Ibrahim Bangura has worked extensively in the fields of Transitional Justice, Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration of Ex-Combatants, Security Sector Reform, Sustainable Livelihoods, Gender and Conflict Resolution in Africa.
He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science and History and a Master’s degree in Gender Studies from University of Sierra Leone; another Master’s degree in International Development Studies from the University of Amsterdam; and a Doctorate degree in Economics from the Leipzig Graduate School of Management in Germany.
He currently lectures at the Peace and Conflict Studies Programme, Fourah Bay College, University of Sierra Leone, and he is also a senior partner at Transition International, a consultancy firm based in the Netherlands.
Occupation: Consultant
Countries of expertise: Belgium, Central African Republic, Cote d`Ivoire, Cyprus, Germany, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Netherlands, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Togo, Uganda, Zimbabwe
Dr. Ecke’s work has been informed by years of experiences conducting research for organizations in Africa, with extended stays of conducting qualitative research in African countries (Liberia, Ghana and South Sudan), the Middle East, the US and Europe. Given the breadth and depth of these experiences, he has gathered invaluable experiences in assessing the situation of forced migrants in their country of origin (post-return), as well as in host-countries in western countries and Africa. The professional experiences in areas of conflict (South Sudan and very briefly, Iraq) and Liberia, a post-conflict society, has given him an acute appreciation of the risks that displaced populations face. They have also compelled him to widely publish on conflict-dynamics in countries of origin. Dr. Ecke hopes to enhance understanding of conflicts and displacement to improve policies and address their underlying structural causes.
Occupation: Academic Lecturer and Humanitarian Aid professional and consultant
Countries of expertise: Denmark, Germany, Ghana, Liberia, South Sudan, Yemen
Will Jones is a British academic who has been working on Central and Southern Africa, with a specialization in asylum, since 2007. He received his doctorate on refugees in Central Africa, particularly Rwanda, from the University of Oxford, where he later became a Departmental Lecturer in the Politics of Asylum at Oxford’s Refugee Studies Centre. He has also served as an Associate Professor at the University of Copenhagen’s Centre for Excellence in Global Mobility Law and is currently an Associate Professor at Royal Holloway, University of London.
Occupation: Associate Professor of International Relations and Refugee Studies
Countries of expertise: Democratic Republic of Congo, Denmark, Germany, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, United Kingdom, Zimbabwe
The Expert is an internationally renowned and award-winning academic and consultant specialising in violence against women and minorities, and racial and religious persecution in the South Asia and Muslim majority countries.
Occupation: Academic expert on gender-based violence, racial injustice, sectarian violence and religious persecution.
Countries of expertise: Afghanistan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, France, Germany, India, Kuwait, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States of America
Dr. Hanna Vasilevich is a researcher and academic currently based at the International Centre for Ethnic and Linguistic Diversity Studies in Prague, where she serves as Board Chair. Dr. Vasilevich has been a Visiting Research Fellow at Queen’s University Belfast, UK, and a Visiting Research Fellow at the Law & Anthropology Department of the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology in Halle/Saale, Germany. Before she worked at the European Centre for Minority Studies (Germany) and taught in a number of Universities in Czechia and Germany.
Occupation: Board Chair
Countries of expertise: Belarus, Czech Republic, Germany, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Russia, Ukraine