Former team members

Aga Staruch is from Poland but lives in Amsterdam. She volunteered for UNOY Peacebuilders in the period of January-April 2004 as a fundraising assistant.

Alessandra Casano is from Italy. She has a Masters Degree in International Relations; she wrote her thesis on Angola after being there as a volunteer. She came to Leiden as an exchange student and then started working at UNOY Peacebuilders as the African Students Conference Coordinator in 2007.

Alessia Tosi grew up in a small village in Italy. She studied in Wales, Germany and The Netherlands before joining UNOY Peacebuilders in 2008 as the Gender Program Officer together with her Research MA in Philosophy. She has participated in several theatre and street-theatre projects focusing in particular on the social impact of performances and the role of making theatre against social exclusion. She worked as a volunteer Italian language educator for the integration of immigrants in Bologna, Italy.

Ama van Dantzig joined UNOY in February 2005, working on the administration of the "Peace IT Together" campaign and communicating with network members in Africa. In 2006 she coordinated the Earth Charter Activities and assisted in the UNOY Training.

Amira Paripurna is from Indonesia. She studied at Utrecht University, majoring in International Protection of Human Rights and Criminal Justice and also worked at a local NGO in Indonesia. She worked on the advocacy desk at UNOY Peacebuilders during the summer of 2008.

Andrew Bearese originally comes from the US, though he has spent much of his life living abroad. Prior to him joining the UNOY team, he attended the European Center for Peace and Conflict Studies in Stadtschlaing Austria where he earned his MA. In addition, he holds a bachelors degree in Conflict Resolution and Political Science from Salisbury University in Maryland. Andrew has also worked as a community mediator. He has worked at the UNOY advocacy and Asia desks in 2008.

Andrea Auxt comes from Hungary and she studies Public Administration at the Haagse Hogeschool. She was an intern at the UNOY and assisted with the preparation of the European training seminar 2007 in the Netherlands. Besides that, she communicated with members by developing and maintaining the network’s communication tools. After her internship she plans to continue with her studies at the Leiden University.

Angélique Been comes from the US/The Netherlands and is of Dutch/Vietnamese origins. She holds Bachelor Degrees in Global Studies and Sociology, and an MA in International Relations and International Organizations. She was a member of the Advocacy Team in 2007, assisting in the "Youth Advocacy for Peace: A Guide to Good Practices" project.

Angie Lai comes from Hong Kong and she completed her LLB in the UK. She worked as an intern at the Asian Human Rights Commission (HK) and Hong Kong Human Rights Monitor in summer 2007 and 2008 respectively. Angie participated in a several international human rights conferences before and she has just taken up the post of Youth Advocacy Officer at UNOY in 2008.

Anika May joined UNOY in February 2005. She is a qualified social worker and has work experience in the NGO sector in Germany, Indonesia and Venezuela. At UNOY she was involved in managing the Resource Centre and is a member of the "Peace IT Together" campaign, the Youth Advocacy team and the COP05 Team. In 2006 she conducted research in Uganda. She supported the Advocacy Team of UNOY.

Anjala Ward is from Canada and and was an intern from 1998 to 1999. She wrote her thesis on a Culture of Peace.

Ann is from Sweden and she assisted in the preparations of the African Students Conference in 2001.

Anne-Claire Frank was a Board Member until the end of 2007. She was an intern at UNOY between 1998 and 1999. She studied History with a specialization in International Relations. She is the treasurer of the Young SIETAR (Young Society for Intercultural Education, Training and Research).

Anne ZÃ¼ndorf is from Germany and studies for a liberal arts Bachelor concentrating on cultural studies and political philosophy. She was an intern at UNOY Peacebuilders during the summer of 2009.

Anton is from Ukraine and did a Nuffic internship in spring 1999.

Antoniya Stoyanova is from Bulgaria. Prior to joining UNOY in 2009, Antoniya spent seven months in a Brussels-based communications consultancy as an Account executive responsible for various EU-funded projects. Prior to this, she gained project management experience interning at the Netherlands Helsinki Committee in The Hague. Antoniya holds a Bachelor degree in European Studies and International Relations from the American University in Bulgaria, complemented by a Master?s in European Politics and Policies from the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (Belgium). She has worked on UNOY?s European Desk.

Aparajita Dutta is from India and she did an internship at UNOY from 1998 to 1999. She used to be a member of the board.

Ashley Rendersis from Canada. She holds a Bachelors degree in Social Justice and Peace Studies and Political Science from the University of Western Ontario. She has previously travelled to Haiti as part of an awareness trip to connect Canadian and Haitian youth, and has conducted research in El Salvador connecting the topics of the global food system, systemic violence and armed conflict. In 2005, she lived with a family in rural Ghana for four months as part of a peacebuilding program for university students. After graduating with her bachelor’s degree, she worked closely with the homeless population in Ontario, Canada before moving to the Netherlands to pursue a MA degree in Conflict Studies and Human Rights at Utrecht University. Her research interests include the right to food, the role of the private sector in international human rights law, and non-violence as a social movement strategy. She will be filling the position of Advocacy and Communications Officer at UNOY.

Avgi Kaisi was born in Nicosia Cyprus, and graduated from the law faculty of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki , Greece, September 2007. After her studies she worked for a year as a trainee lawyer at a law firm in Nicosia. She volunteered for UNOY Peacebuilders in 2008/2009 while attending an LLM in Public International Law at Leiden University.

Bea Stolte was a Board Member until the end of 2007 and was formerly the coordinator of cooperation and assistance to partners in North-East Africa at the Emergency Department of ACT Netherlands. She is now working freelance. Since 1998 she has been a board member of the European Centre for Conflict Prevention.

Benjamin Bureau is from France and he was an intern from February to August 2003. He did an internal audit for UNOY and developed the concept for the old UNOY website.

Bimal Patel was a Board Member of UNOY and former intern between 1991 and 1992. He comes from India and works as a lawyer for the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, based in The Hague.

Bodil Dronkers has a Dutch-Canadian family and joined the UNOY team in 2005. She is currently studying at the University College in Utrecht pursuing her studies in Law, Anthropology, Development Studies and Psychology. Bodil is a member of the Peace IT Together campaign.

Bruno Cho Fon from Cameroon is a student of Communication Management specialising in Public Relations and Marketing Communications. He has been working for the AfroEuro Foundation as a media assistant and joined UNOY as an intern in July 2005. Bruno has assisted in consultations for the ASC 2006, also working on Marketing and Communication issues as well as fundraising plans for UNOY.

Carolien van den Berg is Dutch, and holds BA in International Law and Politics. She joined UNOY in 2007 and worked on advocacy that focused on lobbying at the EU level for furthering the International Decade for the Culture of Peace.

Caroline de Bruin is from The Netherlands, but has lived in Canada, Japan, Australia, and Jamaica. She has a Bachelors Degree in Social Sciences from University College Utrecht. Her academic interests lie in the field of international relations and development. In June 2007, she participated as a Fellow in the Humanity in Action Programme in Amsterdam. At UNOY she was a member of the Advocacy Team for the "Non-Violence Against Children" campaign in the fall of 2007.

Cees Bouwmeester was our hardware specialist and trouble shooter, always ready to fix a problem in the hardware or software.

Celina Del Felice is from Argentina. She joined UNOY Peacebuilders in August 2003 and worked as the International Coordinator until December 2006. Celina has volunteered to develop and improve the network's policies in 2007. She holds a BA in Political Science and an MA in Peace Studies.

Charlotte Kerihuel is from France and graduated in English Linguistics and Arabic. She now studies International Relations in the Sorbonne University, Paris. At UNOY she was in charge of the Asian and European networks in the summer of 2007.

Charlotte Meyer is from Denmark and holds a BA in Social Sciences. She started working with UNOY in October 2004, working with the Peace IT Together campaign.

Colins Imoh is from Nigeria and he was the African Desk officer from February to August 2003.

Dana Azouri is from Norway and she did an internship from February to September 2003. She developed the Peace IT Together campaign.

Cristiana Conte holds a BSc in Peace, Cooperation and Development Processes and she completed her MSc in Development Studies at the London School of Economics. She worked as an intern for the Department of Human Rights of the Italian Foreign Office, and she collaborated with an international NGO working on development cooperation based in Rome. Cristiana comes from Italy but she studied and lived in Spain, England and in March 2008 she started working for UNOY Peacebuilders as Project and Network Coordinator.

Diana Gaidelyte studied International Relations at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, USA. At the university she was involved in numerous educational projects concerned with promotion of knowledge related to international relations' field as well as peace issues. While at the university, Diana actively participated in organizational coordination of annual High School Leadership Conferences held in order to enhance students' understanding of conflict situations and advance the creative solutions. Diana was interning at the UNOY Peacebuilders as the information desk officer in the spring of 2008.

Diana Puentes is from Bogot?, Colombia. She studied Government and International Relations at the Universidad Externado in Colombia, where she participated in European Common Law, Analysis of International Policy, Post Conflict, and Human Rights seminars. Then, she completed the final year of this degree at Science Po in Bordeaux, France. Diana was Latin America Desk Officer in 2008.

Darja Davydova is from Lithuania. She holds BA in political science from Vilnius University and is about to finish her Research Master in social sciences at the University of Amsterdam working on issues of homophobia and nationalism in Eastern Europe. Her research interests include intersections of gender, sexuality and nationalism, lesbian and gay politics and sexual health issues. Having previously worked with building civil society projects Darja is experienced in organising civic empowerment and informal education activities. At UNOY Darja will work as the Gender Officer.

Dave Taylor is from the UK was the European Network Officer and Peace It Together Newsletter Editor in the winter of 2007/2008. He holds a Bachelor degree in Law and Criminology from Cardiff University and has graduated from Utrecht University in the Netherlands with an LLM in International and European Protection of Human Rights.

Dimitry is from Ukraine and did an internship for 6 months in 1997-1998.

Dinasas Abdurashid Abdell is from Ethiopia and was a volunteer at UNOY in 2005.

Donata Cassini comes from Italy and assisted with research in support of the EU Advocacy Project in Brussels.

Edyta Kalinowska is from Poland. She studies European Studies at The Haagse Hogeschool. Her specialization is Public Administration and after her graduation she is planning to do the MA in the field of Human Rights. She was responsible for organizing Dutch Training Seminar for UNOY in 2007.

Emine Dalyan from Turkey completed an MA in Political Science and a Bachelor in International Relations. Her area of interest is democratisation in developing countries. Up to now, she has rendered work in different NGOs in the Netherlands, Portugal and Turkey. She joined UNOY in October 2005 and coordinated the Peer Support Project.

Eric Ansah is from Ghana and he was the International Youth Coordinator from 1993 to 1995.

Eric Gbeassor comes from Togo, but lives in the Netherlands. He volunteered for UNOY occasionally.

Erin Melnick from the US joined UNOY in the winter of 2007 as the Latin American Network Officer and to undertake bookkeeping. She is beginning her career in non-profit and charity organisations, having completed her Bachelor in Television and Radio in New York and Los Angeles. She has experience organising and leading various community-serviced based volunteer efforts, including trips to aid hurricane relief and for low-income community support. Being new to non-profit, she looks forward to learning many new skills.

Ernest Mason studied journalism in Sierra Leone and worked as a radio producer, Sierra Leone Broadcasting Service during 1993 and 1998. In The Netherlands, Ernest did a six month diploma course in European Literature and Journalism. Over the years, he has worked at the Dutch broadcasting Evangelishche Omroep (EO), Vredesburo and Mira Media.

Esther Lever was born in the Netherlands, but grew up abroad. She has a Bachelor in Social Sciences and an MA in International Development Management. Esther joined UNOY in July 2005 for an internship to assist with the African Students Conference. Her specialization lies within the Political Motivation of International Development and Foreign Aid.

Esther de Witte is from the Netherlands and she completed her MA in Intercultural Communication. She did her internship at UNOY after following the 1st Training Building Peace Skills in autumn 2005. Her internship was focused on organising the 2nd Training Building Peace Skills in spring 2006.

Fabiola Rodriguez comes from Venezuela. She finished her Public accountancy degree at Carabobo University in Venezuela last year. She worked as a volunteer for the Latin American training project.

Fiona Burgess is British/Canadian. Born in the UK but raised near Toronto, Canada, she is now back in the UK studying Sociology at Bath University. She is joining UNOY as the European Desk Officer to do an internship for six months before returning to University for her final year of study. While in Canada she created an organisation for youth in her town to learn about and fundraise for projects in Sierra Leone. She has volunteered in Ghana and completed a mediation training course in the UK.

Farrel is from Sierra Leone and did an internship at UNOY from January to August 2003.

Freed Schmitter from the Netherlands helped design some of our materials and designed a poster for the ASC 2005.

Gemma Sou is from England, and was the Advocacy Programme Officer and Asia Desk Officer in the summer of 2008. She has a BA in International Relations and Politics from the University of Sheffield. She now plans on beginning a Masters in 'Poverty, Conflict and Reconstruction' before entering work in the non profit sector.

Gerald K. Kweri has a Bachelor of Sciense degree, MA: Children and Youth Development -Study project on youths - Ireland and a higher diploma in psychology, children and youth law. Before joining the African Desk team as an intern with UNOY in 2009, he coordinated youth programs in Kenya and East Africa region with various international organisations and he was a consultant in developing youth policies with the ministry of Education-Kenya. Currently, Gerald is working with Aflatoun - developing a Child participation manual. Gerald is also a co-founder of the Boosting Young Entrepreneurs (B.Y.E.) in Africa Foundation in the Netherlands.

Gerda Dummerholt was the Treasurer of UNOY until the end of 2007. She has worked in Development Coordinating during 35 years at NNV, Foreign Affairs. She is now a free lance consultant on migration and development issues.

Gina Donoso is from Ecuador and lives in Costa Rica. She was the Latin American Network officer at UNOY in the fall of 2007. She holds a Master's Degree in International Peace Studies from the United Nations University for Peace, Costa Rica. She has worked for the Inter-American Institute of Human Rights in San José, Costa Rica, since 2003 as a Consultant for different human rights and mental health projects.

Graziella Guimaraes is from Sao Paulo in Brazil and is interested in International Relations and Development Studies. During her internship at UNOY, she worked as Campaign Coordinator and is proud to be able to work towards building a culture of peace worldwide, feeling privileged to assist and support all of those who are taking concrete steps for the realisation of their ideal.

Hans Ola Haavelsrudcomes from Norway. He joined UNOY in September 2005 to replace Celina Del Felice as the UNOY International Coordinator for a period of four months.

Henry Wasung comes from London, UK, but spent the last six years living in Krakow, Poland, and various parts of Spain. He completed an MA in Central and Eastern European Studies in Krakow in 2005 and wrote his thesis on Polish-Ukrainian Relations.

Hilary Jeune from Jersey, the Channel Islands, is the former Chair of UNOY (2006-2007), and also former coordinator of the Advocacy projects at UNOY from 2005 to 2006. After four successful years working at UNOY, and with her Master’s in International Development, as well as her experiences with West and East African NGOs, she is now pursuing her career and other activities as an advocacy officer.

Ilona Vinogradova is a journalist from Estonia and supports the Advocacy Team visiting Embassies and other important institutions.

Inge Ortelee was born in The Netherlands, but moved to South Africa at the age of eleven. Following her Bachelors degree in Political Science, she completed her Honours in International Relations at the University of Stellenbosch. She will be doing her masters in Conflict Studies and Human Rights. Inge was in charge of fundraising in 2007.

Iris Falkensteiner is from Italy and joined UNOY for an internship during the first half of 2006 to assist in the design, restructure and launch of the new site.

Itziar Aparicio is from Spain and and she assisted in the preparations for the conference African Youth Building: a Culture Of Peace in Franschhoek, South Africa, July 2001.

Iveta Cherneva was with UNOY in the summer of 2006, serving as a Coordinator for the International Day of Peace, fundraising officer and she did editing and writing for the monthly newsletter. She now holds a Masters from the Graduate Institute in Geneva.

Jan Ruyssenaars after completing studies in sociology of non-western civilisations, socio-political and economic anthropology and economy of developing countries in 1973, he has been a researcher at the Universities of Nijmegen and Amsterdam and worked for the Dutch Royal Institute of the Tropics. Since 1977 he has been working for Novib, interrupted by work for an international NGO working on conflict prevention and transformation. Since 2002 he is senior policy advisor for Novib/Oxfam on human rights, conflict issues and emergency situations. At UNOY, he was a member of the board and an advisor.

Jayne Falugo is from the United States where she earned her MA in Education. She was trained as a mediator through the Peace Education Foundation enabling her to organize mediation training for students aged six through thirteen. Implementing peace education into her teaching curriculum has been ? and still is ? a priority for Jayne. Extensive worldwide travel continues to broaden her desire for increased cultural awareness and understanding. Currently, she is utilizing her BA mathematics minor to be UNOY's Financial Officer.

Joyce Gabeler is from the Netherlands and was the Desk Officer between April 1998 and June 1999.

Jonnah Baron is from the Philippines and graduated in 2006 with a Bachelor in Public Administration from the Haagse Hogeschool. She was an intern at UNOY for the period of six months in 2006 researching lessons learnt in building a global network.

Juan Salgado is from Mexico and he was UNOYs programme manager from January 2000 to December 2002.

Julia Gierse is of German origin, but grew up in Belgium. She has a BA in European Studies and is currently enrolled in a Masters programme on Human Rights and Humanitarian Action in Siena, Italy. She was the African Network officer of UNOY.

Karen Wakkers from the Netherlands, has designed the campaign logo, posters and postcards. She also gave her advice and professional insight in the development of the new logo and the new web design.

Kathrin Gottwald is from Germany. She holds a B.A. Honors in International Development Studies from McGill University in Montreal, Canada, and completed her M.A. in International Peace Studies at the University for Peace in Costa Rica. She has volunteered in Kenya and interned at the Institute for Multi-Track Diplomacy in Washington DC as a Program Officer for Somalia and the Niger Delta. Kathrin joined UNOY Peacebuilders to be the Africa Desk Officer.

Katharina Block studies Political Science, Philosophy and Modern History at the University of Potsdam in Germany. She joined UNOY as an intern in February 2006 working on a research on the assessment of possible core member organisations and assisting in planning the UNOY Training in Crimea in 2006.

Katherine Davison is from the United States. She holds a Bachelor Degree in Political Science from Eastern Michigan University and a Master?s Degree in Education and International Development from the University of Leeds. She has worked for several organisations in North America, Europe and Africa focusing on refugee, asylee and immigrant issues. She has worked as a Fundraising Officer and European Desk Officer starting in the fall of 2008.

Lea Gibert is from France and has completed an MA in Humanitarian Law and Human Rights. She has experience working in a French NGO related to Child Trafficking in Cambodia. In the summer of 2006 she was the African Network officer.

Lee Bremner is from New Zealand. She recently graduated from Victoria University of Wellington with a BA in English Literature, Linguistics and Philosophy, with an interest in applied ethics. She is currently studying with the London School of Journalism. Her previous work experience is in marketing and communications and she will be working at UNOY as the Advocacy and Communications Officer.
Lenka Antalkova comes from a small town called Senica, Slovakia. She is studying European Studies, specialisation Public Administration at The Hague University. She used to be an assistant in fundraising and also assisted in up-dating the website for UNOY in 2007.

Lenka Chludova is from the Czech Republic and holds a BA in Philosophy and Politics and an MA in Applied Ethics. She has experience in intercultural understanding, activities with and for children, women and youth and art expression. In July 2005 she completed her research project for UNOY.

Liesbeth-Marije Hoogland is from the Netherlands and started as an intern at UNOY in April 2007. She was the African network officer in the summer of 2007 and she worked on the African Students Conference as well. In 2004 she graduated in International Relations at the University of Groningen. She holds an MA in Humanitarian Action. At the end of 2007 she was the chair of the interim board.

Maria Chempalova

Maria Alejandra Pineda is from Bogotá, Colombia and came to the Netherlands to conclude her BA in International Business. She joined the UNOY team as an intern and was mainly working with the assessment of core members in the Americas. She has a major interest on issues concerning Sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility, and is planning to complete an MA in this field.

Marjolein Kok was born in Maastricht but raised in Soest, the Netherlands. She studies European Studies at The Hague University, with Public Administration and Management as specialization. As part of her exchange Marjolein studied 6 months at the Universidad Tecnologico de Monterrey in Monterrey Mexico. In 2009, she worked on several projects such as the Gender training, ISG and NL training.

Martijn Dalhuijsen is from the Netherlands and has vast experience studying and working abroad. He completed an MA in Journalism and worked for UNOY in 2005.

Merlijn van Waas is from the Netherlands and was an intern for eight months assisting in the preparations for the UNOY Second Global Peace Conference between 6th and 16th of May 1999.

Michaela Almeida was born and raised in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. She is from Cape-Verdean origin. She studies at The Hague University, European Studies. She has also studied for 6 months at The University of Granada in Spain. She was the African Students Conference Coordinator 2008.

Michiel van Ingen was born and raised in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, but spent the last five and a half years living in London. He completed a B.A. Combined Honours (International Relations & Political Science) at the University of Westminster and the Msc. Violence, Conflict and Development at the School of Oriental and African Studies. He worked as an intern at Medical Aid for Palestinians and spent a year and a half as a volunteer Country Coordinator (for Somalia, Ethiopia and Eritrea) at Amnesty International. He joined UNOY in 2008 to be the African Desk Officer.

Milena Zarate is from Bogotá, Colombia and and is doing a BA in International Business. She was an intern at UNOY, focusing on researching youth organisations in Central and East Asia

Myrthe Struiksma was born in The Netherlands. She lived in Bangkok, Thailand until 1998 before she returned to her home country. She has lived in The Hague ever since. Currently Myrthe is in her last year of European Studies at The Hague University for a bachelor’s in Public Administration. After achieving her bachelor’s degree she plans to continue studying for a master’s in the field of International Relations. Last year she studied at Kansai Gaidai University in Osaka, Japan. During this half year exchange program Myrthe followed courses such as Peace, Conflict & Democratization and Pacific Rivalry. Myrthe joined UNOY Peacebuilders in the winter 2007 for an internship. She was a member of the Advocacy Team working on the Violence Against Children and Youth campaign.

Nancy Chen is from China and and she worked at UNOY as an intern in 2004. She holds an LL.M. degree from the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, and currently she is pursuing an MA in Humanitarian Assistance at Groningen University. She assisted in the coordination of the Peace IT Together campaign.

Natascha is from Ukraine and did a Nuffic Internship for 6 weeks in 1996.

Nathaniel Holmes is from the UK and holds a BA in War, Peace and International Relations. He has taken on the role of Information and Communications Officer in 2007, and he also helped organize the ISG meeting in 2007.

Nebil Ahmed Kusmallah is from Eritrea. He completed a BA in history and an MA in Development Studies at the Institute of Social Studies, The Hague. Nebil has worked on the gender programme in 2009: specifically on the gender toolkit, the gender working group and gender resources, and help out in training activities. His areas of interest in gender are militarization, migration and development.

Nina Aeckerle is from Germany. Shewas the European and Latin American officer and organised the European Training Seminar in the spring of 2007. After her internship at the UNOY she continued her university studies in Peace and Conflict.

Nina Koevoets recently received her Master's degree in Conflict Resolution and Governance from the International School for Humanities and Social Sciences. She did a major-minor program in psychology and cultural anthropology & development studies at the Universiteit Leiden. She has written a master thesis on psychosocial support for Palestinian children and has participated in a training program for Palestinian, Israeli, Dutch and Belgium youth. At UNOY she has organized a study session on conflict transformation and peace building theory and practices in Budapest, 2008 and she was the Asian network officer.

Nina Maqami is from Germany and she was an intern from January 2004 to May 2004. She developed the Resource Centre.

Patrick Effiboley is a student of Museology. He joined UNOY in 2004 to do outreach for the Peace IT Together campaign; communicate with members of African Network especially in French and collaborate with ASC Report writing.

Paul Huber is from the Netherlands and holds an MSc in Labour and Organisational Psychology and an MA in International and European Law. He has experience in Research, Policy, Communications, Training and works for Amnesty International. He joined UNOY Peacebuilders in June 2005 as Fundraiser and Project Coordinator until December 2005.

Paulien Beet has a MA in International Development. She joined UNOY as a volunteer in April 2005 and was involved in the African Network of Young Peacebuilders (ANYP). She was an intern in the period April to December 2005.

Persefoni Neophytou completed her studies in the university of Cyprus taking a degree in Pedagogical science. In the spring of 2007, she coordinated the European Training Seminar.

Phillip Barry Phiri is from Zambia, but now lives in Japan. He has a BA in Religious studies from Mississippi, USA and he is a 2006-2008 Rotary World Peace Fellow (RWPF). Currently, he pursues a Master’s degree in Public Administration with a focus on Peace and Conflict Resolution at the International Christian University (ICU), Tokyo, Japan. Phillip has studied in South Africa and established an NGO in Zambia where he worked with inmates, women, orphans and vulnerable children, especially those affected by HIV/AIDS. In the summer of 2007, he volunteered to work on the website.

Rachel Eichholz is from the United States. Together with Lenka she created the evaluation tool What is Good Youth Peace Work.

Rebeca Cenalmor is from Spain and was the International and Project Coordinator in 2005 replacing Celina during her absence for study. She has a background in International Law. She has extensive experience in youth work in the Red Cross Youth Activities and ELSA Associations.

Rob Huysmans is from the Netherlands. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Cultural Anthropology and a Master's degree in Conflict Studies and Human Rights. He conducted fieldwork in South-Africa and Kenya and his research interests focus on pragmatic issues in post-conflict countries, such as internal displacement policies and practices, humanitarian responses to conflict, cross-boundary movements as a livelihood strategy, post-conflict return and reintegration, natural resources and human security, and population movements in fragile states. He worked for a number of NGOs in the Netherlands and did an internship at IKV Pax Christi in Utrecht and the Institute for Environmental Security in The Hague. He is currently assisting with the African Students' Conference at UNOY and covers part of the programme content and outreach activities.

Roderick Besseling is from the Netherlands. He has recently returned from 3 months in Nepal, where he was conducting primary research for his dissertation on the Role of Youth in Post-Conflict Nepal as part of his now completed MA in Post-war Recovery Studies at the University of York. He also spent two weeks in Jordan researching the impact of Iraqi refugees on the Jordanian healthcare system. In the past he has in the volunteered for the Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Refugee Forum and Childhealth Advocacy International. He also has experience working for Survival International's Amsterdam office and he organized two United Nations Peace Operations Training Institute courses on Global Terrorism and Peacekeeping and International Conflict Resolution. He has now joined UNOY where he has taken on the role of Asia Desk Officer and is also helping out on the Building Peace in Practice Training session for 2010.

Sahro M. Ahmed was a Board Member of UNOY and comes from Somalia. She has a Masters degree in Cultural Anthropology / Development Sociology obtained from Leiden University. Sahro worked as a volunteer at the UNOY office in the summer of 2001 and has been involved with UNOY eversince. Sahro is involved in national and international youth work focusing on gender, health and healing.

Saori Kumano has a Bachelor's degree majoring in International Security and Conflict Resolution with an Economics minor. During her B.A. program at San Diego State University, she attended UvA for her study abroad experience. From UvA, she flew directly to Kenya to work with the African Institute for Capacity Development. When she returned to San Diego, she became a Pro Bono for the Legal Aid Society of San Diego, working at the Superior Court of California. After receiving her B.A., Saori departed California to return to the Netherlands to attend a Graduate School. She has completed her M.Sc. program in Public Administration with a specialization in International Development Administration from Leiden University. She joins UNOY as the African Desk Officer Focusing on African Training, because Saori is motivated to learn more about her birthplace, Kenya, and Africa as a whole. She will be undertaking a variety of ongoing projects, such as the African Advocacy Tool Kit project and the Non-Violence in the Midst of Crisis project

Sarah Brun is Norwegian/Austrian. She holds a BA in human rights and political science from St. Thomas University, Fredericton, Canada, and gained her MA in international law & human rights from the United Nations mandated University for Peace in Costa Rica. Sarah?s research interests include gender based violence and the use of alternative methods of justice & reconciliation in post conflict societies. She has worked with different organisations in Norway, Canada and Costa Rica. At UNOY Sarah will be working on a variety of projects as the European Desk & Gender Officer.

Silvia Silvozzi is from Italy. She has a degree in International Relations from the University of Bologna and a degree in Economy and Law of the European Union from the University of Paris, La Sorbonne. She has some work experience with NGO’s active in Social Economy and International Youth Exchanges with Less Developed Countries. In the summer of 2008, she was the European Network Officer and the editor of the newsletters at UNOY Peacebuilders.

Shoshana Iten is originally from Switzerland and has also lived in the US. She holds an MSc in technological and socio-economic planning. She was the African Desk Officer at UNOY in 2007.

Umar Ahmed comes from Dublin, Ireland and joined UNOY as the African Network Officer in the spring of 2008. He has recently completed an MA degree in Intelligence and International Security at the Department of War Studies at King's College London, following a BA in Political Science at Trinity College Dublin. Before joining UNOY he worked as an intern for the Communications and Advocacy Division at the London office of Human Rights Watch. The major project that he will be involved in during his time at UNOY will be the organisation of the 'African Youth in Motion for Peace' conference that is scheduled to take place in Nairobi, Kenya in 2008.

Ute Roehl used to be a Board Member and for ten years active in Stichting Universal Education, co-organiser of numerous conferences since many years involved in projects internationally. NGOs in community- and peacebuilding, character of values education and co-founder of UNOY.

Vera Silva is of Cape Verdean origin and was born in The Hague. She finished her studies at the Haagse Hogeschool, specialization in Public Administration. After she took part in an exchange program to Portugal, the internship at UNOY was her final stage of her studies. She organized African Students Conference 2006.

Viola Janbroers has a BA in Behaviour and Society, with specialization in International Development, Sociology and Pedagogy. As an intern at UNOY between August and December 2005, her focus was on project reviewing and on the Peace IT Together campaign.

Zaneta Danihelova is 27 and she comes from Slovakia. As soon as she finished Grammar school in her country she went abroad. She is a student of The Hague University specialised in PA. In 2007, she was responsible for organizing Dutch Training Seminar for UNOY.