OUR NETWORK OF EXPERTS
At PPO, we always mobilize the relevant experts in our network for the various endeavours and missions we are set to achieve. While they all have extensive peacebuilding experience, they also have a large range of different expertise. You can discover some of them below.
ZAINAB QASSIM
Organizational Development eXPERT
Zainab has always supported the development of various peacebuilding ventures with energy, empathy and excitement. She is an organizational development professional and peacebuilding practitioner. Over the past 11 years working with national and international civil society organizations she has gained progressive experience leading diverse portfolios, including civil society networks management, organizational development, public policy advocacy, peacebuilding programming, and research. She served as a Senior Organizational Development Advisor for PPO and is an acting member of the Iraqi Al Amal Org. Previously, she was Head of the Peacebuilding Approach Unit at GIZ, Networks Manager of Sanad for Peacebuilding, and Advocacy Manager with Mercy Corps.
She has a Program Management Development - Executive Level certification from the Maastricht School of Management, a Program Management Certification from APMG international, and an Entrepreneurship - Leadership certification from Portland University. She also holds a BA in computer science and programming from the College for Economical Science of Baghdad University.
CARMEL AQEEL
SOCIAL Expert
Carmel is specialized and passionate about minorities affairs, psycho-social support, conflict resolution, women empowerment, and the fight against gender-based violence. She believes life is a learning journey and prides herself on contributing to peacebuilding processes in her country. She works as a consultant, trainer, and university teacher. She is also a member of the Network of Iraqi facilitators.
At the University of Duhok, she teaches social planning, urban and rural sociology, educational planning, and anthropology. As a consultant and a trainer, she worked with ACTED, UNESCO, UNFPA, IOM, GIZ, the United States Institute of Peace, Norwegian People’s Aid, and a large range of Iraqi NGOs.
AHMED ABDULWAHED
Governance, Democracy and Election expert
Over the past twenty years, Ahmed worked as an international expert and capacity building consultant in many development areas. He is currently the team leader of the project Strengthening Iraqi Capacities to Respond to Climate Risks and their Impact on Existing Conflict Dynamics implemented by PPO in partnership with Berghof Foundation and Adelphi. He is also serving as the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Academy for Internal Development - Middle East and North Africa, since 2006. He also worked as the Country director Relief International in Yemen, and worked as a capacity building consultant in the field of governance democracy and election in the Middle East and North African.
Ahmed also participated in the preparation and design of a number of strategic plans for local administrations in many Arab countries, including Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, Syria, Yemen and Lebanon. He provided variety of training workshops including training the trainers, on strategic planning, results-based management, Proposal development and writing, good governance, election and local administration, and community consultation. Additionally, he has experience in evaluating international funding programmes related to Governance and development, Women and youth inclusion on a national and regional level using participatory approaches, Outcome harvesting methodology, and OECD-DAC. Ahmed holds a Master’s degree in Governance and Development from the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) at the University of Sussex - the United Kingdom and a Master’s degree in Business Administration from the Sadat Academy for Administrative Sciences in Egypt.
FAROOQ GORIYOKA
INCLUSION AND LIVELIHOODS EXPERT
Farooq is a trainer and curriculum developer with more than 18 years of experience in develop training and capacity building curriculums in a variety of topics including Conflict Management & Reconciliation, Negotiation, Mediation, Interfaith Dialogue and Advocacy but also Business Development, Entrepreneurship, Business Strategy Planning, and Marketing.
Before joining PPO’s network as an expert in local inclusion for the GIZ project Organizational Development and Capacity Development for Peace Infrastructures in Anbar Governorate, Iraq, Farooq worked as a livelihood technical consultant with Catholic Relief Services and YouthBuild International under a USAID funded program called “Shared Future”.
Farooq has also more than ten years of program management experience as a community development specialist, managing USAID funded programs in Iraq.
Farooq worked with many other international organization, including USAID, International Relief and Development, International Youth Organization for Environment and Development, the United Stated Institute for Peace, the Internationak Organization for Migration, Development Alternatives Inc., Chemonics, Prosperity Catalyst, the UN Refugee Agency, and others. He also worked in partnership with the American University in Sulaimaniyah (AUIS) to implement youth capacity building training programs.
BASMA HABIB
human rights, gender and leadership expert
Dr Basma is a Commissioner at the High Commission for Human Rights in Iraq. She is also the Executive Director of the NGO Women's Academy for Leadership in Iraq. Since 2015 she is a Member of the Network of Iraqi Facilitators (NIF).
Basma has worked as a head of Gender and Violence studies center in the University of Sulaimaniyah, Iraq, and as an Executive Director for the NGO Women Empowerment Centre for more than 8 years in Sulaymaniyah, where she managed the implementation of many projects, about women leadership, women political participation, and women and peacebuilding in Iraq. She was also involved in capacity building training program for Iraqi NGOs, where she was able to train hundreds of women about leadership, political participation, and electoral campaigns. Dr. Basma has a PHD in Arabic language, and more than 20-year experience as university lecturer.
ALI BADER
CONFLICT RESOLUTION EXPERT
Ali is a human rights activist and an expert and facilitator in conflict management and resolution, and have worked in the civil society sector since 2004. He has extensive field experience as a dialogue facilitator in various regions of Iraq.
He is the executive director of the Humanitarian Good Organization and is a member of the Board of Directors of the NGO Human Rights Advisory which is focusing on monitoring and reporting human rights violations to the relevant Iraqi Parliamentary Committee. He is also a member of the Network of Iraqi Facilitators, and a member of the advisory board of the Alliance for Iraqi Minorities. He contributed to manage many programs with international organizations and UN agencies such as the International Organization for Migration, the UN Refugee Agency, the United Nations Children’s Fund, the United Nations Development Program, the National Fund for the Support to Democracy, People in Need, Mercy Corps, and others. He was also a program director with the Iraq Eye Network for Election Observation.
Ali holds a bachelor’s degree in Arabic language, Al-Mustansiriya University, Iraq.
TRAINER AND STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT EXPERT
MUNAF AL-QATTAN
Dr. Munaf holds a Master's degree in strategic planning from the University of Basra, Iraq, and a PhD in strategic management and planning of strategic scenarios from the University of Karbala, Iraq. He has published several academic books, including Employing the balanced style of strategic management, Strategic thinking (concepts - patterns - entrances), Strategic management - principles and foundations, Sustainable Social Responsibility Strategy for Third Millennium Organizations, as well as 12 academic articles in strategic management.
Dr. Munaf worked as the Executive Director of the Iraqi Society for Human Rights in Basra for almost 10 years and he is a member of several organisations such as the Network of Iraqi Facilitators and the Oxford Academy for Training and Development. He is also a certified Trainer in the General Secretariat of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Iraq, and has worked with many international organizations, such as the United Nations Development Program, the International Organization for Migration, the National Democractic Institute, the United States Institute of Peace, People In Need and Search for Common Ground. Dr Munaf provided trainings in a variety of peacebuilding topics, such as non-violence, social cohesion, preventing and transforming violent extremism, with many local and international organizations in Southern Iraq as well as in Kirkuk and Salahdin governorates. He is involved in a variety of projects with PPO, including its most recent project, Strengthening Iraqi Capacities to Respond to Climate Risks and their Impact on Existing Conflict Dynamics.
AASO AMEEN SHWAN
research Expert
Aaso is a researcher located at the intersection of security and politics. He is the co-director of Social Inquiry; in his role at Social Inquiry, Aaso has focused on exploring how political dynamics, reconciliation needs, and security configurations combine in the aftermath of conflict – with a particular focus on the disputed territories of Iraq. He also serves as an advisor to the Dialogue Advisory Group.
Prior to co-starting Social Inquiry, he served as news assistant covering the Mosul Offensive for The Washington Post and as a research assistant with the Middle East Research Institute. In addition, as Kirkuk-native he worked with the U.S. Military, including the Army Corps of Engineers. His academic background is in Political Science and International Relations from the School of Global Studies at the University of Gothenburg.
conflict resolution and peacebuilding expert
Khogir specializes in conflict resolution and peacebuilding. As a researcher at Social Inquiry, he investigates prospects for building peace, resolving conflicts, and entrenching coexistence, with a special lens on the disputed territories and the minorities in Iraq. Khogir has conducted extensive research on these topics while at the Middle East Research Institute.
He is a Fulbright Scholar with an M.A. in Conflict Resolution and Coexistence from the Heller School for Social Policy and Management-Brandeis University. He also holds a second M.A. in Applied Linguistics from the University of Nottingham.
