DPI NGO Thursday Briefing "The Value of Peacekeeping: Stories from the Field" - 5 April 2018

Hawa Diallo
Public Information Officer, NGO Relations Advocacy and Special Events Section, Department of Public Information

Ms. Diallo began her United Nations career in 1986 with the Department of Public Information in New York. From 1992 to 1994, she served in two United Nations Peacekeeping Operations in Cambodia and Somalia. Upon her return to New York, Ms. Diallo joined the Office of the Deputy Secretary-General until moving to the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UNHabitat) in Nairobi, as an Associate Human Settlements Officer and later worked as a Partners and Youth Officer until moving to the Agency’s New York Liaison Office in 2010. In 2013, Ms. Diallo was appointed Public Information Officer in the NGO Relations Section of the Department of Public Information.



 

Daria Miglietta Ferrari
Senior Political Affairs Officer in the Europe, Latin America and Asia Integrated Operational Team, Department of Peacekeeping Operations 

Ms. Migletta Ferrari has been serving with the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO), and in United Nations peacekeeping missions for over 15 years. At headquarters, she helped to establish the UN peacekeeping in Cote d'Ivoire, UNOCI, in 2004. Ten years later, she served in UNOCI as Senior Planning Officer, planning for the Mission's transition and eventual departure. Her other assignments with the United Nations include serving as Humanitarian Affairs Officer in the Balkans in the early 2000s, as Political Adviser to the Force Commander and Head of the United Nations operation in Lebanon, UNIFIL, in the aftermath of the 2006 war, and as Political Affairs Officer in DPKO contributing to the establishment of a new peacekeeping operation in Timor-Leste in 20016, and overseeing its transition in 2012. Daria currently serves as Senior Political Affairs Officer in the Europe, Latin America and Asia Integrated Operational Team of DPKO, with responsibility for backstopping the UN peacekeeping operations in Kosovo and Cyprus.
  

Brigadier General Khan Firoz Ahmed
Defense Advisor, Permanent Mission of Bangladesh to the United Nations 

Brigadier General Khan Firoz Ahmed is the Defence Adviser of Bangladesh Permanent Mission to UN. Bangladesh is the 2nd largest troops contributing country to UN. Presently almost seven thousands military and police forces are deployed in eleven UN Missions. He participated in two UN peacekeeping missions in South Sudan and Sierra Leone. He got the experience of commanding Infantry Battalion and Brigade in the field. He was a UN peacekeeping trainer in Bangladesh Institute of Peace Support Operation Training (BIPSOT) and Defence Services Command and Staff College in Bangladesh. He has been serving in Bangladesh Army for the last 30 Years.


 

Jon Greenway
Strategic Communications Officer, Department of Public Infromation

Jon manages communications campaigns and crisis communications on peace and security issues for the UN Department of Public Information. Previously Jon worked for the Department of Peacekeeping Operations where he served as the Deputy Chief of Public Affairs and Head of Digital and Campaigns. Jon also worked for the Special Envoy on Ebola and the UN’s first emergency health mission during the 2014 outbreak in West Africa. Prior to joining the United Nations, Jon worked at the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office where he received the Foreign Secretary’s Leadership Award for his work in digital diplomacy.
 

Charles Anyidoho
Senior Political Affairs Officer at Europe Division of the Department of Political Affairs 

Mr. Anyidoho has more than 25 years of progressively responsible working experience in political, legal, social and humanitarian fields both at the national and international levels. From 1995 to 1999, he worked on mediation, peace, security, development and humanitarian issues under the United Nations in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. In both UNPROFOR and UNMIBH, he worked on projects aimed at the restoration of sustainable peace and development in Croatia and Bosnia. He supported the work of a group of Ambassadors tasked with the cantonization of Central BiH. Presently, under the guidance of the Director, he serves as the Team Leader for the Eastern Mediterranean and Western Europe Team of the Europe Division in the UN Department of Political Affairs. He monitors and assesses political developments in the region, including in the European Union and NATO.


 

Amaka Azikiwe
Political Affairs Officer, UN Operations and Crisis Centre (UNOCC) 

Ms. Azikiwe currently serves as a Political Affairs Officer in the United Nations Operations and Crisis Centre (UNOCC) analyzing and reporting on political and security developments in West and Central Africa, as well as providing sound political and operational judgements for senior UN decision-making purposes. Prior to this role, she worked in the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) from 2013 to 2016 during which she served as a Political Affairs Officer providing substantive support to the Malian peace process and coordinating the Mission activities on issues pertaining to the Sahel region. Since joining the United Nations in 2001, Ms. Azikiwe has worked in the Security Council Affairs Division in DPA, the UN Peacebuilding Office in the Central African Republic, (BONUCA), the UN Peacebuilding Support Office in Guinea-Bissau (UNOGBIS), and the UN peacekeeping mission  in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL).



 

Douglas Coffman 
Peace and Security, SCD, Department of Public Information

Mr. Coffman has been working at the United Nations since 1995 and has served in a variety of roles including as a Public Affairs Officer for Vukovar, Croatia; Zagreb, Croatia and Belgrade, Serbia.  He also served as a spokesman for Erdut, Croatia; Vukovar, Croatia and Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina. Since 2004, Coffman has served as an information officer in the peace and security section of the UN Department of Public Information. During this time, he was also the acting spokesman for the UN Mission in Liberia, and the Office of the UN Special Coordinator in Jerusalem. Prior to his work at the UN he worked as a Public Affairs Assistant at the US Mission to the United Nations. In his early career, Coffman was an officer in the US Army Reserve from 1987-1995.