Thania Paffenholz

Thania Paffenholz is a lecturer and researcher on the subject of peace, conflict and development at the Graduate Institute of International Relations and Development in Geneva. She is a political scientist by training and received her Ph.D. in international relations from the University of Frankfurt, Germany (1996), focusing on the theory and practice of mediation and peacebuilding in armed conflict, using Mozambique as a case study. After working as a research fellow at the Peace Research Institute Frankfurt (1992-1996) she held a position as peacebuilding officer within the Delegation of the European Commission in Kenya (1996-2000). She joined the think tank Swisspeace in Berne, Switzerland from 2000-2003, holding the position of Director of the Center for Peacebuilding (KOFF).
Her main fields of research are: conflict analysis and peacebuilding; the conflict-development nexus and the role of development actors in peacebuilding; critical analysis of the role of the aid system in peacebuilding/conflict; international peacemaking strategies; and the role of civil society in peacebuilding.

Thania Paffenholz has edited and authored various articles and books on peacebuilding as well as on the role of development in conflict and peacebuilding. Her more recent book publications include Civil Society and Peacebuilding: A Critical Assessment (Lynne Rienner Publishers). Thania Paffenholz is also a trained mediator and facilitator, and has participated in several missions of the United Nations, as well as being an advisor to different national and international organizations. She was also member of the Board of the UN Lessons Learned Unit, Department of Peacekeeping Operations (1996-2002), Council Member of the International Peace Research Association (1994-2000) and Member of the Executive Committee of the Peace Studies Section of the International Studies Association (ISA) (2004-2006).

• Peacebuilding Theories and Intervention Strategies
• Civil Society and Peacebuilding
• Development- Peace-Conflict Nexus
• Evaluation in Peacebuilding

• Civil Society and Peacebuilding. A Critical Assessment (2010). Boulder: Lynne Rienner.
• With Luc Reychler. Peacebuilding: A Field Guide (2001). Boulder:Lynne Rienner Publishers (reviewed teaching book) (French: Construire la paix sur le terrain; Mode d’emploi (2000) Bruxelles: Groupe de recherche et d'information sur la paix et la sécurité).
• “Understanding the development-conflict nexus and the contribution of development cooperation to peacebuilding” (2008) in: Sandole, Dennis et al (eds) Conflict Resolution : A Multidisciplinary Approach. London: Routledge, Taylor and Francis.
• With Luc Reychler. “Towards Better Working in Conflict Zones: Introducing the Aid for Peace Approach” Journal of Peacebuilding and Development (2005), Vol.2, No.2: 4-22.
• Promotion de la paix et coopération internationale: histoire, concepts et pratique (2006), in: Annuaire suisse de politique de développement, Vol. 25, No.2: 19-45 (German version also published in: Schweizer Jahrbuch für Entwicklungspolitik, Vol. 25, Nr. 2, 2006), p.21-48.
• “13 Factors of Successful Mediation in Mozambique” (2001), in: Reychler, Luc and Paffenholz, Thania (eds) Peacebuilding: A Field Guide. Boulder: Lynne Rienner Publishers.