Bernardo Arévalo de León
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Previously a senior diplomat, Bernardo joined Interpeace back in 1996. He was asked to participate in the launch of the experimental consensus building project in his home country, Guatemala. This request came after the signature of the Peace Accords and involved the inclusion of stakeholders within the society and the state.
Denis Martinez
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Working from Guatemala, Denis is coordinating research activities across El Salvador, Honduras and Guatamala aimed at understanding and preventing youth violence. The programme, known as POLJUVE, or Public Policies for the Prevention of Youth Violence, is an umbrella programme that provides support to local organizations in these countries that want to strengthen civil society’s capacity to confront this issue.
Filomena Mascarenhas
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A former government minister in Guinea-Bissau, Filomena Mascarenhas is a deeply committed peacebuilder. Since 2007, she has been an active member of the Voz di Paz programme, which focuses on giving Bissau-Guineans a voice in the peacebuilding process. Working across all the Voz di Paz initiatives, Filomena shared with us her motivations, learnings and some of the areas she is most proud of.
Françoise Kabariza and Igor Rugwiza
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Françoise and Igor operate seamlessly within their team. Based in Bujumbura – the capital of Burundi – they work closely with their fellow peacebuilders from Interpeace’s local partner, the Conflict Alert and Prevention Centre (CENAP).
Ghaida Rinawi-Zoabi
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Ghaida has been working with Interpeace since 2005 on building lasting peace in Israel. As part of the Base 4 Discussion (B4D) programme, she is working to bring previously marginalized groups into the peace process. Her focus has been on Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel. Prior to her involvement with Interpeace, Ghaida was active in a variety of peacebuilding activities and was a member of the International Women’s Commission.
Isabel Aguilar Umaña
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Isabel’s life has been shaped by the troubles in Central America in the 1980s. She saw her own family divided and destroyed by ideological intolerance and violence. She decided to take positive action and become a peacebuilder.
Fifteen years later, Isabel is Interpeace’s Director of the Central American Youth Programme, working to generate public policies to prevent youth violence.
James Suah Shilue
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Having left Liberia in the early 1990s when the country fell deeper into civil war, Jimmy, as he is known, has since returned to play a central role in peacebuilding. Jimmy is working to fulfil what he feels is a moral obligation to make Liberia a peaceful place for all Liberians.
Matthias Stiefel
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As a son of rural doctors who devoted themselves to caring for others, Matthias grew up with a passion to help improve lives. Back in the early 90s, after a five year break in his UN career, Matthias found the world had profoundly changed. He launched himself into research. He analyzed the new conflicts that had erupted after the end of the Cold War and how peace could be built. What he discovered proved to be the building blocks of the Interpeace we know today.
Maysoun Saed Ibrahim Qawasmeh
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Maysoun was born and raised in Jordan. She moved back to her homeland, the Occupied Palestinian Territory, when she got married about 20 years ago. As an activist promoting women rights and a member of prominent international women organizations, Maysoun became a leader in the Palestinian society initiating and promoting positive change in peacebuilding.
Mohamed Sahnoun
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Ambassador Sahnoun draws on his early experiences in his home country of Algeria when he explains the mandate and objectives of Interpeace to others in his role as Vice-Chairman of the Interpeace Governing Council. As special Advisor to the United Nations Secretary-General on Africa and Deputy Secretary-General of the African Union, his extensive exposure to different projects across Africa has given him invaluable insight. His guiding principle throughout his career has always been to focus on the ‘art of listening’.