The ACFID NATIONAL CONFERENCE 2018 will be held 30-31 October 2018 at USW, Sydney.

ACFID is the Australian Council for International Development and this year’s theme i is People, Planet Peace. For more details see https://conference.acfid.asn.au/

It is always a pleasant surprise when Africa gets a mention, and this year Dr. Jose Ramos-Horta , ‘Known internationally for his advocacy to defend the rights of the people of Timor-Leste’ will be joined by Professor ‘Fumni Olonisakin of King’s College London for a facilitated discussion on conflict, security and development. See https://conference.acfid.asn.au/program/

From the King’s College website  https://www.kcl.ac.uk/sspp/departments/alc/people/core-staff-kings/funmi-olonisakin.aspx

‘Professor ’Funmi Olonisakin is Vice-President and Vice-Principal International and Professor of Security, Leadership & Development at King’s College London. She is also founding Director of the African Leadership Centre (ALC), which aims to build the next generation of African scholars and analysts generating cutting edge knowledge for conflict, security and development in Africa. Prior to this, she was Programme Director of the ALC King’s College London MSc programmes on Security, Leadership and Society and MSc Leadership and Development as well as the Postgraduate Research Programme on Leadership Studies with Reference to Security and Development.’

‘Prior to 2013, ” ..she worked in the Office of the United Nations Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Children and Armed Conflict overseeing the Africa work of that Office. In this role, she facilitated the establishment of the National Commission for War Affected Children in Sierra Leone and the Child Protection Unit in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). She previously held research positions in the Centre for Defence Studies, King’s College London, where she co-directed the African Security Unit; and at the Institute for Strategic Studies in the University of Pretoria, South Africa and the Department of Political Science, University of Lagos Nigeria.” ‘

‘Trained in Political Science (Bsc. Ife, Nigeria) and War Studies (PhD, King’s College London), Olonisakin has positioned her work to serve as a bridge between academia and the world of policy and practice. Her academic research and writing has contributed to strategic thinking in post-conflict contexts and in the work of regional organizations such as ECOWAS and the African Union.’