Seeking Peace

Jonathan was appointed Executive Director of Conciliation Resources in May 2016. He joined Conciliation Resources in 1997 and developed the Caucasus programme focusing on dialogue and confidence building initiatives to promote peacebuilding in the Caucasus. In September 2008 he became Director of Programmes overseeing Conciliation Resources’s regional programmes in the Caucasus, Colombia, West Africa, East and Central Africa, the Horn of Africa, the Philippines, Fiji, and India/Pakistan in relation to Kashmir.

Previously he served as Deputy Director of the Foundation on Inter-Ethnic Relations in The Hague, working with the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities. In 2018 Jonathan became Chair of the European Peacebuilding Liaison Office (EPLO). Jonathan has taught peace and conflict studies at the London School of Economics.

He has degrees from the universities of Bristol, London, and Oxford. In 2007 he was awarded an OBE by the British Government for services to conflict prevention and conflict resolution in the Caucasus.

Since 2003, Luxshi has been both conceptually and practically involved in designing, leading, and facilitating dialogue and mediation processes and providing negotiation training and on-demand support for negotiators, advisors, special envoys, and mediators involved in peace negotiations.

She led the conceptual work on National Dialogues and Insider Mediation (including faith-based mediation) at the Berghof Foundation. She developed the UN-DPPA/Berghof Foundation project “Mediation and Constitution-building” and co-wrote the Primer on the subject. Since 2006, Luxshi has been leading the global engagement with opposition and resistance/liberation movements, where they are trained in negotiation skills and negotiation topics.

She is also part of the Initiative Mediation Support in Germany, a consortium consisting of 5 German organizations advising the German Foreign Office on issues related to mediation and mediation support. Currently, she is part of the standing working group on mediation of the Advisory Council on Civilian Crisis Prevention of the German Government.

She is also a member of Women Peace Mediators Germany Network made up of women mediators from Germany who are involved in Track 1 international peace processes.

Gorka has been a member of the Senate since 2019. A graduate of Deusto University with extensive training in conflict resolution and international relations, he has represented the Basque independent left for over 20 years and has in-depth knowledge of key European and other international institutions.

Throughout his career, he has actively participated in peace processes, closely monitored various national liberation movements, and maintained relationships with a wide variety of stakeholders including in Belgium, Flanders, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Norway, the Faroe Islands, Sapmi, Kurdistan, Corsica, Sardinia, Cape Verde, Morocco, Argentina, Honduras, Mexico, Uruguay and Ireland, Latvia, Switzerland, Italy, Turkey, Colombia, Catalonia, Cuba, Philippines, Myanmar, and Malaysia.

He previously served as director of international relations for the Abertzale Left and Sortu and director of international relations and policy for the Euskal Herria Bildu.

Mayu currently serves as a member of an ad hoc committee to review, study, and propose guidelines for the promotion of the peace process in the Deep South of Thailand in the National Parliament. He is also the Secretary General of the Civil Society Assembly for Peace (CAP), directing a network of 27 organizations working on eight issues related to peace and conflict in Patani. He also serves as vice chair of the Nusantara Foundation, which supports orphans affected by violence. Chena holds a master's degree in political science from Ramkhamhaeng University in Bangkok.

Jularat is currently a consultant for the Sasakawa Peace Foundation's program to promote peace processes in the Deep South of Thailand. She is also a member of the Southeast Asian Women Peace Mediators (SEAWPM). She has also worked as a consultant for the Berghof Foundation for nine years and as an executive assistant for the Bangkok based organization Peace Resources Collaborative Foundation. She specializes in peace support and works in a variety of dialogue, negotiation, and mediation activities, particularly at the Track 2 level in the Deep South of Thailand. She holds a master’s degree in Mediation in Peace Processes from ETH Zurich.

Akiko leads a project at the Sasakawa Peace Foundation to promote the peace process in the Deep South Thailand based on her experience conducting field research in conflict areas in Indonesia and other Southeast Asian countries as well as her research on conflict analysis and peacebuilding. In addition, she oversees the "Women's Political Leadership" project, drawing on her experience as a policy secretary for a member of the House of Representatives. She is also actively involved in promoting the Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) agenda in Japan and Asia. She holds a PhD in Area Studies from Sophia University.