Peace in Crisis

Zielgruppe:  Vertreter*innen der Politik, Zivilgesellschaft, Verwaltung und Interessensvertretung, konfrontiert mit Renaturierungskonflikten

No prior knowledge is required.

Target Group: Representatives from universities and third sector organisations

Dr Nancy Annan is an Assistant Professor at the Centre for Peace and Security, Coventry University. She holds a PhD in Peace and Conflict Studies and has expansive experience in peace, security, global development, and gender especially in Africa. Her work spans research, training, and development in several countries. She has worked extensively with civil society groups, academics, regional and international organisations on diverse initiatives including EU Horizon 2020 project on PeaceTraining. She previously worked at the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC), and has authored several publications on peacebuilding, unarmed civilian protection, peace support operations, and women peace and security.

Mr. Mustapha Abdallah is a Senior Researcher and Acting Head of Prograame, Peace Support Operations Programme (PSOP), Faculty of Academic Affairs and Research (FAAR), Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC), Accra-Ghana. His research interests include Islamic radicalization, leading to violent extremism and terrorism; transnational organized crimes; mediation; peacekeeping; climate change and election security in Africa. He has presented papers in international conferences and has several publications to his credit. Mr. Abdallah is currently a PhD Fellow at the Institute of African Studies (IAS), University of Ghana, Legon.

Jihad Al-khatib is a theater and film actor. He studied business administration at the Al-Quads Open University and acting at the Drama Academy in Ramallah and the Folkwang University of the Arts in Germany. Jihad Al-khatib has participated in short films and plays in Palestine, Italy, Germany, and Austria. Since 2014, Jihad Al-khatib has worked as an acting coach for children, adolescents, and adults. He is currently a social worker with the Red Cross in the field of migration. (c) Fadi Amraish

Angela Chikuru was born and raised in Serbia. Her roots are in Serbia and Tanzania, more specifically on the small, beautiful island of Zanzibar. She has lived in Vienna for 32 years. She holds a degree in child and youth education and works at a Viennese high school. She is a social media activist, human rights activist, and works as an educational director and as an awareness trainer for discrimination and racism for the Black Women's Community in Vienna. She regularly holds workshops in this field and addresses the multiple discrimination faced by Black women, children, and young people in Austria.

Nathan Coyle is the Senior Project Manager for Peace Tech, he is responsible for all our Peace Tech related activities and digital development. Nathan has partnered with governments across the globe to enhance their digital outreach efforts. He is a Fellow at The Royal Society of Arts in his native Britain and a writer, contributing to publications such as The Guardian. On his publication 'Open Data for Everybody: Using Open Data for Social Good' Nathan did a TEDx talk.

Norbert Darabos was Austrian Minister of Defence from 2007 to 2013 and Burgenland‘s State Councillor for Social Affairs and Health from 2015 - 2019. He was a member of the Austrian Parliament for many years and in his function as Secretary of the Austrian social-democratic party (SPÖ) he led several election campaigns. As a historian, he is currently responsible for establishment of the „Museum for the Contemporary History of Burgenland“ at Schlaining Castle. Since 2019 Norbert Darabos has been President of the ACP. (c) Ricardo Herrgott

Mr. Mohamed A. Dicko is a PhD candidate in Conflict Prevention and Distributive Justice and a security researcher at DONKO Governance and Security Advisory. With over a decade of experience, he consults on governance and security, including PCVE, across West Africa. He has worked with different national and international organizations including USAID, UNDP and GIZ. Affiliated with several research institutions, he holds certifications as a trainer in peacebuilding and deradicalization from Bamako Peacekeeping School and KAIPTC. A published author, he writes on violent extremism, terrorism, and governance in Mali. He is fluent in French and English.

Governor Hans Peter Doskozil studied law at the University of Vienna. His professional career was shaped by police activities, where he worked at the Ministry of the Interior, among others, and was appointed Provincial Police Director of Burgenland in 2012. Doskozil held this position until 2016. After holding high-ranking positions in the office of former governor Hans Niessl, Doskozil was appointed Federal Minister of Defence and Sports in 2016, and from 2017 he took on the role of Provincial Councillor for Finance, Culture and Road Construction in Burgenland. Doskozil has been Governor of Burgenland since February 2019. (c) Manfred Weis

Mrs. Sarah Okaebea Ekuban is the Director of Policy, Plans, and Programmes at the Ghana Boundary Commission (GhBC). She leads strategic planning, communications, and stakeholder engagement, working closely with border communities to advance the Commission’s mandate. She holds a Master’s in International Affairs from Ohio University and a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST). With extensive leadership experience in peace and security, advertising, and communications, she previously contributed to research and training on border security and transnational crime at the Kofi Annan International Training Centre.

Arwa Elabd is a German and Spanish teacher and educator. She founded bibliobox, a bookstore dedicated to literature by Black authors and authors of Color, motivated by the lack of diversity in the Austrian literary landscape. Her goal is to make marginalized voices visible and create a space that is open, safe, and inspiring for everyone.

Michaela Fassl is the professional director of the womens, girls, and family counseling centers in Oberwart, Güssing, and Jennersdorf. Supporting and empowering girls and women is the credo of her work with the association Women for Women Burgenland. She sees the commitment to equality and social justice not just as a professional responsibility, but as an urgent necessity in a world where gender discrimination is still not a thing of the past. Michaela has many years of experience in adult education and youth work and is also a supervised psychotherapist in training and a sex educator. (c) Jennifer Vass

Eva Feldhofer is a retired teacher of German, geography, and integration. She has worked as a guidance counselor and mediator at the Waldbach Middle School for the past twenty years. She was also involved in a neighborhood mediation project organized by the Oberwart Housing Cooperative and the ACP. She will share her experiences at the interface of mediation and dealing with conflicts of interest.

Stephanie Fenkart has been serving as Director of the International Institute for Peace (IIP) since 2016. She is a member of the Advisory Committee for Strategy and Security Policy of the Scientific Commission at the Austrian Armed Forces (BMLV). She is also the Chair of the Board of the Balkan Forum based in Prishtina.

Ursula Gamauf-Eberhardt is the Senior Project Manager for the peace education portfolio. She is also responsible for the OSCE training programmes. Her thematic focuses include peace education, dealing with the past and the OSCE.

Princella Arkor Godzi is a project coordination professional with a background in peacebuilding, international development, and humanitarian assistance. As Deputy Course Director at KAIPTC, she oversaw the Humanitarian Assistance in West Africa project in collaboration with the ACP. She holds a Master’s in Conflict, Peace, and Security and a Bachelor’s in Political Science and French from the University of Ghana and Université Rennes 2, France. Fluent in English and French, she has nine years of experience coordinating training programs across sub-Saharan Africa. She was previously a Language Consultant for UNDSS Ghana and volunteered at the Centre for Regional Integration in Africa.

Zara Binta Goni is a Senior Social Development Specialist at the World Bank with expertise in conflict management, civil-military cooperation, DDR, and community development. She played a key role in establishing the Multinational Joint Task Force at the Lake Chad Basin Commission and contributed to regional stabilization with UNDP. She has also worked on Islamic fundamentalism with the Timbuktu Institute. Zara coordinates initiatives for women around Lake Chad and engages youth to promote stability. Her work focuses on peacebuilding, development, and resilience in conflict-affected areas.

Bernadette Holzer brings extensive expertise in managing international projects and programs across human rights, education, and sustainable peace. At ACP, she oversees international conference management, including the Austrian Forum for Peace 2025. Additionally, she serves as Deputy Director of WUS Austria, focusing on strategic leadership and advancing the right to education. Her professional experience encompasses academic teaching, project management, and research, with a strong emphasis on human rights, conflict transformation, capacity development, and building global partnerships.

Astrid Holzinger is Senior Project Manager of the International Civilian Peacebuilding Training Programme and has multiple years of experience with the UN, OSCE and EU as well as the Austrian civil service. Capacity-building, crisis management and programme coordination within the UN Mission in South Sudan, protection of civilians in armed conflict, the promotion of the women, peace and security agenda and international security are among her areas of expertise. She holds a master’s degree in international relations.

Horst Horvath has lived and worked in Oberwart since 1986. Originally trained as a toolmaker, he later worked in social projects for the long-term unemployed and Roma communities.He co-founded several cultural and social institutions including the Open House Oberwart, RE.F.U.G.I.U.S., edition lex liszt 12, the Roma Adult Education Center Burgenland, and the Forchtenstein Fantastisch children’s festival. He has long been active in peace, environmental, and human rights movements. He currently serves as managing director of the Roma Adult Education Center Burgenland, chairman of edition lex liszt 12, and treasurer of both RE.F.U.G.I.U.S. and the eu-art-network.
Selected Awards: OSMAN Award (1997), Adult Education Award (2002), Honorary Decoration of Burgenland (2003), Regionality Award (2012), Martini Prize (2013), “Oberwart Guardian” (2017)

Mr. Oumarou Paul Koalaga is a trained Diplomat and International Relations specialist. He is the Executive Director of Institut de Stratégie de Stratégie et de Relations Internationales (ISRI) based in Burkina Faso and a lecturer and Consultant in Geopolitics and Strategy. His expertise includes international security, peace, global governance, and humanitarian assistance and is a PhD researcher on the geopolitics of Liptako-Gourma and strategic breakthroughs. He has spoken at numerous conferences across Europe, the US, Asia, and Africa and recently moderated a panel at École de Maintien de la Paix de Bamako on ECOWAS and AES dynamics.

Maximilian Lakitsch is a Senior Scientist and Lecturer at the Department of Global Governance (The Foundations of Law) at the University of Graz. He researches and teaches in the fields of peace studies and international relations. Maximilian Lakitsch is particularly interested in critical perspectives on international peace interventions and the integration of environmental and climate aspects into peace practice. His regional focus is on the Middle East and North Africa, especially Syria, Lebanon and Israel-Palestine. (c) Uni Graz

Tobias Lang is Director of the ACP. He studied political science in Vienna and is an expert on religious minorities in Syria, Lebanon and Israel. His research also focuses on Austria's foreign policy in the Middle East. As a member of staff in several government offices and Executive Director of the majority faction in the Burgenland state parliament, he gained organisational and management experience at the interface between politics and administration.(c) LMS Stefan Wiesinger

Assoz. Prof. Priv.-Doz. Mag. Dr. Ursula K. Mindler-Steiner studied history in Graz and Uppsala, wrote her dissertation at the University of Graz. She is an assistant professor at the Center for Jewish Studies at the University of Graz, lecturer at various universities in Austria and abroad, and from 2012 senior assistant professor (Jewish Studies) at the Andrássy University Budapest (AUB). In 2014, she became a visiting assistant professor at Arizona State University, and in the same year, assistant professor at the University of Graz, and from 2019, also a lecturer at the University of Budapest. In 2024, she received her habilitation ("Nazi victim groups in the Austro-Hungarian border region: political mass violence, their prehistory and memory"). Since March 2024, she has been an associate professor at the University of Graz and continues to be an AUB lecturer. Research interests include National Socialism, Jewish and Romani history. (c) Walter Reiss

Samy Othman is a mathematics student at the Vienna University of Technology and works in the banking and insurance sectors, as well as in risk management. Since childhood, he has been confronted with the reality of the illegally occupied West Bank. As the son of a Palestinian father and an Austrian mother, he has gained insight into both societies over the course of his life – their cultures, similarities, and differences. During his work as an asset manager at a major Swiss insurance company, he learned how deeply political opinions are embedded in corporate life and policies. At the same time, he has experienced that it is nevertheless possible to question these entrenched structures and influence the moral consistency of companies.

Lisa Pertl studied mediation and conflict management at Sigmund Freud University in Vienna. She is certified as an experiential educator, outdoor trainer, adult educator, and systemic business coach, with a focus on intercultural competence. Since 2008, she has been involved in peace education at the ACP. From 2022 to 2025, she participated in a research program on neighborhood mediation at the ACP, in cooperation with the University of Applied Studies. Her core areas of expertise include team development, communication, conflict management, violence prevention, radicalization, combating racism and discrimination, promoting intercultural understanding, and addressing issues of gender and diversity.

Ena Pervan works as a Programme Manager for the Community Arts Lab, a unit within the Porticus Foundation, since 2016. She is responsible for programme and grant making with a focus on peacebuilding, civic engagement and community arts globally. Previously, she was a Researcher and Project Manager at the Competence Center for Non-profit Organisations and Social Entrepreneurship at the Vienna University of Economics. Ena completed her studies in International Business at the University of Vienna and at the Vienna University of Economics. In addition, she has been working over two years for a local NGO in Perú and is engaged in various community initiatives.

Damita Pressl is an award-winning journalist and presenter based in Zurich. She moderates panels and conferences in politics and business, as well as offering media and public speaking training and communications consulting.

Monika Psenner serves as the Head of Capacity Development at ACP, where she provides strategic and operational oversight of the organization's comprehensive training portfolio. This includes spearheading initiatives such as the EU Civilian Training Initiative (EUCTI) and programs aligned with the European Security and Defence College (ESDC) framework. Committed to fostering sustainable peace, Monika actively integrates Environmental Peacebuilding principles into ACP's multifaceted endeavours and advocates for the adoption of the Climate, Environment, Peace, and Security Nexus in both European and global initiatives. Monika's academic background encompasses international affairs as well as crisis and contingency management. Bolstered by her professional foundation in development cooperation and humanitarian aid, she brings a wealth of experience in intercultural network collaboration, leadership, organizational development, project management, and training to her work.

Mohamad Saleh is an experienced social worker in Austria. He studied economics and is an expert in Sudanese politics, especially regarding the regional peace processes, and the involvement of grassroots movements. His engagement and the creative connection of economics, management and the core values of social work, such as advocacy, empowerment and social justice led him to contribute to many successful projects, networks, movements and initiatives. He enjoys reading a variety of literature and shares that passion with his three beautiful daughters. (c) Ayat H.

Alberta Sinani is a Kosovo-born artist and community psychologist based in Austria. Her work explores themes of migration, intergenerational resilience, and liberation practices within communities. As a Fulbright Student in the U.S., she has focused on immigrant youth mental health and civic engagement—work that inherently demands generational healing as a first step toward sustainable peacebuilding. With a background in political science and social design, Alberta bridges academia, activism, and art to create transformative spaces for collective healing and agency, grounded in cross-communal solidarity. (c) Yasmeen Najjar

Youssef Shehata is an educator for mathematics and science, he studied Near Eastern Studies at the University of Vienna. Together with other activists he was part of the "Liste Gaza" an alliance to advocate for an end to the genocide in Palestine, a restoration of the rules based international order, as well as the return of the Austrian state as an international mediator and peace-advocate.

Sophia Stanger is Junior Project Manager and in charge of the project "Capacity Development for Humanitarian Assistance in West Africa" as well as for training programmes within the framework of the European Union (EUCTI). She is also responsible for the Environmental Peacebuilding sector. Sophia Stanger has many years of experience in NGO work, project management and team leadership, for example in the fields of education, humanitarian advocacy and volunteer missions. Her expertise also lies in the intersection of environment/climate and conflict resolution approaches. Sophia Stanger is also a qualified trainer and has completed a mediation training.

Kiara Titze is an environmental advocate, youth leader, and peacebuilding activist dedicated to fostering global change through sustainability and gender equality. Born in Ecuador and raised across Europe, Kiara’s work bridges environmental policy, climate action, and women’s rights. She has represented youth at the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW69) with Servas International and leads the Servas Women International Youth Group, empowering young people worldwide.At CSW69 she advocates for the intersection of gender equality and environmental justice and also moderated discussions at the CSW69 NGO Forum on women’s health issues, including menopause, postpartum health, and PCOS. Additionally, she actively contributes to the NGO-Committee on the Status of Women in Vienna, working to advance both peace and sustainability on a global scale.

Honorable Aissata Toure Diallo is a former Member of Parliament in Mali and served as President of the Parliament Committee on Foreign Affairs for Malians Abroad, and African Integration. She was also a member of the Parliamentary Forum against Small Arms Proliferation, the Parliamentary Network on Violence Against Women, and the Reseau Africain des Femmes Ministres et Parlementaires (Mali Bureau). She holds certifications in Security Sector Reform (Sweden), Health Administration (Morocco), Public Health (Benin), and Private Law (Mali). With a strong background in governance and public health, she is also a dedicated wife and mother of four.

Ronald Tuschl is lecturer at the pedagogical University Graz. His teaching and research interests: Innovation-oriented education management, digital transformation in educational processes, diversity-sensitive media education, human rights education, democracy education and global learning, global citizenship education (GCE) and education for sustainable development (ESD), peace and conflict research.

Wolfgang Weilharter is the Project Manager for the project "Communal Peace and Conflict Work in Burgenland". His focus is on the implementation of mediation and dialogue processes on the communal level, in the areas of communal politics, housing and neighbourhoods and local coexistence of people of different origins. (c) Foto Andi Bruckner