morocco and Mauritania from 2019 to 2023.
Dr. Faramarz Tamanna, Postdoctoral Fellow and Research Associate, CIPS, University of Ottawa
Faramarz Tamanna is a postdoctoral fellow at the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Ottawa. He is also a Research Associate at the Center for International Policy Studies (CIPS) at this university. Prior to joining CIPS, he was a Professor at the School of Diplomacy and International Studies (DIS), University of Afghanistan. He completed his PhD in International Studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU)- New Delhi, India (2014), Dr. Tamanna is the author of five books and numerous articles and policy reviews covering International Relations, Foreign Policy, Security and International Politics. Tamanna has also previously served as the Director General of the Center for Strategic Studies of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Afghanistan (2012-2019). Tamanna is the founder and president of the Afghanistan Association of Political Science and International Relations (AAPSIR).
Dr. A. Farid Tookhy, Senior Fellow (Afghanistan/Middle East), Institute for Peace and Diplomacy
Ahmad Farid Tookhy holds a PhD in politics from Georgetown University and has taught at the universities of Georgetown and Ottawa. Dr. Tookhy’s research interests include modern political formations, politics and religion, political sociology, and Middle Eastern politics. Previously, he served with the United Nations in Afghanistan, Sudan and South Sudan on electoral and political affairs.
Ms. Manizha Wafeq, Co-founder of the Afghanistan Women Chamber of Commerce and Industry (AWCCI)
Manizha Wafeq is a distinguished development practitioner, expert in women’s economic empowerment, and a dedicated policy advocate. Her persistent advocacy efforts led to the establishment of the Afghanistan Women’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry (AWCCI), bringing about significant policy changes. Notable among these changes is the implementation of a 5% preferential clause for women-owned businesses in the national procurement procedure, ensuring increased access to government contracts. Additionally, her influence resulted in the allocation of 15-25% of industrial parks’ lands to small, medium, and women-owned businesses as per the national industrial park’s policy. During her professional career, she has worked with various international aid agencies such as Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), German International Cooperation (GIZ), USAID’s Implementing Partners and United Nations Development Program (UNDP). With over 20 years of experience in development, with a dedicated focus on women’s empowerment and gender equality, Manizha has positively impacted the lives of thousands of women. In her role as the PEACE THROUGH BUSINESS country facilitator and trainer, she has directly trained and mentored approximately 700 women from over 17 provinces of Afghanistan in the last 17 years. She has co-authored a training manual on Business Start-ups and contributed to the creation of “Gender and the Legal Framework of Afghanistan.” She is founder of Bibi Khadija Award; An annual award honouring successful businesswomen and role models in Afghanistan. The award is named after the Prophet Mohammad’s wife who was the first Muslim woman trader. She founded adebyafghanwomen.com a sales platform to support women businesses connect to their buyers around the world. She is the winner of several awards such as the Enterprising Women Magazine’s Advocacy and Leadership Award, Leadership Award from the National Business Association of the US, and Young Activist Award from the Afghan Women’s Network and the Afghan Lower House of the Parliament. She also won the award for the best membership services and entrepreneurship development of SMEs at the 11th World Chambers Congress. She has MBA from the American University of Afghanistan.
Mr. Idrees Zaman, Founder and Chairman, BAHAM
Idrees Zaman is an Afghan senior diplomat, management expert, CVE researcher and peace-building practitioner with over 25 years of proven diplomatic, political, program and organizational management, reform and development experience. From October 2018 to January 2020 Idrees Zaman’s served with the Government of Afghanistan as Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs and later on as Acting Foreign Minister of Afghanistan, where he led Afghanistan’s diplomacy apparatus and implementation of foreign policy, as well as and represented Afghanistan in numerous bilateral, multilateral and international engagements. In 2019 Idrees Zaman also led Afghanistan’s delegation to the United Nation’s 74th General Assembly. Right after relinquishing his government position Idrees Zaman co-founded an Afghan think-tank entitled BAHAM, with a focus on multi-track regional engagement for peace in Afghanistan, water and cultural diplomacy and regional economic integration and cooperation. After the collapse of the Afghan republic on August 15, 2021, Idrees Zaman decided to remain in Afghanistan and continue his efforts on promoting chances of a comprehensive peace through facilitating dialogue between the de-facto Taliban government and their political opponents, Afghan diaspora, and women groups. Idrees Zaman is still in Afghanistan and continues with striving for a sustainable peace. With a vast and in-depth study of Afghan as well as Pak-Indian subcontinent’s history and geostrategic dynamics, Idrees Zaman is author of a number of groundbreaking qualitative research studies.
Professor Christoph Zürcher, University of Ottawa
Christoph Zürcher is a professor at the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Ottawa. He received his PhD. from the University of Bern, Switzerland. Previous teaching and research appointments and experiences include the University of Konstanz, Germany, the institut d’études politiques d’Aix-en-Provence, and Freie Universität Berlin. His research and teaching interests include conflict research, methods of conflict research, state-building and intervention, and international development. His regional focus is on the Former Soviet Union especially on Russia, the Caucasus, and Central Asia including Afghanistan. He has been a consultant / advisor for, among others, Global Affairs Canada, the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, the German Federal Ministry of Defence, the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, the GIZ and the World Bank, mainly in the field of international development and impact evaluations. He is especially interested in the intended and unintended impacts of development aid on violence and stability. In the context of Afghanistan, Christoph has worked on strategic portfolio reviews, summative evaluations, impact evaluations, the development of an Aid Management System, survey instruments and the use of geo-coded micro-level data for impact evaluations.
Professor Benjamin Zyla, University of Ottawa
Benjamin Zyla is a full Professor in the School of International Development and Global Studies at the University of Ottawa,. He is also the Director of Peacebuilding and Local Knowledge Network (PLKN), and Director of MA Program in the School of International Development and Global Studies, Faculty of Social sciences, University of Ottawa. After having received the 2017 Young Researcher Award of uOttawa’s Faculty of Social Sciences, he spent two years as Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study (Exzellenzcluster) at the University of Konstanz in Germany (2017-19). His research and writings are at the intersection of global governance and peace & conflict studies. In particular, he is interested in the security-development nexus, fragile states, peacekeeping and peace building, human security, humanitarian interventions (and values thereof), international peace-operations, NATO, and questions related to Canada and the world. He is interested in supervising students in those (broad) areas.
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