SHORT BIOGRAPHYKAI FRITHJOF BRAND-JACOBSENDirector, Department of Peace Operations (DPO)

Kai Frithjof Brand-Jacobsen is regarded as one of the leading pioneers, innovators and practitioners in the field of peacebuilding and dealing with conflicts and crisis in the world today. For nearly 20 years he has worked across all continents and many of the most challenging war zones and crisis situations in the world at the invitation of the United Nations, governments, international agencies and organisations, and communities affected by war. He is before all else a practitioner working on the ground to prevent violent conflicts, end wars, and support reconciliation and healing after violence. He is also invited around the world to speak to audiences, governments, and national and international organizations. His work is one of the subjects of the recent documentary movie In Pursuit of Peace.

In this short biography:Short Introduction to Use for Events; Brief Biography; Select Quotes; Authorized Pictures for use

Short Introduction to Use for Events-The following or selection from it is recommended for short introductions for events and trainings- Kai Brand-Jacobsen has nearly than 20 years experience working in peacebuilding in many of the most challenging and difficult wars and crisis situations in the world. He works only upon invitation, meaning that he only works anywhere in the world when he has been asked to be there – by the people affected, by governments, by the UN and other international agencies. He is Director of the Department of Peace Operations (DPO), one of the world’s leading sources of expertise in peacebuilding, war and violence prevention, and post-war recovery and healing. He has provided more than 300 training and executive leadership programmes for senior government and political leadership, UN staff, and experts and practitioners in the field, and has experience working in Iraq, Lebanon, Israel-Palestine, Nepal, Northern Ireland, Sri Lanka, Cyprus, Afghanistan, Burma, Cambodia, Somalia, Liberia, Sudan, and elsewhere. He is author of “Searching for Peace in Iraq”, “Palestine and Israel: Improving Peacebuilding Strategies, Design and Impact”, the “Strategic Peacebuilding Handbook” and much more, and an editor of the international Journal of Peacebuilding and Development. He has taught upon invitation at Oxford University, Hacettepe University, the United Nations University for Peace, Colombia, York, the European Peace University, Royal Roads, and many more.

Brief Biography

Kai Brand-Jacobsen is Director of the Department of Peace Operations (DPO). He is a senior expert in facilitation and development of mediation and peace processes; strengthening local, national and international capabilities and infrastructure for peacebuilding and prevention (I4P); strategic peace and conflict analysis and intelligence; scenario development and futures forecasting; and policies and proposals for improving evidence-based peacebuilding and peacemaking practice, effectiveness and impact.

Mr. Brand-Jacobsen is a senior evaluator of peacebuilding and peace support operations and advisor to governments and inter-governmental organisations. He also specializes in programmes to empower and support communities affected by war and violence including governments, local authorities, youth, women, and others. He was co-founder of the Peace Action, Training and Research Institute of Romania (PATRIR) and President of the Institute from 2001 – 2 011.

Process Facilitation: He is invited by UN agencies, country missions, national and international organizations and governments as a specialist in the development, design and facilitation of mediation and peace processes, including confidence building measures and strengthening state and civil society capabilities for effective peace building. Since 2007 he has been called upon to facilitate Multi-Stakeholder Strategic Planning Processes in Northern Ireland, Sudan, Cyprus, Nepal, Iraq and elsewhere. He is also regularly asked by major national and international coalitions, platforms and Governments to facilitate inter-agency strategic planning processes.

Training & Professional Development Programs: He has provided more than 300 training programs in 36 countries to senior political and conflict party leadership, government ministries, national and international organizations, UN agencies and country missions, diplomats, NGOs, community-based practitioners, and military and security forces, and has been invited to deliver customized trainings and Executive Leadership Programmes by more than 100 agencies and institutions world-wide. He is a Senior Trainer for the International Peace & Development Training Centre (IPDTC) and Heads DPO’s Programme to engage with and support Training Academics, Staff Colleges, Diplomatic Institutes and Graduate Programmes to introduce/develop customized training on peacebuilding and effective management of conflicts for practitioners and professionals in government, civil society and security forces.

Public Lectures and Teaching: He has taught and lectured at universities across Europe, North America, Latin America and Asia including Oxford University, York University’s Post-War Recovery and Development Unit (PRDU), University of Florence (Italy), Royal Roads University (Canada), the United Nations University (Japan), the European Peace University (Austria), Hacettepe University (Turkey), Babes-Bolyai University (Romania), and the United Nations University for Peace in Costa Rica. He has been invited to provide more than 200 public talks in 28 countries.

Publications and Research: He is an experienced Researcher/ Director of Research Programs. He is currently completing a Strategic Peacebuilding Handbook. He has led multinational research teams developing manuals and materials on Monitoring and Evaluation of Peace Processes, Collaborative Leadership and Dialogue in Governance, and much more. He led NOVACT’s International Research Team on Searching for Peace in Iraq from 2010 – 2011. In 2009 he headed the Palestine and Israel: Improving Civil Society Peacebuilding Strategies, Design, and Impact international research project. He has written and published widely and is a member of the Executive Board of the Journal of Peace and Development (JPD) and an Editor of Oxford University Press’ Peace Encyclopedia. In 2012 he was an Executive Editor of a Special Issue of the Journal on Peacebuilding and Development on Infrastructure for Peace (I4P).

Country / Regional Experience: Mr. Brand-Jacobsen has worked in Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, southern Thailand, Burma, Cambodia, Aceh-Indonesia, Russia, Moldova, South Eastern Europe, Northern Ireland, Cyprus, Mexico, Colombia, Somalia, Liberia, Sudan, North America, and the Middle East at the invitation of governments, inter-governmental organizations, UN agencies, and local organizations and communities.

Boards & Governance Experience: Mr. Brand-Jacobsen sits on several boards and international advisory groups including for the International Association of Human Values Peacebuilding Unit (IAHV PB), NOVACT, the National Peace Academy, PATRIR, and others.

To contact Kai Brand-Jacobsen please do so directly by writing to:Kai Brand-JacobsenDirector, Department of Peace Operations (DPO)E-mail: Jacobsen@peaceoperations.orgTelephone: +40752295555

Select Quotes & Reviews

“Kai is one of the most innovative leaders in the field of peacebuilding. His vision is enormous and is paired with an enthusiasm to put hands and feet to make this vision come to life.” Lisa Schirch, Director of Human Security, Alliance for Peacebuilding

“Kai Brand-Jacobsen has emerged as a global leader for building peace. He is an articulate advocate for policies and practices that help reduce violence, and he is an effective practitioner of the art of peacebuilding.”Charles F. “Chic” Dambach, Past President, Alliance for Peacebuilding, Washington, DC, USA

"Kai is a vibrant, deeply knowledgeable and inspiring visionary. With experience working in and on conflict with stakeholders of all kinds, at all levels, in countless contexts around the world, his vision is grounded in immeasurable experience - matched with creativity and enthusiasm, and deep insight into the scholarly, policy and practice worlds of our field."Erin McCandless, Peacebuilding and Development Scholar and Practitioner

“During the last 10 years I have had the opportunity to cooperate with Kai Brand-Jacobsen in several projects in Palestine, Jordan, Syria, Iraq and others, promoting peace strategic engagements, research and trainings in one of the most challenging and violent conflicts in the world. After all those years I can say that Kai is not only one of the most charismatic trainers I have met, with a deep knowledge of applied peacebuilding, he is also a person with the ability to remind us all that we have the power to promote change in our bones.”Luca Gervasoni, Director of NOVACT - International Institute for Nonviolent Conflict.

"I have known Kai for ten years and recently he worked with Building Bridges for Peace to mark the 30th anniversary of the Brighton Bomb. I know everyone who is lucky enough to meet Kai will be empowered, inspired and prepared to do all they can to be active peace workers. I regard without any exaggeration Kai Brand Jacobsen as one of the world’s leading thinkers, scholars, practitioners and trainers in the field of peacebuilding today. Kai is a rare human being and an asset to this field – a scholar and apractitioner who can move from academic knowledge and deep intellectual grasp of the situation in the world to demonstrating the qualities which are needed as a practitioner – listening, emotional intelligence, respect, sensitivity, compassion and deep empathic quality."Jo Berry, Director, Building Bridges

"Kai brings an incredible amount of both practical and theoretical knowledge to the field. He is respected throughout the world as a leading practitioner and proponent. His contribution is significant".Dr. Marshall Wm. Conley - President, Conley-International

"I recently asked Kai to briefly meet Iraqi youth from minorities who had been attacked and displaced due to the arrival of Daesh in their areas. In 30 minutes I saw their faces passing from total disillusionment to curiosity, surprise, hope, and finally determination to do something for their people. Kai not only gave them insights and examples of how victimized communities could be protagonists of positive change for their country, but also the human energy they needed to believe this is possibile. Few months later, Kai was with them in Iraq, and our joint peacebuilding program is a very promising one!"Martina Pignatti Morano, President, Un ponte per... www.unponteper.itSecretariat, Iraqi Civil Society Solidarity Initiative www.iraqicivilsociety.org

"Driven to make an impact and inspired to make peacebuilding work, Kai has the extraordinary intellectual capacity to analyze and synthesize large amounts of information, think across disciplines and paradigms, and go to the core of the matter without losing the overall bigger picture. He is an example of both a reflective peacebuilding practitioner as well as a policy- and action-oriented researcher, fostering constant enrichment between conceptual and theoretical understanding and empirical evidence and insights from the field in order to come to more effective, comprehensive and integrated peacebuilding. His profound understanding of peacebuilding is complemented with vast and varied experience as a practitioner and trainer, having worked with senior political and conflict party leadership, military and security forces, community-based peaceworkers, governmental and inter-governmental institutions, UN agencies and international organizations in dozens of conflict zones around the world. Kai moves easily across the academic, policy and practitioners fields, understanding the different reasoning and language of each field and bridgin g them for increased cooperation and impact. In addition to the above, his excellent communication skills and talent to engage his audience has made him into a well sought after trainer, visiting faculty and speaker around the world, including at the universities of Oxford, Columbia, UPeace, European Peace University and the UN University Tokyo. His critical, non-cynical thinking about the impact of our peacebuilding efforts worldwide combined with a deep aspiration to work for a more peaceful world and his emphatic, inspired, selfless and caring personality, make him into a unique and outstanding leader of today’s world."Dr. Katrien Hertog, Director, IAHV Peacebuilding

“The work Kai has undertaken with the Commonwealth Secretariat as an intergovernmental organisation engaged in high level political mediation, in building institutional capacity to better deliver holistic and more effective design and implementation of conflict prevention and resolution activities is invaluable. Helping the organisation to better link our political work with technical assistance in key development areas has helped us to deliver more comprehensive and effective peacebuilding, which addresses systemic issues and helps build domestic capacity to sustain peace and stability. The knowledge, skill and support he has brought to bolster the skills and approach of individual officers like myself has enabled us to learn and apply a more rigorous approach to our work. This has been inspiring and rewarding on both a professional and personal level. Sabhita Raju, Political Affairs Officer, The Commonwealth Secretariat

“Under Kai’s leadership the five-day training on Preventive Diplomacy and Mediation and follow-up technical assistance provided to UN staff from the region was highly appreciated by all. Besides aquainting them with the latest tools and methodologies, the program was an opportunity for participants with diverse backgrounds and responsibilities within the UN system to develop a clear and common understanding of what preventive diplomacy and advanced mediation entail. The recommendations and follow-up actions generated by this program will go a long way in furthering greater coherence of the common UN effort in Lebanon.”Milos Strugar, Director, Political and Civil Affairs, UNIFIL

“Kai Brand-Jacobsen is one of the leading people in the world working to mediate conflicts and assist in peaceful resolution of conflicts in many areas which could have become major wars.”David Hartsough, Co-Founder of the Nonviolent Peaceforce, Director of PEACEWORKERS

To contact Kai Brand-Jacobsen please do so directly by writing to:Kai Brand-JacobsenDirector, Department of Peace Operations (DPO)E-mail: Jacobsen@peaceoperations.orgTelephone: +40752295555