Staff and trustees
Our staff and trustees are at the heart of Saferworld’s work. Their skills and expertise ensure that we continue to be a leading conflict prevention and peacebuilding organisation. We have over 150 staff members working across our programme, policy, advocacy and support teams.
Find out more about working for us.
Our trustees help guide Saferworld in all major decisions. Their advice is backed up by years of experience and expertise in a range of areas – from finance, policy research and communications to peacebuilding and management.
Stephanie Blair, Chair
Stephanie runs an independent consultancy specialising in security and justice; peace, stabilisation and intervention; and fragile and conflict-affected states. As a chair, she brings a comprehensive understanding of the challenges for the peace and security community as it addresses the difficulties faced by fragile and conflict-affected countries.
Stephanie also has expertise in strategy development, and her geographical specialities are the Balkans and North Africa. Her consultancy business offers strategy and policy advice, training, facilitation and evaluation. Clients include the UK Joint Committee on National Security Strategy, the Stabilisation Unit, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the Ministry of Defence, the Canadian Government and NATO.
Stephanie joined Saferworld in 2015 and was elected as chair in 2020.
Golam Morshed, Treasurer
Golam Morshed is the Chief Executive at Charity Accounting Services, a specialised accounting and financial management organisation supporting charities and non-profit organisations. He brings a strong background in financial management to Saferworld's board.
Golam previously worked in various financial management roles for a wide range of global development agencies including Oxfam, Save the Children, Christian Aid, CAFOD, Farm Africa and ACORD. Golam is a qualified accountant with an MBA.
Golam joined Saferworld in 2017.
Godfrey Allen, Trustee
Godfrey is the former Chief Executive of the national employment charity, the Apex Trust. With vast experience, he advises the board on organisational governance issues, and he has specialist knowledge of criminal justice sector reform and community economic development.
Godfrey is a former CEO of several other national and regional organisations that specialise in community economic development and crime reduction. He currently serves on the NHS Trust board among others, and is the England and Wales council member of the International Association of Youth and Family Judges and Magistrates.
Godfrey joined Saferworld as a trustee in 1999.
Owen Greene, Trustee
Owen is Professor of International Security and Development at Bradford University. In addition to his deep understanding of Saferworld as an organisation, Owen brings a wealth of expertise on a range of issues including conflict analysis, security sector reform, community security, arms control and international advocacy on conflict prevention.
From Saferworld’s early beginnings, Owen has worked closely with the organisation, serving as chair of the board of trustees for over a decade. He has held many expert and advisory roles for Bradford University as well as for over 20 governments, the European Union, the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the United Nations and multiple policy networks.
Owen has been an active member of Saferworld’s board since the 1990s.
Teresa Hanley, Trustee
Teresa has over twenty years of experience in the humanitarian and international development sectors. She brings expertise on migration, community-based resilience, conflict, gender, capacity-building, evaluation and communication.
Teresa has worked in over 40 countries, including in long-term roles in the Middle East, Central Asia and also as part of the European migration response. She has worked in a range of field-based, management and consultancy positions with the British and International Red Cross, international organisations, NGOs and governments.
Teresa joined the Saferworld board in 2016.
Christian Leffler, Trustee
Christian Leffler is a seasoned Swedish diplomat who joined the Swedish Foreign Service in 1980. After various posts in cabinets and external relations services, he joined the EU External Action Service when it was established in 2011 as the Managing Director for the Americas. He then became Deputy Secretary General for Economic and Global Issues in 2015 and served in this position until his retirement in March 2020.
Bringing a wealth of experience in diplomacy and policy, Christian joined Saferworld as a Trustee in 2021.
Yvonne Jazz Rowa, Trustee
Jazz has over ten years of experience in the fields of peacebuilding and democratisation within the non-profit sector. She brings expertise on a range of thematic areas spanning from security provision and governance, access to justice, good governance and public accountability, conflict and political analysis, and different approaches to peacebuilding.
Jazz begun her career in market research and public health. Over the years, she has worked as a researcher and practitioner in the Great Lakes and Horn of Africa regions. She holds a PhD in Politics and International Relations and has previously worked as a Sessional Tutor on International Security, Criminology, and International Political Economy at the University of Adelaide.
Jazz joined Saferworld as a Trustee in 2021.
Ola Saleh, Trustee
Ola Saleh is a peacebuilding and conflict sensitivity expert, committed to decolonialising aid and knowledge production. She started her journey in 2005 as a feminist advocate in Syria, and now has had almost two decades’ worth of experience in the Middle East and North Africa region, South Caucasus, Ukraine, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Liberia.
Ola is also a keen writer, especially on the topics of the women, peace and security, conflict sensitivity and radicalisation. She is currently serving her second term as a member of the EU Radicalisation Awareness Network expert pool.
Ola joined Saferworld as a Trustee in 2021.
Ismayil Tahmazov, Trustee
Ismayil Tahmazov is the Global Strategy Manager at Islamic Relief Worldwide. He brings wide-ranging experience in development programming, strategy planning, governance and advocacy.
Before his position at Islamic Relief Worldwide, Ismayil co-founded The Humanitarian Forum and the Muslim Charities Forum. Ismayil has experience of working on projects across a wide geographic stretch, from the Middle East and the Caucasus to Haiti. He has held senior positions at the International Rescue Committee, Cooperative Housing Foundation International and Oxfam, and he has served on other boards including Skillshare International and HealthProm.
Ismayil joined Saferworld as a trustee in 2017.
Melanie Ward, Trustee
Melanie is a senior leader at the International Rescue Committee. She brings experience in humanitarian, development and human rights work, including programming, advocacy and organisational leadership.
As well as working in the UK and Europe more widely, Melanie has lived and worked in the Middle East, Africa and the USA. She has also worked for NGOs including ActionAid and Christian Aid. She has a background in politics, as a campaigner and activist, as well as a political adviser in both the Scottish and UK Parliaments.
Melanie joined Saferworld as a Trustee in 2020.
Paul Murphy, Executive Director
Paul Murphy is the Executive Director at Saferworld, where he oversees the organisation's development and growth as well as operations and programmes. After joining as Head of Europe and Central Asia in 2008, he became Director of Programmes and then Executive Director in 2011. For 20 years, Paul worked across Africa for a range of organisations, including for the United Nations with a focus on the Horn of Africa. Most recently, he was director of Pact’s country programme in Sudan.
Read articles and publications from Paul
Susana Klien, Director of International Programmes
Susana joined Saferworld in 2015 as Director of International Programmes, where she oversees Saferworld’s country programmes across Africa, Asia and Central Asia and the Middle East. She brings a wide range of programmatic experience, having worked at a number of women’s rights organisations and on programmes that provide services for refugee and migrant women.
Before moving to the UK, Susana worked in Peru where she conducted research on human rights and provided recommendations to the government, in addition to lecturing on international human rights law.
Read articles and publications from Susana
Robert Parker, Director of Policy and Communications
With over 20 years’ experience in human rights and peacebuilding, Rob leads the policy, advocacy and communications teams based in London, where he manages Saferworld’s global policy and advocacy programmes including our research, analysis, technical support, external helpdesks and communications. He also leads our advocacy teams in London, Brussels and Washington DC. He has led the development of policy areas including community security and police reform, the Sustainable Development Goals and the Arms Trade Treaty with Saferworld.
Vyda Mowen, Head of People and Culture
As a Senior HR professional with wide geographical and sector exposure, Vyda has extensive experience in leading people and culture teams to design and implement human resources strategies to deliver effective outcomes, including talent management, employee relations, leadership development, diversity and inclusion, and performance management. She oversees the development and delivery of Saferworld’s people strategy and manages the provision of effective and professional HR service and advice.
Vyda has worked with commercial, government agency and not-profit organisations such as Oxfam UK, St Vincent de Paul Society, Canon UK, ABB, Atkins Global and Transport for NSW in Australia.
Vyda joined Saferworld in 2020.
Natalia Arkhipova, International HR Adviser
Natalia joined Saferworld in March 2019 as International HR Adviser based in London. Before joining Saferworld, Natalia worked for Oxfam for over 12 years in various HR positions, starting with the Oxfam programme in Russia. Her more recent focus was on the Middle East and North Africa region, though she took part in various global initiatives and cross-regional learning.
Marie Aziz, International HR Adviser and Operations Manager
Marie has been working in the human resources field for a number of years and both at Saferworld and other INGOs and voluntary organisations. She spent the early part of her career living and working in France. Marie joined Saferworld in 2009 and has seen the organisation grow and flourish over the years.
Ariana Martini, Head of Programme Support and Learning
Ariana joined Saferworld in 2009 and brings over 10 years of experience managing and supporting complex programmes in conflict prevention and peacebuilding. She currently leads the Programme Support and Learning team which provides ongoing programme development, advisory support and accompaniment to Saferworld teams and partners across our country and regional-based programmes. She also leads Saferworld’s efforts to ensure our partners have a greater say in everything we do.
Diana Trimiño Mora, Head of Programme Support / Senior Gender Adviser
Diana Trimiño Mora began her role as Head of Programme Support and Learning in 2019, having joined Saferworld in 2017 as the Senior Gender, Peace and Security Adviser. She has over 15 years of experience working on issues around women’s and human rights, international law, refugee protection and displacement. Before joining the team, Diana led the International Rescue Committee’s policy work on women’s protection and empowerment in Europe. Diana holds an LLM in international human rights law from Lund University, Sweden.
Madeline Church, Head of Strategy and Organisational Development
Madeline joined Saferworld in 2011. She leads on our institutional strategy and the organisational processes and systems needed to put the strategy into action. She also designed and led the development and institutional adoption of our renowned outcome-focused monitoring and harvesting approach. Madeline is on the management committee of the Dutch Knowledge Platform: Security and Rule of Law (KPSRL). She holds a PhD from Bath University, she founded the ABColombia Group and is a known innovator in the monitoring, evaluation and learning field.
Shelagh Daley, Advocacy Adviser, International Programmes
Shelagh joined Saferworld in 2012. Prior to her role as Advocacy Adviser to international programmes, she managed Saferworld’s global advocacy team, engagement with the African Union and other regional bodies in Africa, and provided advocacy support for Saferworld’s East Africa programmes. Before joining Saferworld, Shelagh worked at Gender Action for Peace and Security (GAPS UK) on the inclusion of women in peace processes. She also has several years of experience in international marketing and campaigning.
Twitter: @shedales
Read articles and publications from Shelagh
Lucian Harriman, Conflict, Security and Justice Adviser
Lucian Harriman joined Saferworld in November 2018 as Security and Justice Adviser to lead the security and justice work-stream of the Peace Research Partnership. Lucian provides programmatic support to international programmes and also has a thematic focus on security and justice, supporting inclusive transitions to peace, and engaging with armed non-state actors. With almost 15 years of experience, Lucian has worked in Myanmar, the UK, Somalia, Somaliland and Sudan. Lucian holds an MSc in violence, conflict and development, a PgCert in conflict resolution skills and a DipHE in law.
Sara Torrelles Vives, Civil Society Partnerships and Learning Adviser
Sara joined Saferworld in January 2020 as a Programme Support and Learning Adviser. She works with our programme teams to strengthen our partnerships, leads the revision of our programme partnership approaches, tools, and related resources, and supports the development of our organisational strategy on partnerships. Having previously worked for Conciliation Resources and Peace Direct, Sara has a strong peacebuilding background. Over the years, Sara has worked with various organisations in Nigeria, Pakistan and the Philippines.
Twitter: @SaraTorrelles
Ali Ahmed Hersi, Somalia and Somaliland Country Director
Ali joined Saferworld in June 2018 as Country Director for Somalia and Somaliland. He has over 20 years’ experience in leadership, programme design and implementation in various civil society organisations. Ali holds a master’s degree in peace and justice, which he completed on Fulbright and Rotary international ambassadorial scholarships, and another master’s in international relations from Warsaw University, Poland.
Mauro Tadiwe, South Sudan Country Director
Mauro joined Saferworld as South Sudan Country Director in April 2018 after several other Country Director positions within South Sudan. Mauro trained as a priest and held several pastoral and ecclesiastical management positions. After moving to the UK, Mauro worked at two inner-London urban regeneration schemes and for nearly three years with Housing Associations’ Charitable Trust. Mauro holds a BA in theology from the Urbaniana University in Rome, and a master’s degree in management practice from Middlesex University in London.
Wilfred Opobo, Uganda Country Manager
Wilfred joined Saferworld in September 2019, bringing a wealth of knowledge and experience gained at senior management level with peacebuilding, development and emergency programmes. Before Saferworld, Wilfred was Head of Programmes for War Child Canada in Uganda. Wilfred holds a Master of Science in international development as a commonwealth scholar and a Master of Arts in international relations and diplomatic studies. He is also a trained organisational development facilitator.
Maryam Abdi, ARC Programme Manager, Somalia
Maryam is currently Saferworld's ARC Programme Manager in Somalia where she supports the delivery of community security programming in Somalia through ARC. She has over ten years’ experience in the Horn of Africa on programmes that focus on good governance, youth empowerment, gender, security sector reform and humanitarian emergencies. Maryam holds a master’s degree in sociology from the University of Nairobi.
Eva Mutenga, Partnerships Development Manager, South Sudan
Eva joined Saferworld in October 2018 as the Partnerships Development Manager in South Sudan. Eva has significant grants management expertise with a multitude of donors, leading the implementation and administration of multiple grants, ensuring programme quality and operational excellence through effective reporting and compliance, and coordinating relationships with partner organisations.
Khirad Kargasov, Central Asia Programme Manager
Khirad became Saferworld's Central Asia Programme Manager in 2021, overseeing the strategy and the implementation of Saferworld's projects in the region. Khirad has been with Saferworld since 2014 as Area Programme Manager in Juba, South Sudan, and then later as Tajikistan Country Manager where he helped set up the country office and programme. He has substantial experience in community policy and community security.
Stefan Stoyanov, Head of Kyrgyzstan Office
Stefan joined Saferworld as Central Asia Community Security project manager in 2014 and is now our Head of Kyrgyzstan Office. He has over 15-years of wide-ranging professional experience in development and humanitarian assistance programmes in Bulgaria, Ethiopia, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
Ilya Jones, Regional Conflict and Security Adviser, Central Asia
Ilya began his role as Regional Conflict and Security Adviser for Central Asia in January 2020, supporting the regional programme to acheive their goals and advising on programme implementation, research, advocacy, communications and funding. Ilya has been with Saferworld since June 2016, when he joined the communications team in London. Ilya holds an MSc from LSE, a bachelor’s from Skidmore College in the US, and has completed degree programmes at Sophia University in Japan and Smolny College in Russia.
Twitter: @ilyajones11
Sairah Yusuf, South Asia Programme Manager
Sairah joined Saferworld in April 2018, she manages Saferworld's work on regional dialogue processes and economic connectivity in South Asia, with a focus on conflict sensitivity, partnership building, and programme design, adaptation, and learning. She has experience in developing and implementing programme and evaluation functions for partners and donors, including UNICEF, USAID, the EU, and the US Department of State, with experience working across South Asia as well as the Middle East and North Africa. Sairah holds an MPhil in politics from the University of Oxford.
Awfa al-Naami, Yemen Country Manager
Awfa has expertise on peacebuilding, community programming and women’s inclusion in peacebuilding. She previously worked as a Gender Project Manager for Saferworld in Yemen and as a Gender Advisor for the National Foundation for Development and Humanitarian Response, where she coordinated Food, Security and Livelihoods programming. Awfa has worked on gender-related projects with the Japan International Cooperation Agency and holds an MBA.
Homam Kuzlbash, Middle East and North Africa Finance Manager
Homam has over 12 years of experience in business development and financial management, both in the private and non-profit sector, and extensive experience in conflict-related humanitarian response.
Dora Piscoi, Yemen Programme Manager
Dora Piscoi joined Saferworld at the end of 2018 as Programme Manager in the Yemen team. Her experience over the past eight years has been mainly in the humanitarian sector, including providing programming support in an advisory capacity from London as well as working in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Lebanon, Jordan, Haiti, Iraq and Syria.
Ahmed Ziat, Middle East and North Africa Grants Manager
Ahmed has extensive experience in grants and programme management in the MENA region. Before joining Saferworld, Ahmed worked at Westminster Foundation for Democracy and Hoping Foundation. He has an MSc in Violence, Conflict, and Development and a BA in International Politics.
Léonie Northedge, Senior Adviser, Regional Programme Development
Léonie Northedge joined Saferworld in 2014, and has worked on Saferworld’s programmes and research, policy and advocacy on Yemen, Egypt and Tunisia. Before Saferworld, Léonie worked at the think tank Chatham House, where she was a Research Associate on the Middle East and North Africa.
Twitter: @leonieleonie
Wisam Elhamoui, Middle East and North Africa Civil Society Advisor
Wisam's work focuses on supporting the exchange of knowledge and learning with civil society organisations, ensuring their input and views are at the centre of our programmatic work and strategy. Wisam has extensive experience in civil society empowerment and solidarity. His previous work includes peacebuilding, governance, gender equality, and advocacy. He holds an MA in Development and Emergency Practice and a post-graduate degree in Humanities and Islamic Studies.
Bilal Sukkar, Middle East and North Africa Programme Coordinator
Bilal joined Saferworld in 2018. His previous experience includes working on food security and education projects in Syria, and on advocacy and policy responses to the Syrian crisis. He has an MA in Conflict Resolution in Divided Societies from King’s College London.
Twitter: @ElshamiHilal
Jason S Calder, Saferworld USA Head of Office
Jason joined Saferworld as the Saferworld USA Head of Office in Washington, D.C. where he manages Saferworld’s policy and advocacy work. Jason has over 20 years’ experience in peacebuilding, governance and development with work in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean.
Before joining Saferworld, Jason was The Carter Center’s Office Director and Country Representative in Guyana. He brings a range of expertise on multi-stakeholder dialogue, inclusive governance, social cohesion, community-driven peacebuilding and aid effectiveness.
Lucia Montanaro, Head of Saferworld Europe
Lucia is Head of Saferworld Europe. She has over 25 years’ experience working on peace, security and conflict issues, including peacebuilding, mediation and reconciliation, governance, security, armed groups, organised crime, early warning, risk assessment, resilience and recovery. She has worked for the UN, EU and other organisations in numerous fragile and conflict-affected contexts across the Middle East, Africa, Latin America, Asia and Europe.
Tamara Duffey-Janser, Head of Conflict Advisory Unit
Tamara began her role as Head of Conflict Advisory Unit in 2021. Before then, she was Saferworld's Head of Central and South East Asia overseeing the Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Myanmar country programmes. Tamara has over 25 years of research, training, and programming experience in conflict resolution, peacebuilding, and peacekeeping and community security and community policing in a number of conflict-affected and post-conflict contexts, including Tajikistan and Kosovo.
Elizabeth Bourne, Head of Communications
Elizabeth is Head of Communications, overseeing Saferworld’s communications, marketing and external profile. She joined Saferworld in 2012 as Communications Officer and has since led on delivering Saferworld’s first organisational communications strategy, redeveloping Saferworld’s website and building and managing Saferworld’s global communications team to support Saferworld’s funding, programme and policy objectives. She has an MA in International Relations (Peacebuilding) from the University of Birmingham.
Twitter: @bourneshort
Read articles and publications from Elizabeth
Natalia Chan, Conflict and Security Adviser
Natalia joined Saferworld in February 2020, and leads on providing strategic and technical support to the Conflict Sensitivity Facility for Sudan. Natalia also works closely with the Conflict Sensitivity Resource Facility in South Sudan and provides support to Saferworld’s conflict sensitivity helpdesks and Saferworld programmes. Natalia is the co-chair of the South Sudan Working Group of UK-based NGOs.
Claire Devlin, Senior Conflict and Security Adviser
Claire joined Saferworld in February 2020 as the Senior Conflict and Security Adviser in the Conflict Advisory Unit. She has 15 years’ experience in the humanitarian and development sectors. Her focus is on conflict sensitivity and security and justice. She works with a range of humanitarian and multi-mandate organisations and institutions to promote both conflict sensitivity and progress on the localisation agenda in conflict-affected contexts.
Twitter: @ClaireAustine
Roy Isbister, Team Leader – Arms Unit
Roy leads Saferworld's work on conventional arms. He has around 20 years’ experience in developing and implementing strategies to promote the adoption of responsible arms transfer control strategies nationally, regionally and internationally. On top of writing research papers, reports, policy briefings and articles on arms transfer control policies, Roy also regularly contributes to international media on arms issues. He is a long-serving member of the Board of the global Control Arms Coalition and the Coordinator of the UK NGO Working Group on Arms.
Read articles and publications from Roy
Elizabeth Kirkham, Arms Unit Adviser
Elizabeth has worked on arms and security issues at Saferworld since 1993. Elizabeth's areas of interest include national, regional and international arms transfer control policies and practices and global and regional efforts to stem the proliferation and misuse of small arms and light weapons. She has produced numerous publications for Saferworld on a wide range of related issues such as: how an international Arms Trade Treaty could be monitored and verified; and priorities for strengthened controls on small arms transfers in order to prevent their diversion.
Read articles and publications from Elizabeth
"Leon" Yu Liang, Beijing Operations Manager
“Leon” Yu Liang is the Operations Manager of Saferworld's new Beijing office. He has over 20 years of experience working in media and NGOs. Leon started his career in 2000 as a journalist with China Daily and other media outlets. Later in 2009 he joined the Internews China programme and more recently, he worked as a China Adviser for Global Witness. Leon holds a master's degree in journalism, communication and development studies from the Ohio University and another in linguistics from the Shanghai Jiao Tong University.
Ojaswi Shah, Conflict and Security Adviser
Ojaswi joined Saferworld in 2010 primarily focused on shaping the Nepal programme’s gender and peacebuilding, and security sector reform work. She led Saferworld’s first participatory research on notions of masculinities and violence in Nepal, worked on gender, disarmament and rehabilitation of ex-combatants in Nepal. She is now an adviser within the Conflict Advisory Unit with a focus on gender and conflict-sensitive approaches to peacebuilding and crisis response.
Jordan Street, Policy and Advocacy Adviser
Jordan joined Saferworld in April 2017 as a Policy and Advocacy Adviser with particular focus on the United Nations, Sustainable Development Goals, youth, peace and security, and promoting peacebuilding responses to terrorism and migration. He has 9 years of experience working with international peacebuilding and conflict prevention organisations. He has written a number of studies on the implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 16, and the effects of counter-terrorism and countering/preventing violent extremism agendas.
Twitter: @jordan_street07
Read articles and publications from Jordan
Jessica Summers, Head of Communications
Jessica joined Saferworld in 2016 as the Publications and Editorial Coordinator before moving to Communications Manager and Head of Communications. She's contributed to publications, comment pieces, media pitches, photo stories, and events. She’s worked closely with the Yemen, South Sudan, Somalia, Uganda and Kenya programmes and partners to create impactful communications. Jessica has an MSc in gender research from LSE and studied gender at the University of California, Berkeley.
Twitter: @Jessa_Summers
Charlotte Watson, Conflict and Security Adviser
Charlotte joined Saferworld as a Conflict and Security Adviser in January 2016. She has over 15 years’ experience working on conflict and peacebuilding with a specific focus on security and justice and conflict-sensitive development. Before joining Saferworld, Charlotte spent over a decade working with various organisations and institutions from USAID, PwC to the Institute for Security Studies. She also worked as a Technical Conflict Adviser for the Ugandan Office of the Prime Minister.
Zahbia Yousuf, Senior Research Adviser
Zahbia Yousuf is Senior Research Adviser at Saferworld, where she supports research design and delivery for practical programming and policy advocacy. Before this she was at Conciliation Resources from 2012-2018, where she was editor of the Accord Insight publication, and managed the DFID-funded Political Settlements Research Project. She has also taught at SOAS University and Kings College London, and completed a PhD in comparative peace processes from Kings College London in 2010, with a focus on Northern Ireland, Palestine, and Kashmir.