Copyright 2007 CEWARN

Ambassador Abdelrahim Khalil took over the mantle of CEWARN Project Director in early 2006 following a 30-year successful career as a Diplomat of his home country Sudan. A graduate in International Relations from the University of Syracuse in New York, USA, in 1985, he took his first Ambassadorial appointment when he was sent to represent his country in Jeddah- Saudi Arabia for five years and later was appointed as the Director for Economic cooperation in the Ministry of Foreign affairs.

 

 He resumed his diplomatic career and served as Ambassador to Nigeria, Benin, Togo and Ghana. This posting afforded him the opportunity to follow the negotiations and reconciliation processes of the Darfur Crisis as a member of his countries Delegation.

 

Amb. Khalil has also worked as Ambassador to the European Commission, Belgium and Luxemburg based in Brussels. While there, between 1993 and 1997, he participated in all sessions of the European Parliament on the issues of Southern Sudan, Human rights and democratization of the Sudan.

 

He brings to this Inter Governmental institution a wealth of experience in Inter governmental relations as well as honed administrative and managerial skills. He is not new to addressing and finding diplomatic solutions to conflicts and has dug in deep to make CEWARN an efficient Early Warning and Early response mechanism for conflict prevention in the horn of Africa with the full participation of Member States.

Ms. Abebe pursued her academic degrees in general education and computer programming in New Delhi, India. Prior to joining CEWARN, Ms. Abebe worked for a private organization dealing with the importation of medical equipment. Her active involvement with the CEWARN project has enabled her to gain a deeper understanding of conflict analysis and early warning.

 

                                  Ms. Abebe is alarmed about how little the general public knows about pastoral conflicts. “The public is completely unaware of the intensity and scope of pastoral conflicts,” explains Ms. Abebe. “This is particularly troubling because without an informed civil society, governments are unlikely to include pastoral issues within their agenda,” she adds. Perhaps of greatest concern to Ms. Adebe is the gender dimension of conflict. Says Ms. Adebe, “cases of gender-based violence continue to be unreported in pastoral conflicts and I plan to address this critical issue within the CEWARN project.” Ms. Adebe is proud to be an active part of the CEWARN project. “If we continue working hard, our conflict early warning mechanism will remain a state of the art initiative with tremendous potential for conflict prevention,” explains Ms. Abebe.

Mr. Kitevu graduated from the University of Nairobi with degrees in Political Science and International Studies. He worked as a Conflict Research Fellow with the African Centre for Technology Studies and as a Research Associate with the Centre of Conflict Research. He has consulted for International Alert in London and the International Peace Academy in New York City.

 

Mr. Kitevu joined CEWARN as Head of Conflict Analysis in order to get more directly involved with inter-governmental processes that address peace, security and development. With a strong background in civil society, Mr. Kitevu is particularly interested in exploring decision-making mechanisms within governmental organs such as IGAD as well as NGO-government coordination.

Mebrat Woldetensaie trained as a clinical nurse and joined the Yekatit 12 Hospital as a staff nurse. She later pursued a Bachelors Degree in Business Administration from the Addis Ababa University and a Masters in Public Health from Tulane University in New Orleans, U.S.A. She has previously worked as the Regional Coordinator for Health Action International Africa and as a regional consultant for the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

 

Before joining CEWARN, she had a two-year stint with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent societies in Geneva Switzerland as a Programme officer in the governance and Legal department handling principles, values and planning activities.

 

At CEWARN Mebrat has set her eyes to the development of the documentation center for CEWARN to enhance sharing and dissemination of information on Conflict Early warning in the region. "It is amazing how much information on Conflicts Prevention Management and Resolution is available and could be utilized for conflict prevention if it gets to the right users in a timely manner."

Kalayu holds a Bachelors Degree in Accounting from Addis Ababa University. He has previously worked as a Senior Accountant at the Armaeur Hansen Research institute, and later held a similar post with a USAID project for three years. He has been a project accountant and Finance and administration officer for two different USAID project for a total of 4 years. He has also held the position of Head of Project Unit Finance, Audit and Inspection.

 

"I have had opportunity working with CEWARN to go beyond balancing of books to participate in discussions of reports coming in through our Early Warning Mechanism. The situation on the ground among pastoral communities is appalling and there is need for more funding, sensitization of decision makers and all stakeholders to put a stop to this human suffering"

Sebene graduated from the University of Addis Ababa with a BA Degree(with distinction) in Business Education.  She started her career as the Executive Secretary for the President and chairman of the Bank of Abbyssinia .She has previously worked with the Delegation of the European commission to Ethiopia and with the International committee of the Red Cross in Addis Ababa. Most likely to be the point of first contact when anyone gets in touch with CEWARN, Sebene exhumes a degree of professionalism, efficiency and a welcoming manner to the institution.