Eighth Advisory Group of the Peacebuilding Fund

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United Nations Secretary-General Ant��nio Guterres appointed the members of the eighth Advisory Group of the Peacebuilding Fund in November 2024. The membership is gender-balanced and geographically diverse. The Advisory Group provides advice and oversight on the allocations, programming and policies of the Peacebuilding Fund. The Group provides important inputs and ideas on how financing can support and strengthen the efforts of the �� towards peacebuilding and sustaining peace.

The Secretary-General appointed the following members and asked Ambassador Macharia Kamau of Kenya to serve as the Chair of the Eighth Advisory Group:

Mr. Jonas Alberoth, Principal Senior Adviser, Folke Bernadotte Academy, Sweden
Mr. Richard Atwood, Executive Vice President, International Crisis Group, United Kingdom
H.E. Ms. Yoka Brandt, Former Ambassador, Kingdom of the Netherlands
H.E. Mr. Cheng Jingye, Former Ambassador, President of Arms Control and Disarmament Association, China
Ms. Kjersti Dale, Senior Advisor Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation, Norway
H.E. Mr. Mohamed Edrees, Permanent Observer of the African Union (AU) to the United Nations, Egypt
H.E. Mr. Macharia Kamau, Former Ambassador, Kenya
H.E. Ms. Natalie Kohli, Ambassador of Switzerland in the Republic of Cameroon, the Central African Republic, and the Republic of Equatorial Guinea
H.E. Ms. Paik Ji-ah, Former Ambassador, Professor Emeritus, Korean National Diplomatic Academy (incumbent) and Non-Executive Director, Korea Technology Finance Corporation (incumbent), Republic of Korea
H.E. Mr. Baso Sangqu, Former Ambassador, Senior Vice President at AngloGold Ashanti, South Africa
Ms. Ana Glenda Tager Rosado, Private Secretary of The Presidency of the Guatemalan Republic
Ms. Almut Wieland-Karimi, Senior Policy Advisor, Germany.

Terms of Reference (ToR) for the Peacebuilding Fund Advisory Group

Mr. Jonas Alberoth

Principal Senior Adviser, Folke Bernadotte Academy, Sweden

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Mr. Jonas Alberoth, Principal Senior Adviser, Folke Bernadotte Academy (FBA), the Swedish Government Agency for Peace, Security and Development, and the International Forum for the Challenges of Peace Operations (Challenges Forum). Previously Acting Director-General and Deputy Director-General of FBA. He has served with the United Nations, the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, and the Swedish Armed Forces in various international roles and missions. He is a facilitator of conflict resolution and dialogue processes in conflict and post-conflict areas. He is a former President of the International Association of Peacekeeping Training Centers (IAPTC), and currently an Executive Committee member. He is the chairperson of the Center for International Peace Operations International Advisory Board (ZIF, Germany), and a board member of the Swedish Veterans Federation (SVF). He has been the Course Director and host of Senior Mission Leaders Courses (SML), and the Civilian Exercise Director of the international Viking exercise series. He has served as an educational consultant and academic developer with the Centre for Teaching and Learning at Lund University (Sweden).

Mr. Richard Atwood

Executive Vice President, International Crisis Group, United Kingdom

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Together with Crisis Group��s president, Mr. Atwood is responsible for much of the organisation��s direction and day-to-day management. He also hosts its weekly flagship podcast, Hold Your Fire!. He has worked for Crisis Group since 2009, serving also as interim president, chief of policy, New York director and research director. Before Crisis Group, he worked for some fifteen years across the Middle East, Africa, South Asia and Latin America for the �� and other organisations.

H.E. Ms. Yoka Brandt

Former Ambassador, Kingdom of the Netherlands

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Yoka Brandt has served as the Permanent Representative of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to the United Nations from 2020 to 2024. From 2016 to 2020, she was the Secretary-General at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Previously, she served as Deputy Executive Director for Partnerships at ��ICEF (2012�C2016) at the Assistant Secretary-General level. Earlier in her career, Yoka Brandt held key positions within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, including Director-General for International Cooperation (2008�C2012) and Deputy Director-General for International Cooperation (2007�C2008). She also served as Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to Uganda (2004�C2007) and Eritrea (2000�C2004). Since beginning her career in 1985, Yoka Brandt has held various significant roles in The Hague and abroad.

H.E. Mr. Cheng Jingye

Former Ambassador, President of Arms Control and Disarmament Association, China

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Mr. Cheng served in the Chinese diplomatic service for over 30 years. His last assignment was as China��s Ambassador to Australia. Prior to that, he served as the Chinese Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Vienna. His earlier roles included Director-General of the Arms Control Department and China��s Disarmament Ambassador in Geneva. He was also posted twice at the Chinese Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York and held positions in the International Organizations Department.

Ms. Kjersti Dale

Senior Advisor Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation, Norway

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Ms. Dale was the Head of humanitarian principles and international humanitarian law at Norwegian Red Cross. She brings almost 20 years of experience in the humanitarian sector and has worked for the United Nations, the International Committee of the Red Cross and civil society. From 2011 to 2014 Ms. Dale worked for the World Food Program��s Somalia operations. She was also a delegate with the ICRC in Angola and the Ivory Coast between 2005 and 2007. Since 2016 she has been a member of CARE International��s Strategic Leadership Team for Program Quality and Impact. Ms. Dale is currently a member of the board of United Nations Association of Norway.

H.E. Mr. Mohamed Edrees

Permanent Observer of the African Union (AU) to the United Nations, Egypt

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Mr. Edrees is a former Physician who graduated in the College of Medicine Cairo University in 1983, joined the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs 1987, and acquired a Master��s degree in Political Science from SOAS University of London in 1989. He perused a diversified diplomatic career, serving in the Departments of Policy Planning, US and Canada, Cabinet of the Foreign Minister, International Economic Relations, Arab Affairs, and assumed the position of Assistant Foreign Minister for African Affairs. His Foreign Diplomatic posts included the Egyptian Embassies in the USA, Turkey, Syria and the Mission to the �� in NY. He served as the Deputy Chief of Mission of the Egyptian Embassy in Damascus, DPR of Egypt to the �� in NY, Ambassador of Egypt to Ethiopia and PR to the AU and �� ECA and PR of Egypt to the �� in NY. He is currently serving as Permanent Observer of the African Union (AU) to the United Nations.

H.E. Mr. Macharia Kamau (Chair)

Former Ambassador, Kenya

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H.E. Ms. Natalie Kohli

Ambassador of Switzerland in the Republic of Cameroon, the Central African Republic, and the Republic of Equatorial Guinea, Switzerland

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Natalie Kohli currently serves as Swiss Ambassador to Cameroon, Central African Republic and Equatorial Guinea, based in Yaound��. She brings to this position over 20 years of extensive experience in multilateral diplomacy, peace mediation and peacebuilding with Switzerland��s Foreign service. Prior to her current assignment Amb. Kohli served as diplomatic advisor to the then President of Switzerland, Mr. Alain Berset. In addition to diplomatic postings with the Swiss Foreign service in New York, Geneva, Tel Aviv and Berne, Amb. Kohli served the United Nations as Chief of staff in the �� Verification Mission in Colombia (��VMC). Prior to joining the Swiss Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Amb. Kohli worked as ICRC Delegate in Peru and the Republic of Congo. A lawyer by training, Amb. Kohli is also an alumna of the MAS Mediation in Peace Processes program at ETH Zurich. She is fluent in German, French, English and Spanish.

H.E. Ms. Paik Ji-ah

Former Ambassador, Professor Emeritus, Korean National Diplomatic Academy (incumbent) and Non-Executive Director, Korea Technology Finance Corporation (incumbent), Republic of Korea

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Ambassador Paik brings extensive experience in diplomacy and international relations, spanning over three decades. In 2021, she served as the Ambassador for International Relations for the Seoul Metropolitan Government. Prior to that, she served as the Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations and other International Organizations in Geneva. From 2013 to 2015, she also served as the Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York. She has held several high-ranking positions, including Deputy Minister for Planning and Coordination at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), President of the Institute of Foreign Affairs and National Security at the Korea National Diplomatic Academy, and Ambassador for International Security Affairs at MOFA. Earlier in her career, she served as Director-General for International Organizations.

H.E. Mr. Baso Sangqu

Former Ambassador, Senior Vice President at AngloGold Ashanti, South Africa

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Baso is a social change activist and a development economist. He is an accomplished diplomat focusing on international global political, security and sustainable development affairs. He was the South African Permanent Representative/Ambassador to the African Union in Addis Ababa, United Nations in New York, and European Union in Brussels. He also served as an Ambassador to a number of countries including Ethiopia, Belgium and Luxembourg. He also served as an Chief Advisor to the African Union Commission Chairperson and participated in the development of African Agenda 2063. He also served as a representative of South Africa in the United Nations Security Council. Earlier roles include Chief Director of multilateral developmental and cooperation in South Africa Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) and policy analyst and research consultant, economic and developmental section of the Office of the South African Presidency. He now occupies a senior executive role in the private sector sustainability and ESG performance space, and serves in the ��ISA Foundation Board of Trustees.

Ms. Ana Glenda Tager Rosado

Private Secretary of The Presidency of the Guatemalan Republic

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Ms. Tager also serves as the Social Dialogue Coordinator during the country's political transition. She is a sociologist with over 25 years of experience collaborating with the Government of Guatemala, non-governmental organizations, and multilateral organizations. She has held key positions with notable organizations, including serving as the Executive Board President and Director General of the Alliance for Peace (APAZ, Colombia) and as Regional Director for Latin America at Interpeace from 2008 to 2018. Her expertise includes peacebuilding, security sector reform, and violence reduction initiatives targeting at-risk youth. Ms. Tager has also led projects in partnership with regional organizations such as the Central American Integration System (SICA) and the Organization of American States (OAS).

Ms. Almut Wieland-Karimi

Senior Policy Advisor, Germany

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Ms. Wieland-Karimi was Executive Director of the Center for International Peace Operations (ZIF) from 2009 till 2022. Prior to joining ZIF, she worked for the Friedrich Ebert Foundation (FES) in various countries, as country director for the U.S. and Canada based in Washington, D.C. In 2002, she set up the FES country office in Kabul/ Afghanistan. Ms. Wieland-Karimi is Advisory Board member of the Stiftung Mercator. She holds a Master��s degree in Oriental Studies from Bonn University and a PhD. in the same field, with a thesis on the role of religious leaders in modern Afghan politics at Humboldt University Berlin.

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Download Eighth Advisory Group Bios

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First Meeting of the Eighth Advisory Group to the Secretary-General��s Peacebuilding Fund

New York, 15 �C 16 January 2025

Chair��s Summary

Second Meeting of the Eighth Advisory Group to the Secretary-General��s Peacebuilding Fund

New York, 18 �C 20 June 2025

Chair��s Summary

Third Meeting of the Eighth Advisory Group to the Secretary-General��s Peacebuilding Fund
New York, 24 �C 26 November 2025

Chair's Summary

Fourth Meeting of the Eighth Advisory Group to the Secretary-General��s Peacebuilding Fund
New York, 28 �C 30 April 2026

Chair's Summary

Eighth Advisory Group of the Peacebuilding Fund

Prior Advisory Group configurations