Experts on countries of origin by country

Danielle Annoni is an associate professor of International Law and Human Rights at the Federal University of Parana (UFPR-Brazil), where she coordinates the Human Rights Observatory and Legal Practice in Human Rights and Migration. She has been conducting human rights research for 18 years. She is an educator, a mother and an active human rights defender, with a focus on migration, gender and the Latin American human rights protection system. Because of her work developed with vulnerable groups regarding the education of labor rights, the empowering of women through handicraft and gastronomy fairs, advocacy in the mediation of cultural conflicts, and access to justice and education, she has received several awards.

Andrea Chiovenda is an adjunct assistant professor of anthropology at Zayed University, Abu Dhabi, UAE. He received his PhD in anthropology from Boston University in 2015. His ethnographic fieldwork research was carried out in Afghanistan from 2009 until 2013, and again in 2016, and focused on the psychological impact of cultural norms of masculinity among Pashtun men. In 2020, Dr. Chiovenda published a book based on this research, entitled Crafting Masculine Selves: Culture, War and Psychodynamics in Afghanistan (Oxford University Press, 2020), which won the 2021 Boyer Prize for contributions to psychoanalytic anthropology, from the Society for Psychological Anthropology. Additionally, he published several articles and book chapters in peer-reviewed academic journals and edited volumes on conflict, violence, and gender relations in Afghanistan. Since 2016, Dr. Chiovenda has been carrying out original ethnographic research in Greece, investigating the psychological impact of the migratory experience among Afghan refugees in the country. 

Dr. Francesca Conti is a sociologist, academic, and researcher specializing in migration, identity, and resilience studies. She holds a PhD in Sociology from Sussex University, an MPhil from Cambridge University, and a BA from SOAS, University of London. Since 2012, she has been an adjunct professor and academic advisor at The American University of Rome, teaching courses in sociology, anthropology, and migration studies. Her research spans a broad range of interdisciplinary topics, including auto-ethnography, chronic pain management, and the intersection of sport and migration. In addition to her academic role, Dr. Conti has contributed to migration-related projects for different  international organizations. 

Melissa Chiovenda is an assistant professor of anthropology at Zayed University, Abu Dhabi. She has  been conducting research in Afghanistan since 2009. Dr. Chiovenda’s  main research in Afghanistan concerned ethnic Hazara civil society movements and the transmission of cultural trauma. Her earlier research in Afghanistan concerned Pashtun women who were working with Western NGOs. She has a PhD from the University of Connecticut in anthropology, an MA from Georgetown University in Russian, Eurasian, and East European Studies with a Certificate in Refugees and Humanitarian Crises, and a BS in Russian Language and Literature from Georgetown University. Since 2016, She has been conducting research on the political identity of Afghan, mainly Hazara, refugees in Greece and Italy. She has also started projects concerning the Hazara genocide of the late 1800s, and sexual violence historically and currently experienced by Hazara women.

Prior to working in academia, Dr. Chiovenda was a high school teacher in South Los Angeles. She also worked for United States exchange programs in Russia, was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, and spent a summer teaching children at an organization in Nablus, West Bank.

An accomplished Senior Analyst with 20 years of extensive experience spanning Latin America, Australia, the United States, and Europe, supported by interdisciplinary training in economics, political science, sociology, and international affairs. Currently Faculty Fellow at the Center for Cultural Sociology at Yale University after two years as Research Fellow at the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at the University of Minnesota and two years as Senior Policy Fellow at the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University. Before returning to the US in 2019, I have been for a decade Associate Professor of Sociology at the National University of Colombia in Bogota and have directed for four years the Center for Social Studies at the same university. I have spearheaded technical cooperation initiatives focused on democracy-building and my work has involved community mobilization and outreach in Colombia, particularly on counter-radicalization and narrative transformation. I have engaged in collaboration with civil society, media, business sectors, policymakers, and academic institutions and have linked local efforts with regional and global initiatives, facilitating alliances at national, regional, and international levels. My role has also included… Read more