Omolara T. Balogun's Page

What motivated you (or your organization) to become involved in peace and conflict resolution?

The need to pay fervent attention to Conflict prevention/ resolution, Peace, human security and development is very evident in Africa. 16 out of the 52 African countries experienced one form of conflict or instability in the 1999. To say the least, the wave of democracy currently sweeping most African countries has left deeper scars than ever imagined. The bid to inherently understand the dynamics of Africa in the wake of globalization, international political economy and democratic governance continues to be my drive for knowledge, professionalism and delivery in this field.

Please feel free to provide a short bio about yourself or the work of your organization (no more than 3 paragraphs)

Omolara is a civil expert with expertise in conflict prevention/ peacebuilding, Peace advocacy, human security, democratic governance, gender and development.

She began her civil/gender activism as a student leader at the Obafemi Awolowo University, ile-ife, where she studied History and International Relations (BA). She later proceeds to University of Ibadan to undertake a postgraduate (MA.) in Peace and Conflict Studies.

She is currently with the West Africa Civil Society Institute, a regional think-tank institute for Civil society organisations in West Africa as Research Associate. She has written moderately on issues of Peace, Gender and Peace Support operations, Civil society and Democracy; and is well vast in training tools development for civil actors.

I am a West African civil advocate have written a number of papersparticipated in series of workshops, trainings and policy forum relating to the field of peace and conflict studies both as organizer and invitees as a staff of WACSI

Please list the countries and/or regions in which you (or your organization) have direct and significant expertise

Nigeria, Ghana/ West Africa

What is your current country of residence (or location of your organization)?

Ghana

What is your current job (and organization) and/or where and what field are you studying?

Research Associate, West Africa Civil Society Institute (WACSI). Regional Conflict Prevention facilitator/trainer

How many years professional experience do you have ?

3-5

What is your personal or organizational website?

http://www.wacsi.org

What is one of your favorite websites in the field? (please provide one answer per box)

http://United State Institute for Peace, USIP

What is one of your favorite websites in the field? (please provide one answer per box)

http://The United Nations

Which are your primary sectoral areas of expertise (or the primary sectoral areas of your organization) ?

Alternative Dispute Resolution, Civil Society, Conflict Resolution, Conflict Mainstreaming, Democratization, Development, Dialogue, Diplomacy, DDR, Facilitation, Gender, Health, Human Rights, Internally Displaced, Humanitarian Relief, Organizational Development, Peacekeeping, Refugees, Rule of Law, Security, Terrorism

Which are your primary skills areas(or the primary skill areas of your organization)?

Advocacy, Capacity Building, Curriculum Development, Evaluation, Fundraising, Monitoring, Program Administration, Program Design, Program Implemenation, Research, Qualitative Skills, Quantitative Skills, Training

What are some of your current areas of research (if any)?

Civil Society and Conflict Prevention
Civil Society and Democratic governance
Civil Society and Policy Advocacy/ Influencing
Gender Mainstreaming in Peace Support Operations
Women's Status in political Participation and Leadership

If appropriate feel free to list several of your (or your organization's) publications

Institute for Democracy in South Africa (IDASA) and Conflict Prevention in Nigeria.
Status of Women's Leadership in West Africa
Conflict Prevention training manual for West African civil Actors
Oil Multinationals and the survival of the Ogoni people of the Niger Delta in Nigeria