Zohra Omar's Page

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

I was born and raised in Pakistan and have been living in USA since 2003. My undergraduate major was Psychology and my minor was Sociology, but I got very involved in West Philadelphia schools and completed a full teacher certification program.
I am now pursuing a Masters degree in International Educational Development with a focus on Peace Education, at Teachers College, Columbia University, and am interested in both formal and non-formal educational settings, as well as post-conflict education planning and curriculum.

I have had training in conflict resolution (Victim Offender Conferencing, Restorative Justice).
I taught orphans of the earthquake in Kashmir, hoping to build cooperative game and trust building activities into their curriculum.
I started a youth movement in high school, with my friends, to bring the youth of India and Pakistan together to build mutual respect, overcome our biases and prejudices, and work towards a peaceful future between our two countries. We did this using self expression/art/music/drama.
I was in Japan, China and Korea representing Pakistan at a conference for nuclear disarmament.

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

Sri Lanka (post-tsunami reconstruction)
Kashmir, Pakistan (post-earthquake education)
India
Pakistan
Japan, China, Korea (Peace Boat - nuclear disarmament)

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

USA

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

Student: Columbia University, Teachers College, International Education Development, Peace Education Concentration

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, Development, Education, Gender

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

Advocacy, Program Administration, Program Design, Training

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

Project based learning in places where there are minimal resources
Co-creating curriculum with children
Empowerment programs which are based on full participation from those who are to be empowered (shared decision making, planning, implementation, evaluation)
Street education
Education at borders