Rama Mani

Dr Rama Mani has devoted her work to the pursuit of peace, justice and human security, as a scholar, practitioner, and policy analyst.

Rama Mani served as the Executive Director/CEO of the International Centre for Ethnic Studies ( Colombo ) from January 2007 to April 2008. ICES is Sri Lanka's leading research institute conducting research and policy on conflict, human rights, gender and globalisation, and fostering art, culture and dialogue.

She was the Director of the ‘New Issues in Security Course' (NISC), entitled, 'Global Peace and Security: Challenges and Responses', at the Geneva Centre for Security Policy (GCSP), from 2004 to 2006. The course targets mid-senior diplomats, security officers, from around the world.

She was the Senior Strategy Adviser to the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue in Geneva , from January to December 2002, addressing issues of humanitarian policy and conflict mediation.

She worked with Oxfam (GB) in Africa from 1999 to December 2001. As Oxfam's Africa Strategy Manager, based in Uganda , she led a continent-wide campaign on humanitarian and development crises, war and illicit economies in the African continent. Previously, as Oxfam's Regional Policy Coordinator for the Horn of Africa based in Ethiopia , she developed policies and programmes addressing regional conflict, arms trade and peacebuilding.

From 2003 to mid-2004, Dr. Mani provided policy analysis, strategic advice and teaching in the areas of justice and peacebuilding, under the aegis of a non-profit independent initiative, Justice Unlimited, particularly in Afghanistan , Guatemala and Nepal . She also developed an endogenous African university curriculum on Justice, Peace and Human Rights for the United Nations University for Peace's Africa Programme, working closely with African scholars.

She worked with the Commission on Global Governance in Geneva as their Senior External Relations Officer from 1992 to 1995, and managed the global launch of their report, Our Global Neighbourhood (Oxford: OUP, 1995). As a Fellow of the Watson Foundation in 1989-90, she investigated immigration and political movements in Algeria and France , in collaboration with non-profit and government agencies, and scholars.

She is the author of ‘ Beyond Retribution: Seeking Justice in the Shadows of War ' (Polity/Blackwell 2002, reprinted 2007) and innumerable scholarly articles on peace, justice, terrorism and democracy. She lectures widely in English and French to international audiences.

Dr Mani serves in an honorary capacity on the Board of several prestigious institutions. She is currently a Councilor of the World Future Council (Hamburg) dedicated to preserving the rights of future generations from climate chaos; an International Advisory Board member of the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect (New York), and of the International Journal of Transitional Justice (Cape Town and Berkeley), as also a Board member of the International Peace Institute (Alexandria, Egypt). She is on the Editorial Board of the journal Global Governance , and on the Executive Council of the Union of International Associations. She was the Co-Convenor with the Institute of Development Studies (IDS, Sussex ) of the Global Consortium for Security Transformation (2007). She previously served on the Foundation Council of "Geneva Call", an International Humanitarian Organisation engaging armed non-state actors to respect Humanitarian Law and on the Advisory Group of the Global Facilitation Network for Security Sector Reform, UK; December 1999).

A French national and Overseas Indian Citizen, Dr. Mani holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Cambridge, U.K., an M.A. in International Affairs from Johns Hopkins University , U.S.A. , and a B.A. in Political Science & French Literature from Bryn Mawr College , USA .

• Culture and conflict
• Peacebuilding
• Post-conflict justice
• Responsibility to protect
• Human security

• ‘Dilemmas of Expanding Transitional Justice, or Forging the Nexus between Transitional Justice and Development', Guest Editorial, International Journal of Transitional Justice (OUP) vol 2, issue 3, 2008.
• ‘Exploring the Rule of Law in Theory and Practice' in Agnes Hurwitz (ed.) Civil War and the Rule of Law ( Boulder , Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2008), pp. 21-46.
• ‘Peaceful Settlement of Disputes and Conflict Prevention', Tom Weiss and Sam Daws (eds.) The Oxford Handbook on the United Nations (OUP, Oxford : 2007)
• Beyond Retribution: Seeking Justice in the Shadows of War ( Cambridge , Polity/Blackwell: 2002, 2007).
• ‘Democratic Governance” , in Vincent Chetail (ed.) Lexicon of Peacebuilding, (Oxford University Press, forthcoming, 2009)
• “Reconciliation or Transitional Justice?” in William A. Schabas, Ramesh Thakur, and Edel Hughes (eds.) , Atrocities and International Accountability: Beyond Transitional Justice ( Tokyo : UNU Press, 2007)
• The Relationship between Security and Democracy in Combating Terrorism , Background Paper No 6, 6th International Conference of New or Restored Democracies, Doha , Oct-Nov, 2006.
• Déjà vu or Something New? Lessons for Future Peacebuilding from Haiti , Sicherheit und Frieden , Security and Peace , vol 1/2006, Jan 2006.
• Rebuilding an Inclusive Political Community After War, Security Dialogue , Vol. 36, no 4, pp 511-526, Dec 2005
• ‘Balancing Peace with Justice in the Aftermath of Violent Conflict', Journal of Development , September 2005, Volume 48, Number 3, pp. 25-34.
• ‘Reparation as a Component of Transitional Justice: Pursuing ‘Reparative Justice' in the Aftermath of Violent Conflict' in K. de Feyter, S. Parmentier et.al. (eds.) Out of the Ashes: Reparation for Victims of Gross and Systematic Human Rights Violations (Antwerp/Oxford: Intersentia, 2005).
• ‘Attacking the Roots: Peacebuilding and Terrorism', in Thomas Weiss and Jane Boulden (eds.), Terrorism and the United Nations: Before and After September 11 ( University of Chicago Press, 2004).
• ‘Ending Impunity and Building Justice in Afghanistan', Issues Paper published by Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit, Kabul , December 2003.
• ‘In Pursuit of an Antidote: The Response to 11 September and the Rule of Law', Journal for Conflict, Security and Development , vol. 3, no. 1, April 2003.
• ‘Contextualizing Police Reform: Security, the Rule of Law and Post-Conflict Peacebuilding', in Espen Eide and Tor Tanke Holm (eds.), Police Reform and Peacebuilding ( London : Frank Cass, 2000).
• ‘The Rule of Law or the Rule of Might? Restoring Legal Justice in Post-Conflict Societies', in Michael Pugh (ed.), Regeneration of War-Torn Societies , ( Basingstoke : Macmillan, 2000).
• ‘Restoring Justice in the Aftermath of Conflict: Bridging the Chasm between Theory & Experience', in Tony Coates (ed.), International Justice (London: Ashgate, 1999).