Photo credit: Pietro Naj-Oleari/European Parliament

European Union

The European Union (EU) is a unique body of 27 member states in Europe. As an influential political actor and the world's leading aid donor, the EU has a vital role to play in conflict prevention, peacebuilding and human rights protection. The EU is founded on the values of respect for human rights, human dignity, democracy, freedom, equality and the rule of law.

Our work

Our work with the EU encourages its institutions and member states to adopt people-centred foreign and security policy, as well as gender-responsive and conflict-sensitive responses to crises around the world. We advocate for EU foreign and security policies that are responsive and accountable to people affected by conflict and insecurity, especially women and marginalised communities, and which are carried out in partnership with civil society.

Saferworld Europe works with institutions such as the European External Action Service and the European Commission, the governments of EU member states, the media and civil society.
We have comprehensive experience in analysing stabilisation approaches in different contexts, and we provide advice to the EU and EU member states on ways to improve stabilisation approaches and actions. We carry out this work in partnership with civil society organisations such as the European Peacebuilding Liaison Office and with civil society in conflict-affected countries.

Saferworld Europe is an affiliate of Saferworld Global, and the home of our EU advocacy work.

Trustees & Staff

Trustees

Jeremy Lester, Chair

Jeremy has extensive experience spanning four decades in senior EU roles in development and conflict prevention. As Chair, he brings a wealth of expertise to Saferworld Europe, steering the Board’s oversight.

Until his retirement in 2014, Jeremy worked as an adviser on conflict prevention, mediation and peacebuilding to the Africa Department of the European External Action Service (EEAS). Prior to that he was the head of the EEAS division responsible for the Horn of Africa, East Africa and the Indian Ocean and earlier, EU Head of Delegation first in Rwanda and then in Niger. He was at various times responsible for EU relations with countries and he supported programmes for several countries of the former Soviet Union following its collapse. Jeremy has also served on the boards of several NGOs, including the Quaker Council for European Affairs, Refugee Action, Oxfam Belgium and Conciliation Resources. Jeremy provides guidance on Africa, justice, human security, refugee issues, development, management, NGO administration and finance.

Fabienne Arminjon

Fabienne Arminjon has more than 25 years’ experience in Finance and Operations Leadership roles in large private companies (Arthur Andersen, Allianz Trade) and in the INGO sector (Médecins Sans Frontières, Save the Children, Christian Aid). She currently works as Executive Director, Finance and Corporate Services at VSO where she is responsible for Finance, IT, Procurement, Internal Audit and Public Fundraising. She is passionate about ensuring strong financial and risk management, enabling organisations to bring positive changes for the most vulnerable, building peace and social justice.

Julie Brethfeld

Julie is an expert on peacebuilding, conflict prevention, conflict sensitivity, local security and gender. For the last 20 years, she has been working with think tanks, NGOs, consultancies, multi-stakeholder networks and government organisations in management positions, on policy advice, strategy development, participatory research, as well as project design and management. Julie has been working in and on contexts such as South Sudan, Ethiopia, Nepal, Central Asia, the Western Balkans, the UK and Germany. Currently, she is part of the Ukraine Task Team at KfW Development Bank in Frankfurt.

Medinat Abdulazeez Malefakis

Medinat Abdulazeez Malefakis is a senior lecturer at the NADEL (Centre for Development and Cooperation) at the ETH Zurich (Swiss Federal University of Technology). She is an academic and policy expert in terrorism, violent conflicts, humanitarian displacement and peacebuilding. Before NADEL, she was a Junior Fellow at the Collegium Helveticum of the ETH, Nigerian Research Expert/Facilitator at the Centre for Security Studies (ETH), and conflict analyst (West, East and Southern Africa) at the Norwegian Refugee Council in Geneva.

Medinat is the board chair for Build UP, leads the Nigeria country portfolio for the Global Survivors Fund, sits as a member of the Independent Review Panel for the Global Community Engagement and Resilience Fund (GCERF) in Geneva. She joined the Board in January 2024, and also serves on the Board of Saferworld Europe.

Stephanie Blair

Stephanie has more than 30 years experience in practitioner and academic leadership roles with a strong background of peace and conflict responses, partnerships and localisation. She is passionate about working the nexus spaces and finding creative solutions to the thorniest global challenges. She was instrumental in the creation of Canada’s Peacekeeping Training Centre, and the International Association of Peacekeeping Training Centres.

She served in senior roles with the OSCE and UN throughout the Balkans crises and beyond. She is a published academic and following her Academic Directorship of Cranfield University’s Masters of Security Sector Management, continues her ties to academia as a Professor (Honorary) of Security and Strategy, at the Security and Strategy Institute, University of Exeter, where she takes great personal reward from mentoring the next generation.

Most recently Stephanie runs an independent consultancy specialising in security and justice; peace, stabilisation and intervention; and fragile and conflict-affected states. As a chair, she brings a comprehensive understanding of the challenges for the peace and security community as it addresses the difficulties faced by fragile and conflict-affected countries. Stephanie also has expertise in strategy development, and her geographical specialities are the Balkans and North Africa. Her consultancy business offers strategy and policy advice, training, facilitation and evaluation. Clients include the UK Joint Committee on National Security Strategy, the Stabilisation Unit, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the Ministry of Defence, the Canadian Government and NATO.

Stephanie joined Saferworld in 2015 and is the current chair of Saferworld UK Board of Trustees. She holds a PhD in War Studies from King’s College London and a Master’s degree in Global Security from Cranfield University.

Susana Klien

Susana Klien is Saferworld's Chief Executive Officer, where she oversees the organisation's development and growth as well as operations and programmes. Susana has more than 20 years' experience of working in the policy, advocacy, development, human rights and peacebuilding sectors, and a track record of developing effective organisational, programme and advocacy strategies and leading organisational change processes. Susana previously worked at Saferworld as the Director of International Programmes between 2015 and 2022. Prior to this she was the Interim Chief Executive and Head of Programmes at Womankind Worldwide. Most recently, she was Head of Grant Programmes at Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust.

Staff

Gulmira Torokulova, Central Asia Regional Programme Manager

Gulmira joined Saferworld in March 2023 and is responsible for providing strategic direction and overseeing our Central Asia regional programme in line with the organisational strategy. Gulmira has more than 25 years of experience in managing and implementing diverse projects and programmes in Kyrgyzstan and Central Asia on issues such as: education, HIV/AIDS, supporting women’s political participation and addressing gender-based violence.

John Mucheru, Kenya Country Manager

John joined Saferworld as Kenya Country Manager in 2022. He has over 15 years' experience in various international NGOs across Africa, Asia, the Middle East and Latin America – including in leadership positions. He holds a BA in Political Science from the Catholic University of Eastern Africa, MBA from the University of Nairobi and is currently an MA Candidate in Development Studies at Mount Kenya University.

Tamara Duffey-Janser, Director of Policy & Programmes and Director of Saferworld Europe

Tamara began her role as the Director of Policy and Programmes in May 2024. Prior to this, Tamara was Saferworld's Head of Conflict Advisory Unit and previously Head of Central and South East Asia overseeing the Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Myanmar country programmes. Tamara has over 25 years of research, training, and programming experience in conflict resolution, peacebuilding, and peacekeeping and community security and community policing in a number of conflict-affected and post-conflict contexts, including Tajikistan and Kosovo.