2024 Executive Committee
Ms. Elizabeth (Liz) Hume - Co-Chair of the Executive Committee
Alliance for Peacebuilding [United States]
Elizabeth (Liz) Hume is the Executive Director at the Alliance for Peacebuilding. She is an international lawyer and a conflict expert with more than 25 years of experience in senior leadership positions in bilateral, multilateral institutions and NGOs. She has extensive experience in policy and advocacy and overseeing sizeable and complex peacebuilding programs in conflict-affected and fragile states in Asia, Eastern Europe and Africa.
From 1997-2001, Liz was seconded by the US Department of State to the Organization for Security and Cooperation (OSCE) in Bosnia and Herzegovina and in Kosovo as the Chief Legal Counsel and Head of the Election Commission Secretariats. In these positions, she was responsible for developing the legal framework and policies in support of the implementation of the Dayton Peace Accords and UN Resolution 1244. After 9/11, Liz worked for the International Rescue Committee in Pakistan and Afghanistan where she established and managed the Protection Department for Afghan refugees and returning IDPs. Starting in 2004, she served in leadership positions and helped establish the Office of Conflict Management and Mitigation at USAID developing programs and policies to improve the USG’s ability to address the causes of violent deadly conflict. In 2007, Liz was the Chief of Party for Pact where she managed a USAID funded conflict resolution and governance program in Ethiopia. She also served as a Technical Director at FHI 360 where she managed a USAID funded peacebuilding and governance program in Senegal with a focus on the Casamance, one of Africa’s longest-running civil wars.
Liz is also an experienced mediator, and she is a frequent guest lecturer and author on conflict analysis and peacebuilding in conflict-affected and fragile states.
Liz holds a BA from Boston College, a JD from Vermont Law School, and a MA in Negotiation, Conflict Resolution and Peacebuilding from California State University, Dominguez Hills. She lives in Falls Church City, VA with her husband in a much cleaner and quieter house since their twin girls went to University.
Ms. Gwendolyn S. Myers - Co-Chair of the Executive Committee
Messengers of Peace-Liberia (MOP) [Liberia]
Gwendolyn S. Myers has over ten years of experience working in Peace and non-violence education among, in and out of school youth. She was selected as European Commission and One Young World 2021 Peace Ambassador and Fellow of the UN Global Executive Leadership Programme For Sustainable Development 2021-2022 by the United Nations System Staff College-Turin-Italy, Hertie School in Berlin, Lee Kuan Yew (LKY) School of Public Policy Executive Education in Singapore. She’s a Certified FBA Young Mediator, Global Peace Activist and youngest Board Member ever at Mediators Beyond Borders International (MBBI). Recognized as Time Magazine 2019 -Top Eight Young Reformers Across the Globe Shaping the World and 2019-Top Seven-African Women Breaking Barriers in Peacebuilding in Africa by CARROT CO. (FrontlineWomen).
She’s the Founder & Executive Director (2008-Present) of a non-profit, youth-led peace-building organisation, Messengers of Peace- Liberia Inc managing over one thousand five hundred Young Volunteer Peace Messengers.
Ms. Myers was selected and featured as the overall winner of the President’s Awards 2020 addition to City, University of London gallery of Extraordinary Women achieving the extraordinary since 1894. She gained national recognition as one of the 40 Most influential women part of a historic Mosaic Painting entitled: The Liberian Voices who remained trailblazers and placed at the National Museum of Liberia, 16th January, 2023.
Gwendolyn has an MA in International Politics and Human Rights (2019) from City, University of London and an MA in Reconciliation and Peacebuilding (2020) from the University of Winchester, United Kingdom and postgraduate certificates in Peacebuilding Leadership from the Eastern Mennonite University, VA, USA & 2015/2016 Fellow of the Center for Women, Faith and Leadership (CWL) at the Institute for Global Engagement in collaboration with Pepperdine University –USA.
Mr. Peter van Sluijs - CSPPS Coordinator
Civil Society Platform for Peacebuilding and Statebuilding [The Netherlands]
Peter van Sluijs is an Expert on Peacebuilding and Conflict Prevention employed by Cordaid, a Dutch development organisation which has its headquarters located in The Hague. He coordinates the Civil Society Platform for Peacebuilding and Statebuilding (CSPPS), a global network of civil society organisations supporting peacebuilding efforts in fragile and conflict-affected settings. CSPPS supports civil society participation in the International Dialogue on Peacebuilding and Statebuilding (IDPS). Through CSPPS strategic and capacity assistance is provided in support of in-country interventions beneficial to amplifying the voice of civil society in relevant policy processes. At the global level, CSPPS coordinates lobby and advocacy efforts around conflict prevention, peacebuilding, and SDG16+.
Before joining Cordaid Mr. Van Sluijs has held various positions in international organisations (including UNDP, IUCN and WWF). His work has ranged across poverty reduction, development policy, knowledge management, governance, and environmental management. Mr. Van Sluijs holds a M.S. degree in Political Science from the University of Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
Ms. Adama Dicko
AJCAD [Mali]
Adama Dicko, founding member and Executive Director of the Association des Jeunes pour le Changement et le Développement (AJCAD), is a recognized and passionate activist who devotes her energy to promoting peace, social cohesion and participatory governance.
Her commitment is reflected in her close collaboration with young people and women in Mali to build their capacities and promote their active participation in the construction of a more just and peaceful society. Adama has a deep understanding of local peace mechanisms and the challenges facing Sahelian communities.
As a member of the CSPPS executive committee, Adama is committed to giving a voice to young people and women, particularly those in the Sahel, by defending their concerns and working to implement sustainable solutions.
Mr. Angus Urquhart
International Alert Europe [United Kingdom]
Angus Urquhart works for the peacebuilding NGO, International Alert, where he is Director of their Global Peacebuilding Unit. In this role, he leads the organisation’s international policy work on priority peacebuilding themes – gender, conflict sensitivity, climate change, peace economies and peace integration - supporting policymakers and practitioners from civil society and government to develop more effective approaches to conflict prevention and peacebuilding. His work also focuses on engaging actors outside of the peacebuilding sphere, from the development, humanitarian and private sectors, to encourage more conflict sensitive and peace positive programming and investment in fragile settings. Prior to joining International Alert Angus had worked for more than twenty years on humanitarian, peacebuilding and development policy and research. This included working for research institutes, focusing on issues of humanitarian response, finance and wider system reform, and for international NGOs, leading projects on human security and peacebuilding.
Mr. Chalachew Worku
Positive Peace For Ethiopia [Ethiopia]
Chalachew Worku, founder and CEO of Positive Peace for Ethiopia (PPE), a local youth led CSO based in Ethiopia and focused on peacebuilding initiatives and engaging youth in societal development. Positive Peace Ethiopia advocates for peace and encourages youth participation in building a more peaceful society nationwide by engaging more than 14 regional chapters in 14 different regional universities. PPE is working to impact the society across the country, and is also a national focal point organisation for CSPPS in Ethiopia.
Chalachew is currently pursuing a master's degree in Diplomacy and International Relations at the Ethiopian Civil Service University. His efforts are geared towards amplifying youth voices in peace and development policy processes and contributing to global discussions on conflict prevention. His work exemplifies leadership in promoting peace in conflict-affected areas.
Alongside his advocacy for peace, Chalachew has successfully organised the Global Youth Biodiversity Network's Ethiopian Chapter. His work emphasises the importance of integrating environmental concerns with peacebuilding efforts, showcasing a commitment to amplifying youth voices in both peace and environmental policy discussions, and contributing to global dialogues on conflict prevention, sustainable development, and climate action.
Ms. Marie-Marguerite B. Clérié
Institute of Personal and Organisational Development (IDEO) [Haiti]
Marie-Marguerite B. Clérié is a career educator who has been implementing the Montessori Method in Haiti for over forty years. She is increasingly convinced, as Maria Montessori so aptly put it, that "it is by helping to improve the individual that education can change society". In 2010, after the terrible earthquake that devastated Port-au-Prince, the capital of Haiti, destroying hundreds of schools and leaving thousands of schoolchildren homeless, she and a number of school principals founded the Association Professionnelle d'Ecoles Privées - APEP, whose acronym is FEV: Form - Educate - Live. Through this association, over forty heads of private schools have joined forces to work together to offer quality education for all, and to try to influence Haiti's education policies.
In 2013, fifty years after her father's death under the bloodthirsty dictatorship of François Duvalier, she and other sons and daughters of the victims of this dictatorship founded the Fondation Devoir De Mémoire-Haïti (FDDM-H), whose mission is to seek out the truth, denounce state violence and set the record straight on this little-known slice of Haiti's contemporary history. In addition, for almost a year now, Marie-Marguerite has been working with the Fondation IDEO to initiate training sessions for teachers and school administrators across the country, focusing on the development of a culture of love and peace in Haitian families and schools. Marie-Marguerite is, above all, a citizen committed to a just, united, generous, peaceful and unified Haiti.
Mr. Musa Ansumana Soko
WASH-Net [Sierra Leone]
Musa Ansumana Soko has over 15 years of experience implementing development initiatives aimed at peacebuilding, health systems strengthening, governance and incorporating policy influencing and capacity building for such interventions. Musa is a campaigner with vast experience in global advocacy and indeed, the Sustainable Development (SDGs). He is Chief Executive of the WASH-Network in Sierra Leone and as Youth Peace and Security Focal Point in addition to service as National Contact Point for the Global Call to Action Against Poverty. After the Sierra Leonean civil war, Musa co-founded the Youth Partnership for Peace and Development, a youth-serving NGO that empowers vulnerable young people, women, and their communities to step forward for positive change.
Given the diversity of his work, he has been involved several global and local processes including the development of the African Ministers Council on Water’s Strategy for mainstreaming Youth in the sector, National Fragility Assessments as well as directly involved in the Sustainable Development Goals and its Voluntary National Review process in Sierra Leone. He served as Board Member of the West Africa Network for Peacebuilding (WANEP), and between 2008 to 2012, he was African Advisor to UN-HABITAT; an advisory role focusing on urban youth issues and their participation in governance and decision-making.
His work in open governance and citizen’s participation is evidenced in what he currently does around social accountability, budget transparency and tracking while providing citizens a voice to be able to effectively engage and act.
He was further nationally recognised as an outstanding 50 Most Influential Young Sierra Leonean after receiving other awards such as the United States Alumni Engagement Innovation Fund (2013) as a Community Solutions Alumni with IREX and the U.S Department of States in 2011.
Ms. Pascasie Barampama
Le Réseau Femmes et Paix [Burundi]
Pascasie Barampama has been a human rights activist, and in particular a women's rights activist, for over 26 years. In 1996, following the consequences of the 1993 crisis in Burundi, she founded the Association of Women and Girls without Professions (AFFM). She is a founding member and has for more than ten years led a network of women's associations called the Women and Peace Network, created in 1999. It is committed to contributing to the efforts to rebuild Burundi, consolidate peace and relaunch socio-economic development by involving the effective and equal participation of women. The Women and Peace Network is the focal point organisation of the CSPPS in Burundi. She is also a founding member of the Women, Peace and Security platform, which brings together six CSOs and is at the origin of the advocacy for the implementation of Resolution 1325 in Burundi. She is also the founder and president of the Burundi Chapter of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom since 2018.
Click here to discover the composition of the 2023 CSPPS Executive Committee